By Brian Morris, MD

One tool that can help you integrate a new habit into your routine is what I call “linkage”. I first learned about linkage back in my early 30’s when I decided that I wanted to run a marathon. The thought of finishing a marathon seemed like an amazing experience to check off my bucket list, but the reality of the long training runs was not appealing in the least. Since completing a marathon was something that I wanted to do, I came up with some strategies to make this happen. The most important strategy that I used was to link enjoyable activities to running. I decided to bring the joy of my favorite hobby—listening to music—to the not-so-fun long runs that were a part of my marathon training.

I created mix-tapes (of course now it would be called playlists) of my favorite songs and listened to them while I ran on a treadmill. When one of my favorite artists released a new album, I waited to listen to it until I was running. Once I linked the two activities of music and running, I found myself enjoying running and actually looking forward to it. The sounds of my favorite bands and radio stations kept me excited about running. Music became my “reward” for running. Before long, I was on my way to completing a marathon. This was how I discovered the power of linkage.

Can linkage help you? Think about ways that you can link activities that you already enjoy with habits that you’d like to consistently practice. Some prefer audiobooks while others prefer music or a podcast. How can you make linkage work for you?