3 Tiny Habits

Mastering Tiny Habits means learning how to do three things well:

A. Picking a good tiny behavior

B. Finding what stable habit (or cue) will trigger the new behavior (more below)

C. Knowing how to self-reinforce ("Victory!"<- We did this on Tuesday)

----

In future sessions of 3 Tiny Habits, I may ask people to focus closely on B, the stable habits and cues in daily life.

Wouldn't it be great to have a list of behaviors you do *every* day without fail?

Then, to sequence in a new behavior, you could simply look at your list and find the right match. You'd ask: "What does this new behavior most naturally follow?"

Two years ago, I had my Stanford students map out their daily health habits. Most were surprised with what they learned: lots of habits in the morning, and not many habits again until the day was ending.

If you decide to make this list, you'll find two types of stable behaviors, both of which I call "anchors." You'll find behaviors you do just once each day. And you'll find those you do multiple times.

Examples:

One-time Anchors: shave, put on shoes, leave for work, etc.

Multi-Anchors: use toilet, wash hands, hang up phone, etc.

If you've read this far, you deserve extra credit. And if you do make a list of "anchors" in your life, you really are a superstar student. (Let me know)

Oh, and one more thing . . .

You'll find anchors in your life that are not behaviors you do. There are anchors that happen to you: the phone rings, the stoplight turns red, the sun sets, and so on. Again, some are one-timers, and some are multi.

So here's the key: You need to match the new behavior you want with the best anchor to trigger your new behavior.

[ . . . and now the graduate seminar will conclude ]

--BJ Fogg

---

Extra Credit Video: http://bitly.com/fogg9min

In this 9-minute video, I talk about my Behavior Model, especially hot triggers. This comes from a 3-hour gig I did in Buenos Aires for 1200 biz people. (A big audience sitting far away means you gotta be dramatic. In everyday life, I'm not so animated.)

This video may not work on your phone.