Training and conditioning can develop these habits, because our physical system is able to remember from past experience what to do and how to make specific adjustments for the variations of each situation. Conscious attention is used to form a habit or to change an old habit to a new pattern. Changing conditioned responses can be a struggle, because the mind, brain, and cells of the body must remember to perform the new response over the previous memories of the old, thus the special need for conscious effort. These subconscious memories and behavioral habits are held and performed by the basic self. The conscious self is responsible for the training of the basic self and the conscious choices of retraining.
Instincts can strengthen or conflict with habits.
Most of the energy of instincts will tend to flow into the most available behaviors, which are usually the habitual ones. Many emotional memories and habits are socially conditioned in relation to natural instincts. The child is fed and given affection and learns to associate these good feelings in the memory. Children are trained and taught with rewards and punishments which are both physical and emotional. Toilet training, for example, teaches us to feel good when we do the right thing and to feel bad when we make a mess.