All You Need Is A Nudge To Form Better Habits

We’ve shared a lot of tips for forming good habits, but if you’re having trouble getting off the ground, new research shows a little nudge — whether from a friend or other support system — can get you in gear pretty easily.

A new study at Stanford University found that most people don’t need that much of a push when it comes to forming a habit. 619 individuals were given exercise commitment contracts with different lengths of time — 8 weeks, 12 weeks or 16 weeks — and those shown a longer commitment were more likely to choose it (with many just picking the duration they were shown). Coming up with the duration ourselves is tricky, since we’ll likely choose something low, but if someone merely suggests that we try to stick to our contracts for a month, we’ll be more likely to agree (and succeed). Hit the link to read more, and share your tips for a good habit-forming support system in the comments. Photo by Quinn Dombrowski.

Mind games: The behavioural economics of exercise habits [Vox via Freakonomics]