Abstract
Imagine you are moving into a completely new environment, where you will live and work. Everything has to be (re)discovered: the best way to commute, where to do your shopping, how the local supermarket is organized, or how to socialise. It may not be easy, even simple things are an effort, and you may be confused, tired, or even annoyed at times: for a little while you are living a life without habits. After a while, some trying and error, and perhaps a few embarrassing mistakes, you find the best way to get to work, discover nice shops, navigate the supermarket efficiently, and find out that the coffee corner is where you make new friends. You learn what does and does not work, things begin to feel ‘normal’, and life starts ‘flowing’ again: you are developing new habits. And importantly, you feel good about having habits back again! This book is about those ubiquitous, yet elusive, behaviours.
‘There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision (…)’
—William James (1887, p. 447).
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Verplanken, B. (2018). Introduction. In: Verplanken, B. (eds) The Psychology of Habit. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97529-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97529-0_1
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