Most people want some sort of change or develop a new habit(s). For me, I want to be more organized. I seem to get caught in the rabbit hole of email and other distractions and not focusing on the tasks at hand.
For others, it may be lose weight – we see that in the gym every Jan 1st. People flood in, sign up and in less than 6 weeks they are gone and back to the same old.
There is a big gap between want (motivation) and do (action) and when you don’t do, you feel bad and think you are bad. The WANT may be there, but the DO may get in the way.
The approaches we use to make a change in our life is actually a design flaw, not a personal flaw.
The approaches we use to make a change in our life is actually a design flaw, NOT a personal flaw. We just have not designed the right habit in the right way to make an change. Habit building can be easy with the right approach and by starting small. Removing judgement allows you to look at behavior as your own personal science project.
There is a assumption that if we give people information, it will change their attitudes and in turn change behaviors. Think about our current environment about social distancing. We can give people all the scientific information, and yet they choose to either wear a mask or not.
Three ways to change your behavior
There are three ways that are used to change behavior. They are:
- Epiphany – That is the person that has had a heart attack and now they are committed to making life changes (eat well, exercise, take medication, etc.).
- Change our environment – This is the person who is a smoker and wants to quit. All of their friends meet, go out for a drink and smoke. The environment must change for this behavior to stop – and it can.
- Change habits in tiny ways
The Epiphany does not work- Cardiac rehab is a great example. People have that heart attack and start feeling better. Yes, you guessed it – back to their old ways.
The Environment – it can work if you really change your surroundings and/or surround you with people that will help you change.
Creating positive habits is the easiest and most likely best path, starting small and developing your habits.
Tiny can be fast – there’s never enough time, but if we start tiny we can begin to wire new habits.
Tiny can be fast – there’s never enough time, but if we start tiny you can rewire into new habits.
How it works – the Fogg Behavior Model
How this works:
Behavior happens when the three things come together at the same moment: Motivation, Ability, and a Prompt.
Example: Wearing a face mask
what does success look like according to the model
You are highly motivated to wear a mask and they are readily available (the ability). You easily jump over the action line as you get out of the car (your prompt) and put on your mask to go shopping. Yeah! SUCCESS
This begins to be routine every time you get out of the car and your habit is formed.
what does failure look like
You are highly motivated to wear a mask, but you don’t have one available (the ability now becomes hard), because you always put in a different place. Not as much success in wearing a mask.
How can you build a habit of drinking a glass of water in the morning?
Let’s start with motivation
You really want to start your day off with a glass of water, but where do you begin?
Let’s break it down.
- What is your morning routine? Is it coffee or tea first thing?
- Let’s say you turn on the coffee pot when you go to the kitchen. That would be a great time to drink a glass of water. Darn, but you forget to drink it because there is no glass by the coffee maker. Sigh, that won’t work.
- OK, let’s figure out how to make it work. Why not put the glass next to the coffee maker when you make the coffee the evening before? Now you will be more aware of the glass of water because you developed a prompt to occur. The water glass prompts you to fill it and drink the water.
Even easier, the Maui Habit. It works like this.
After I get up in the morning and put my feet on the ground, I will say to myself, “It’s going to be a great day!” YEAH!
The recipe
After I ……
I will ……
My email habit change, using the Fogg recipe.
After I log into my email, I will set my alarm for 15 minutes to do my email.
It has become a game for me of BEAT THE CLOCK. No longer am I going down the rabbit hole of email junk. The SHINE I feel when I beat that clock is amazing. It set the tone for my entire day.
Want to learn more? You can get the book and/or work with me for a 5 days FREE Tiny Habits Program. Click here to contact me to enroll in the 5 day program, we start every Sunday.
What do you have to lose?
