Tiny magical goals
When my dentist cheered "Your gums
look really good!", I wanted share with you all how it happened! I learned
about changing tiny habits from this fabulous TEDx talk by BJ Fogg, a social
scientist from Stanford University:
He says we can very easily make very small changes that will
stick. Small changes add up to large changes. Just like every body of water starts with just one drop! It reminds
me of some effective workout goals: dress in your workout clothes, or step
outside to your sidewalk or drive to the gym. The rest of the workout happens
without much notice!
So, here is one of BJ's first examples. I tried it and with very little effort, I had amazing results! Begin flossing
just one tooth each time you brush your teeth. After you do it, you must
celebrate. The positive emotion will help your brain remember.
BJ shares another personal example about pushups. BJ wanted to
start doing push-ups throughout the day. So he began doing two push-ups each time
he peed. After a while, he added another pushup, then another until, he was
doing around seven push-ups per pee. Now BJ does quite a lot of push-ups
each day, with very little effort. I will try this next!
HOW IT WORKS
The way I see it, you need a TRIGGER, a SIMPLE habit, and a
CELEBRATION.
1.A "trigger" is something that
you ALREADY do (pee, brush teeth, etc.) which will remind you to do your NEW
SIMPLE HABIT.
2.The SIMPLE HABIT needs to be TINY, as in one
tooth or one minute or one pushup.* Here are many
examples of tiny habits you
may want to try!
3.Finally, you must CELEBRATE! This need not
be extravagant. An audible "Awesome!", a fist in the air, or a
"Yessss!" will all work.
Years ago, I abandoned regular floss for
the ease of a REACH flosser. By BJ’s FOGG Method, within a week or two, I
accomplished regular flossing without even consciously deciding to make it a
goal! Suddenly, I am flossing the old fashioned way, TWICE a day!, and it is no
burden at all!
Next up for me are push-ups, and the possibilities are ENDLESS!
BJ offers a FREE 5-day program EVERY WEEK to anyone interested: the Tiny Habits Program to make the process even easier! Sign up by any Friday, to begin on the following Monday, to get email updates and
advice as you quickly ingrain awesome new habits!
*BJ also discusses the importance of choosing the best tiny habit by considering MOTIVATION (your reasons for doing your habit) and ABILITY (for example, if you want to do pushups, but you cannot physically do one yet, success is unlikely). One other important factor BJ suggests is to get SPECIFIC...always important with SMART goal setting!
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What are you going to try? How will you celebrate? I absolutely love this idea, process, that a program is offered to help, and how well it works!
