ve._ By this is meant that a person forming a habit
should have some sustaining reason for doing it, some end that is being
sought. This principle will be of very little use to young children,
only to those old enough to appreciate reasons and ends. In arithmetic,
for example, a child should be shown what can be accomplished if he
possesses certain skill in addition, subtraction, and multiplication. It
is not always possible for a young person to see why a certain habit
should be formed. For the youngest children, the practice must be in the
form of play. But when a child is old enough to think, to have ideals
and purposes, reasons and explanations should be worked out.

(2) _Get practice._ If you are to have skill, you must practice.
Practice regularly, practice hard while you are doing it. Throw your
whole life into it, as if what you are doing is the most important
thing in the world. Practice under good conditions. Do not think that
just any kind of practice will do. Try to make conditions such that they
will enable you to do your best work. Such conditions will not happen by
chance. You must make them happen. You must make conditions favorable.
You must seek opportunities to practice. You must realize that your life
is in the making, that _you_ are making it, that it is to a large extent
composed of habits. These habits you are building. They are built only
by practice. Get practice. When practicing, fulfill the psychological
conditions. Work under the most favorable circumstances as to length of
periods, intervals, etc.

(3) _Allow no exceptions._ You should fully realize the great influence
of exceptions. When you start in to form a habit, allow nothing to turn
you from your course. Whether the habit is some fundamental moral habit
or the multiplication table, be consistent, do not vacillate. Nothing is
so strong as consistent action, nothing so weak as doubtful, wavering,
uncertain action. Have the persistence of a bull dog and the regularity
of planetary motion.

=Transfer of Training.= Our problem now is to find out whether forming one
habit helps one to form another. In some cases it does. The results of a
recent experiment performed in the laboratory of educational psychology
in the University of Missouri, will show what is meant. It was found
that if a person practiced distributing cards into pigeon holes till
great proficiency was attained, and then the numbering of the boxes or
pigeon holes was changed,