3 Phases of Habit Forming
According to CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, habits take form in 3 distinct phases – Honeymoon, Fight Through, and Secondary Nature. In the honeymoon phase, there’s a lot of excitement and energy behind the new habit and it’s propelled solely by that inner inertia. The fight through phase is the most difficult. Here, the romance of the new behavior has started to fade as the barriers surface and must be broken through each time. After a period of repeatedly and successfully breaking through these barriers, the ultimate phase – secondary nature – is achieved, where there are very few barriers and the new behavior has become second nature.
Here’s a quick video that illustrates the science behind these 3 phases while also speaking to the significance environment plays in the formation of new habits.
