How To Get Big Results With Tiny Habits

Over the last couple months, I’ve found myself saying one of these types of sentences every Sunday evening (comes out as a very convincing self-pep-talk, by the way): “OK! Tomorrow, I will get back to exercising regularly;”  Or, “Tomorrow, I will get started on my new writing routine.  It’s gonna be amazing!”  Or, “Next weekend, I will start organizing the heaps of ‘very important’ stuff (that I haven’t found a need for in the last 15 years!) in the basement.”

Come Monday, the intentions are there, but lazy human nature kicks in and getting back to that exercise, writing, or de-cluttering plan gets sucked up by “quickly” checking Facebook or really just finding any random rabbit hole to run down.

Can you relate?

Sticking to good habits can be surprisingly difficult.  You’d think the benefits and transformation that come from practicing good habits would be incentive enough for us to never fall off the wagon.

The biggest habit-busting culprit for me is deviating from my normal routine.  For example, if I go on vacation, all good habit bets are off.  My idea of vacation is to unplug and not have anything hindering me from rest and relaxation.  There will be no schedules to tie me down!  Even if I veer from my routine for just a day or two, it sets me back.  I still haven’t convinced myself that I should stick to my normal routine while on vacation, but just realizing this tendency to abandon beneficial habits can help when you get home.  Admitting a problem is the first step in doing better, right?

Back in January, I came across an amazing method of creating and practicing habits: “Tiny Habits”.  The brain behind the “Tiny Habits” methodology, B.J. Fogg, is a behavior scientist and teacher at Stanford University.

Here’s how B.J. describes a Tiny Habit:

As I see it, a “Tiny Habit” is a behavior —

• you do at least once a day
• that takes you less than 30 seconds
• that requires little effort

B.J. suggests you outline your tiny habit goal like this:

“After (or before) I {insert existing habit}, I will {insert new tiny habit}.”
Example:  “After I turn on the evening news, I will get on my exercise bike and begin pedaling.”

The genius of his habit-creating system is that you are anchoring a very simple and tiny new habit to an existing habit.  For example, I chose something I do every day — my existing habit of taking a shower — and anchored it to one of my new tiny habits (doing 10 push-ups).  Several months later, I’m here to testify that this tiny habit has stuck.  NOTE: In the first couple weeks, there would be days where I’d be in the shower and realize I’d forgotten to do my push-ups.  To help with this, I wrote myself a note and stuck it to my mirror.  As an additional note/disclaimer….I do girl push-ups.  : )

The first three tiny habits I initially set out to create were:

• Before I shower, I will do 10 push-ups
• After I begin to brew coffee, I will drink one glass of water.
• Before I get out of bed each morning, I will name three things I am grateful for.

Since it’s been a while and I’ve developed these tiny habits into regular habits, I’m working on a new tiny habit: “After I walk the dogs, I will do my 7-Minute Workout app routine.”  Since I’m already in casual clothes and maybe even sweaty, why not keep up the momentum of exercise, right?

Something Tiny Habits creator B.J. Fogg stresses in one’s efforts to create tiny habits, is to keep it very simple.  Here are a few tiny habit examples he shares on his blog:

“After I start the dishwasher, I will read one sentence from a book.”

“After I walk in my door from work, I will get out my workout clothes.”

“After I sit down on the train, I will open my sketch notebook.”

“After I hear any phone ring, I will exhale and relax for 2 seconds.”

You may be wondering what the point is to “read one sentence from a book” or just “open a sketch notebook”.  The mindset behind this is that if you take the first tiny little step, chances are you’ll take the next, too.  Momentum generally builds upon one tiny little action.  Can you imagine getting your book out (after starting the dishwasher) and truly only reading one sentence??  Or getting your sketch book out on the train and only drawing one line??

I have a friend that also began implementing tiny habits and he created a list to help him see the variety of daily habits he could potentially anchor to and those which might trigger a new tiny habit.  In other words, he uses these regular activities to activate new tiny habits to help him reach his goals.

Here’s his “trigger” or “anchor” list:

Around the house

• Throw something away in trash
• Throw something away in recycle
• Feed Chloe (Jill note: this is his dog)
• Let Chloe out
• Go to the bathroom
• Make coffee
• Turn on TV
• Turn off/on lights
• Turn on/off faucets
• Wash hands
• Change diapers (Jill note: he and his wife have two adorable twin girls!)

Getting ready for day/winding down

• Shower
• Wake up
• Put on clothes
• Change clothes for bed
• Put in/take out contacts
• Turn on shower
• Towel off after shower

Work related

• Get in car to go to work
• Get in car to go home
• Walk into work
• Turn on work computer

Food related

• Eat breakfast
• Eat lunch
• Eat dinner

An example of how he uses the above actions to create benefiting habits — before stepping into the shower, he has committed himself to 3 push-ups (at least).

So, here’s my challenge for you today: Decide on 3 tiny habits that you can begin to practice today.  It might be helpful to create your own habit trigger/anchor list like my friend did to help you see the bountiful opportunities you, too, have on any given day.

Remember, the key is to keep it super simple and trust in the process.

If you’re willing, I’d love to hear what tiny habits you’re going to implement into your daily routine.  Let me know in the comment section below.

You can do this!!

Jill xx