Building a New Habit in 2026

By Tom Chapman, CEO of Peeq Pro

Offices don’t change their process because they want to, they change when the new behavior becomes automatic.

For many people, the turning of the calendar from 2025 to 2026 will mark an opportunity to change their habits through resolutions. 

Habit formation is Peeq Pro’s core mission. We spend hundreds of hours each year with doctors and patients helping them change behavior and making that change routine.

In general, we ascribe to the James Clear Atomic Habits school of thought. His key framework is built around four simple elements:

• Cue: Make it obvious
  

• Craving: Make it attractive
  

• Response: Make it easy
  

• Reward: Make it satisfying
  

To make the idea of changing office behavior exceedingly practical, I want to use a real-world example.

One of our doctors in Tennessee wrote this about her practice:

“Most of our challenges have been internal… staff and myself… we tend to sell most products individual instead of ‘box’. We sometimes get in our own way.”

This is incredibly common in practices. It’s not a product problem. It’s not even a motivation problem. It’s a repeatability problem.

So, let’s work through a simple process to create a more repeatable workflow habit.

Use a simple method: Plan → Do → Study → Act

First, we like the Plan → Do → Study → Act (PDSA) philosophy. PDSA works because you don’t roll out a massive change all at once — you run a small experiment, learn quickly, and then standardize what works.

The goal in this email is straightforward: sell more boxes.
(To be clear, this same approach applies to many other office goals.)

For this article, consider a small experiment: place a physical box (Peeq Pro’s care kit) in the exam lane in a spot where both the patient and doctor can clearly see it.

Step 1 (CUE): Make it obvious

We have to make the cue for “box” impossible to miss.

By placing a kit in the lane:

• the doctor is visually cued to recommend it
  

• the patient sees it is already packaged and ready
  

• the recommendation feels natural, not like a last-minute add-on
  
  

Step 2 (CRAVING): Make it attractive

Dr. Wolfe consistently talks about the simplicity of his conversations with patients. If he sees inflammation or other dry eye symptoms, he automatically talks about dry eye — every time.

That consistency is the habit.

By placing the box in the lane and creating a simple, repeatable hook, the doctor can improve their ability to consistently recommend both the treatment and the kit.

For example, Dr. Wolfe might say:

“I’m concerned about what I’m seeing in these tests, and I’d like to start you on our curated dry eye routine.”

Step 3 (Response): Make it easy

…and then hand the patient the box. 

Literally, by having the box already present and visible, the actual sale is simply handing the patient a box. This is way less cumbersome than a convoluted sales attempt. And it helps the doctor feel comfortable that it is not too salesy.

Now the recommendation happens in one motion: diagnose, recommend, and hand-off  instead of inconsistently at different points in the visit - because of how the doctor or staff is predisposed at that time.

Step 4 (Reward): Make it satisfying

In offices that implement this workflow, we’ve seen the process dramatically increase box sales. The key is simplifying the overall flow by testing one small change: making the box visible and expected.

Having the box visible in the lane triggers the cue, practicing the hook makes it attractive, handing the box to the patient makes it easy, and completing the sale makes it satisfying.

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The point isn’t selling the box

The point is arming your office with a simple, testable change in behavior.

In this case, three things need to happen:

1. Doctor: Practice the trigger + hook
   

• What are your automatic triggers for recommending dry eye treatment?
  

• What do you say every time?
  

2. Staff: Make the cue reliable
   

• The lane must always have a visible kit
  

• Every kit sold must be restocked — no exceptions
  

3. Team: Execute the ask and the close
   

• Doctor uses the hook
  

• Team supports the sale consistently
  

Apply this beyond dry eye

This process can work in many different situations. The key is creating a clear plan that can be tested in a small experiment — and then repeating what works.

In this blog, we talked about putting the box in the lane to create a cue. But an office can create similar cues for a variety of challenges: improving follow-up compliance, increasing contact lens conversions, standardizing patient education, reducing no-shows, and more.

What is your office seeking to improve this year? What is one small experiment you can run that makes the behavior easier to repeat — for every patient, every time?

Try James Clear’s methodology, and maybe 2026 will be the year that your team stops getting in your own way.