Editorial Type: research-article
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Online Publication Date: 16 Sept 2025

WHAT ABOUT THIS?: Pragmatic Suggestions to Implement Behavior Change

PhD, BCB
Article Category: Research Article
Page Range: 41 – 45
DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-53.02.05
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Achieving long-term success with personal goals, whether quitting smoking, reducing screen time, or implementing healthier habits, requires more than initial motivation; it necessitates strategies to turn intentions into lasting behaviors. Outlined are the following seven behavioral techniques to help individuals effectively maintain their resolutions: (a) Be clear of your goal and state exactly what you want to do, (b) be precise and concrete, (c) identify the benefits of the old behavior you want to change and how you can achieve the same benefits with your new behavior, (d) reduce the cues that evoke the old behavior and create new cues that will trigger the new behavior, (e) identify the first sensation that triggered the behavior you would like to change, (f) incorporate social support and social accountability, and (g) be honest in identifying what motivates you. These strategies promote sustainable habit formation. By integrating these approaches, individuals can transform resolutions into ingrained behaviors, improving their well-being.

Copyright: ©Association for Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback 2025


Contributor Notes

Correspondence: Erik Peper, PhD, Institute for Holistic Health Studies, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, email: epeper@sfsu.edu, web: www.biofeedbackhealth.org, blog: www.peperperspective.com
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