William James' Advice

William James, philosopher and pioneer American psychologist, wrote about habits in his classic book Psychology: Briefer Course. In the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old one, there are four great maxims to remember: First, we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong an initiative as possible. . . . Second, never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life. Each lapse is like letting fall a ball of string which one is carefully winding up; a single slip undoes more than a great many turns will wind up again. . . .

The third maxim is: Seize the first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make. It is not in the moment of their forming, but in the moment of their producing motor effects that resolutions communicate a new “set” to the brain. . . .

A tendency to act becomes effectively ingrained in us only in proportion to the frequency with which the actions actually occur, and the brain “grows” to their use. . . . As the fourth practical maxim, we may, then, offer something like this: Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day.

That is, be systematically ascetic or heroic in little unnecessary points, do every day or two something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh it may find you nerved and trained to stand the test.