Book Review: Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg

I've recently been making efforts to improve some of my daily habits - more daily steps, going to the gym at my new workplace, eating better, etc.  This is not the first time I've tried some of these, but I've noticed that good habits don't always seem to stick. I have the ability to do great things when the motivation strikes, like training for and running a marathon. But after the finish line, I often fall back into the old routines.  Following a recent promotion, my work recently offered several coaching sessions and my coach suggested I look into the work of BJ Fogg, an adjunct professor at Stanford and founder of the Stanford Behavior Design Lab.  Specifically, she sent me this article on Tiny Habits.

I was intrigued by the concepts in the article, so I also listened to his audiobook called Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. The basic idea of the book is to help yourself do what you already want to do by starting habits small and then wiring positive habits into your brain by immediately celebrating successes.  With the right recurring prompts, the habit will expand, but because the baseline tiny habit is so easy, it doesn't depend highly on fluctuating levels of motivation. He gives the example of flossing one tooth as a "tiny habit" - of course, no one aspires to floss one tooth per day, but the simple act of showing up repeatedly to create a flossing habit is more important than initially doing it 100% right. Incidentally, I have flossed my teeth every day for the last two weeks - maybe a new record.

B = MAP

He explains that Behaviors are the sum of Motivation + Ability + Prompt (B = MAP).  If we have the motivation and ability to do a behavior, then we will reliably do it if we have a prompt. 

Motivation will naturally ebb and flow and so is perhaps the hardest variable to solve for, but he suggests celebrating in some way either during or immediately after a habit to create feelings of what he calls "shine" - the feeling you might get when you learn you got that job you've been interviewing for - kind of a mix of happiness, self-pride, elation, etc. This is the part that for me comes off a bit hokey at first but could be something as simple as a fist bump, saying "I'm awesome!" a big smile, or putting your arms in a V shape and saying "victory!" I'm still working on what feels right to me for celebrating, but generally gravitate toward either a first pump or a satisfying smile.

Ability is perhaps the easiest of the levers to adjust, which is where making something tiny is important.  It would be very difficult for someone to start out doing 100 pushups, but most people could reliably do 2 pushups without too much difficulty and not too much motivation required. I think I've heard this described in other places as "starter habits" or making things easier.  So the initial habit for an aspiration of wanting to develop a habit of running might be simply putting on my running shoes after I wake up. Or flossing one tooth, doing 2 pushups, 3 squats, reading one page of a book, anything that is so easy that it will require very little motivation to accomplish regularly.

Prompts are the signals that it's time to perform the habit.  These could be "context" prompts like sticky notes or calendar reminders, but he suggests that "action" prompts" are better - what James Clear refers to as "habit stacking" in Atomic Habits (also a great book which I re-listened to after Tiny Habits).  The basic formula for habit stacking is "After I [existing habit] I will [new tiny habit]."  My flossing habit has become "After I put toothpaste on my toothbrush, I will pick up a flosser." 

There were a lot of other useful ideas presented throughout the book such as how to change bad habits, and how to incorporate others in your environment into habits, but I won't go into each of those in detail.  Overall, I thought it was a great read and has to helped me take steps toward doing what I want to do and further becoming who I want to become - one tiny habit at a time.