Tiny Habits
The Small Changes That Change Everything
Behavior model
Model
- Prompt
- ← {0, 1}
- binary variable
- if not prompted, behavior will not occur
- Motivation
- ← [0, 1]
- positively correlated with likelihood of behavior
- motivation is fickle and can’t generally be relied upon
- Ability
- ← [0, 1]
- positively correlated with likelihood of behavior
- behaviors can be made easier by
- scaling down
- starter steps
- repetition
Let B = Likelihood of behavior occurring
B = M * A * P
Implications
- If you want a behavior to occur
- ensure there is a prompt at the right place and time
- when motivation is low, ensure the behavior is easy
- if you want a behavior not to occur
- remove the prompts when possible
- when motivation is high, ensure the behavior is difficult
Prompts
People Prompts
- internal cues
- examples
- stomach growls
- have to pee
- just remember
- when evolutionary adapted for survival → reliable
- otherwise → extremely unreliable
Context Prompts
- examples
- alarms
- reminders
- Todo lists
- sticky notes
Action Prompts (anchors)
- after I do X, I will do Y
- behavior sequencing
- what comes after what?
- like a computer program
Celebration
- After performing a tiny habit, celebrate.
- Emotions create habits
- This
Rehearsal
Celebrate 3 times.
When remembering to do habit
While doing habit
Immediately after habit