Tiny Habits (Book)

1. CLARIFY THE ASPIRATION
   -get more/better sleep
   -reduce stress
2. EXPLORE BEHAVIOR OPTIONS
   -List all your ideas for behaviors that could help achieve aspiration
   -Nothing is off limits
3. MATCH WITH SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS
   -For each behavior determine if it will make an impact or not on your aspiration
   -Then ask yourself if you are motivated to do the behavior
   -Focus on the behaviors that have high impact and you’re motivated to doing

“While small might not be sexy, it is successful and sustainable. When it comes to most life changes that people want to make, big bold moves actually don’t work as well as small stealthy ones.”

4. START TINY

“Make the behavior so tiny that you don’t need much motivation.” Like doing two wall pushups, if you want to get into the habits of doing multiple pushups a day. Consistency is more important at the beginning.

“If a behavior is hard, make it easier to do. You’ll see that over time your motivation will vary, but your ability will improve the more you do your habit. And that increase in ability helps your habit grow.

Ask yourself what is making this behavior hard to do. This will help you increase your ability to do the behavior. It will probably come down to time, money, physical effort, mental effort, or routine.

Fogg wanted to get into a flossing habit. He realized that flowing took too much physical effort. His teeth are close together making it hard to get the floss in-between teeth. Fogg then researched floss that was right for his teeth. Once he found floss that made flossing easier he was able to keep up his habit. He also started tiny by making the habit to floss only one tooth per day. Extremely easy to do.

Three approaches to making a behavior easier to do
-Increase you skills. By gaining skills, you’re turning up the volume on ability.
-Get tools and resources. If a behavior frustrates you, it will not becomes a habit. Getting the right tools to make a behavior easier could mean anything from getting a better set of kitchen knives to finding more comfortable walking shoes.
-Make the Behavior Tiny. If you want to make a habit out of walking three miles every day, your starter step might be putting your walking shoes on. That starter step becomes your tiny behavior and the only action you need to do at the start of your new habit. The objective here is to begin with a crucial step in the process of doing the desired behavior. Putting those shoes on will shift your perception. Walking suddenly won’t seem to so hard…Do not raise the bar prematurely. DOn’t rush to make the behavior bigger. By keeping the bar low, you keep the habit alive. You’ll ensure that you’re always capable of doing the behavior no matter how your motivation fluctuates.

5. FIND A GOOD PROMPT

No behavior happens without a prompt

Kinds of Prompts:
-Person. Relies on the person to remember
-Contexts. External reminders
-Action. A behavior you already do that can remind you to do a new habit you want to cultivate, called an Anchor. After I (anchor), I will (do new habit). After I flush the toilet, I will do two pushups.

Make a list of specific things you do on a daily or weekly basis, anchors. Then choose the anchor that best matches the habit.

Think about matching the physical location, frequency, and theme/purpose.

Make anchors super specific. Instead of an anchor like “After I eat breakfast” make it something like “after I start the dishwasher”.

6. CELEBRATE SUCCESSES

Emotions create habits. Not repetition. Not frequency. Emotions

Celebration is the best way to create a positive feeling that wires in your new habits.

When you find a celebration that works for you, and you do it immediately after a new behavior, your brain repatterns to make that behavior more automatic in the future.

7. TROUBLESHOOT, ITERATE, & EXPAND

-Don’t pressure yourself to do more than the tiniest version of your habit
-Don’t restrict yourself rom going bigger if you want to do more
-If you do too much, make sure you celebrate extra hard
-Use emotional flags to help you find your edge

Redesign you environment:
-When you design new habits, invest time in redesigning your environment so they’re easier to do.
-as you begin doing your new habit, make the environmental adjustments as you go along, redesigning as needed to make your habit easier to do.
-Question tradition. Who says you have to keep your vitamins in the kitchen or floss in the bathroom? Maybe your vitamins need to be next to your computer. Or maybe flossing works best when you keep floss next to your TV remote. You’re a habit ninja not a conformist. Find what works for you.
-invest in the gear you need. Suppose you want to bike 7 miles to school even when it is raining and cold. Design out these demotivators by buying what you need to make biking in the rain and cold less painful.