Tiny Habits

You can turn off your phone. You can eat a carrot. You can open a textbook and read five pages. These are actions that you can do at any given moment. In contrast, you can’t achieve an aspiration or outcome at any given moment. You cannot suddenly get better sleep. You cannot lose twelve pounds at dinner tonight. You can only achieve aspirations an

As you know, motivation and willpower get a lot of airtime. People are always looking for ways to ramp them up and sustain them over time. The problem is that both motivation and willpower are shape-shifters by nature, which makes them unreliable.

but prompts are the low-hanging fruit of Behavior Design.

The Anatomy of Tiny Habits 1. ANCHOR MOMENT An existing routine (like brushing your teeth) or an event that happens (like a phone ringing). The Anchor Moment reminds you to do the new Tiny Behavior. 2. NEW TINY BEHAVIOR A simple version of the new habit you want, such as flossing one tooth or doing two push-ups. You do the Tiny Behavior immediately

People often believe that motivating themselves toward an aspiration will lead to lasting change. So people focus on aspirations.

The assumption is this: If we give people the right information, it will change their attitudes, which in turn will change their behaviors. I call this the “Information-Action Fallacy.” Many products and programs—and well-meaning professionals—set out to educate people as a way to change them. At professional conferences they say stuff like, “If pe

MOTIVATION AND ABILITY HAVE A COMPENSATORY RELATIONSHIP

information alone does not reliably change behavior. This is a common mistake people make, even well-meaning professionals.

My Recipe—Tiny Habits Method After I . . . I will . . . To wire the habit into my brain, I will immediately: brush my teeth, floss one tooth.