Tiny Habits for Big Results
/At the start of every year, I always spend time reflecting on the last year and considering all the things I want to achieve in the new year. Like so many other people, I used to write down my goals, then look back later in the year in disappointment when I fall short from a realizing them. That's when I realized that my approach may be flawed. Perhaps instead of goals, I needed to focus on habits.
Goals are nothing without good habits. If I don't spend time thinking strategically about my business, I'll never grow my business. If I don't have a daily writing practice, I'll never finish that novel. Goals are dependent upon good habits.
One of the most effective ways I've learned to create habits is the ABC method. I learned this method in a seminar based on BJ Fogg's book Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Here's the gist:
A stands for Anchor. Take a behavior that you already do and add your new habit to the 'anchor' behavior. Adding a habit onto an already existing one makes it easy to remember and comply. Anchor behaviors are things like waking up, brushing your teeth, eating breakfast - basically anything you do that is an already ingrained behavior.
B stands for Behavior. Do a tiny behavior that gets you to your goal. If you want to write a novel, write one sentence. If you want to begin running, put on your running sneakers. As you gain success with this one tiny habit, you can slowly start to 'increase' the practice. You can write two sentences. Then a paragraph. Then a page, and so on.
C stands for Celebrate. You do something little to celebrate your tiny victory. You could do a fist bump. You could raise the roof. You can say, "Oh yeah!" You celebrate after you do a tiny behavior because emotions create success. If you can feel good about your small accomplishment, you will crave even more success.
So, the ABC formula goes like this:
After I _______ (anchor), I will do ______ (tiny behavior) and I will celebrate by doing ________(celebration).
Although I didn't know of these habit-forming techniques years ago, I had used this technique to start my morning meditation practice. My formula was this: After I go to the bathroom, I will sit on the meditation cushion for 2 minutes, and I will celebrate by bowing at the end of my meditation.
I did this for a long time, working up to 15 minutes. I kept my morning meditation going for five years until I gave birth to my daughter, at which time my practice fell apart. But even after I had stopped meditating for several years, I didn't find it hard to pick it back up because I had an easy anchor to add it to (I still went to the bathroom), and the habit was likely ingrained in me. My new meditation practice is healthy and strong.
Now that my meditation habit is well anchored, I started to stack a new habit on top of my mediation. To try to get more fit, I started to exercise after meditating. I started with two sit-ups. I added a few pushups. I started doing the 7-minute workout using an App on my smartphone. These habits grew to a 45-minute workout on a fitness app several times a week.
Why are establishing small habits important? James Clear, writer of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, describes habits like the compound interest of self-improvement. He says this:
"The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them. They seem to make little difference on any given day, and yet the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous. It is only when looking back two, five, or perhaps ten years later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent."
This analogy makes the benefits of tiny habits clear. Good habits over time can result in significant compounding results.
Think strategically about my business for thirty minutes a day. Read one book a week. Write 1,000 words a day. Move for 45 minutes five times a week. These are all behaviors I am working towards, habits that I hope will help me reach my goals and make a difference in my business and life.
What tiny habits can you start today that will make a big difference in your work or life? When you think small and consistently improve over time, the results may astound you.