• posted: Jan. 17, 2017
This week, we want to discuss the power of creating tiny habits. These small, daily habits can accumulate over time to create massive changes in your life.  We first learned about these tiny habits from BJ Fogg, PhD. He is a professor of psychology at Stanford University. We want to break down the process and steer you towards his TED talk so that you can start implementing some of these tiny habits into your day.

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What are tiny habits?


Tiny habits can be any small changes in procedure that you implement into your daily life. Large goals, by definition, are harder to achieve. Of course they are not unattainable, but by creating tiny action-based habits each day which place you on the path towards your larger goal, it is far more likely to stay motivated as you focus on your day-to-day progress and victories. Over time, these tiny habits will start to snowball into larger life shifts. 
 
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How do I implement tiny habits into my day?


Dr Fogg's premise is that we already perform most of our daily routine out of habit. For example, when is the last time that you had to think about grabbing a towel when you get out of the shower? You don't! You have been finishing your shower and reaching for your towel everyday from the time that you were a child. The trick is to use these deeply ingrained habits to introduce the new tiny habit, and follow up with a reward for yourself. These rewards are a quick "pump-up," dance, or cheer for yourself. He offers a variety of reward options, but our personal favorite was to fist pump in the air while saying "I'M AWESOME!" How great does that feel? :)

Here is the formula:
 
Existing Habit ----- "Insert new tiny behavior change here" ----- Reward!
 

What is the larger goal of these tiny habits?


So, what does this actually look like? Let's say that your overall goal is to get into great shape. This is a huge, quite possibly overwhelming goal. But, if we break this down into tiny little behavior changes throughout the day, and celebrate each small victory, the larger goal becomes far more attainable! Here are a few tiny habits that you could implement if getting into shape is your goal. You probably don't have to think about washing your hands after you use the restroom. There is your existing habit. After you wash your hands, perform 5 squats. Then reward yourself with your cheer -- "I'M AWESOME!" As these 5 squats become easier to perform, add a couple more. Before you know it, your legs are stronger, setting you on your path towards your larger goal. Here's another tiny habit to implement if emotional eating is something that you struggle with. Your existing habit may be when you experience a stressor, you reach for unhealthy snacks as a coping mechanism. How could we change this pattern to give you a moment to pause before eating the snacks? Try this: 1. Think about the stressor. 2. Drink a glass of water and ask yourself if that is satisfying, or if you actually are hungry. 3. Cheer for implementing your new tiny habit. "I'M AWESOME!" 4. If you find that you are actually hungry, mindfully choose a nourishing snack. 

Let's say that your large goal is to have a healthier sense of self esteem. Here is a tiny habit that you could implement into your day: 1. Brush your teeth in the morning (existing habit). 2. Look in the mirror and tell yourself one thing that you appreciate about yourself. This can be something about your appearance, work ethic etc. 3. "I'm AWESOME!" You can also repeat this new habit pattern throughout the day whenever you find yourself in front of a mirror. 
 

The Snowball Effect


Make a plan for yourself. Write down what your larger goal is, observe yourself for a day and find some existing, deeply ingrained habits. Then come up with a couple of tiny habits to implement. Drawing this road map can be hugely beneficial initially. After you've created your map, don't worry about your larger goal. Focus on the tiny, day-to-day actions. As these first couple of tiny habits become easier to perform, add a couple more. Over time, the sum of these small new habits will begin to snowball towards your larger goal. Give it a try! What have you got to lose? 
 

TED Talk
Forget big change, start with a tiny habit: BJ Fogg at TEDxFreemont

The Power of Habit

 
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If you haven't yet read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, we strongly recommend it. This book has a similar premise: find a small cornerstone habit that you implement daily, and that cornerstone habit will affect the rest of your day. An example in the book is from a woman whose ultimate goal was to stop smoking and live a healthy lifestyle. This goal was daunting for her, so instead she implemented one daily habit: to run each morning. Her habit of a daily run soon snowballed! She quit smoking, cleaned up her diet, and became healthier and happier. Pretty cool!
 

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