Tiny Habits

Experiments, Habits,

“Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”
― Samuel Smiles

habitsI am really interested in the role of habits, how we develop them and the effect they have on our results in life.   If we can develop good habits then these habits will propel us in a positive direction in life.  A bad habit such as smoking will damage your health and may eventually kill you.

This week I came across the a useful website by Stanford University lecturer Dr. BJ Fogg http://www.bjfogg.com/

BJ teaches about how to develop tiny habits.  A tiny habit is:

  • something you do at least once per day
  • that takes you less than 30 seconds
  • that requires little effort

BJ says that simplicity changes behaviour so make sure your habit is easy to do.

You can go to BJ’s site and try out his Tiny Habits® program to create new behaviors in your life.  I have decided to give it a go and my tiny habits for the week will be as follows:

  • “AFTER my feet touch the floor in the morning, I will say “It’s going to be a great day.”
  • “AFTER I hear any phone ring, I will exhale and relax for 2 seconds.”
  • “After I put my head on the pillow I will think of one good thing from my day”

A tiny habit is designed to come after an existing habit.  In one of the above examples putting my head on the pillow is the trigger for the new tiny habit to occur.  Linking your new habit to an existing habit is key to doing the new habit.

The idea is to take a very simple habit you want to create for starters.  Once you get practice on creating simple habits then you can take on the creation of bigger habits.

I will post an update on how it goes and of course you are free to join me on the tiny habit challenge – just go to BJ’s site for more details.

If you would like to learn more about habits I recommend the books below.  There is also an app below (called the Habit Factor) which you can use on your smartphone or tablet which is an excellent way to track your positive habits.  I used this app and found it to be very useful.

 

 

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