Start tiny to make big changes
It’s the start of the new calendar year. Clean Slate. Turn the page for a fresh start.
Many people use this time of the year to reflect on the prior year - what went well, what memories you want to revisit, what you want more or less of in your life in the upcoming year. It’s also a traditional time to set big goals, but we know from habit experts that these big goals often flit away from our grasp within a week or two. If we don’t stick to our goals, we actually wire our brains into that habit of setting goals and not attaining them, which is not a place in which anyone wants to live.
This is why we love habit stacking! In fact, we like to call it tiny habit stacking! Habit stacking is when you attach a new activity to an established daily habit. This has the benefits of:
making routines memorable
anchoring your habits to an existing trigger
requiring much less brain effort
BJ Fogg, Stanford behavior scientist, NY Times best selling author of Tiny Habits, and the
world’s leading expert on habit formation, teaches us we have a happier, healthier life by starting small. Start by thinking about behaviors or habits that are already established such as daily hygiene routines (showering, teeth brushing), or expected regular activities, such as your morning beverage, driving to or from work, transition times at school, lunchtime, prep time, the morning announcements, looking at your phone.
Once you have selected your regular habit/activity, attach a tiny action to this such as 2 deep breaths instead of 30 minutes of meditation; 2 squats vs. 30 minutes at the gym; stretch every time you hear the bell at school; smile and say, “It’s going to be a beautiful day,” when you get in your car.
Bj Fogg’s recipe is simple and replicable: After I_________, I will____________. Using this formula cuts down the decision fatigue, helps us to remember what to do, and helps us form a concrete plan. Here are some examples:
After I start my tea kettle, I will take my probiotic
After I get out of bed, I will do 5 shoulder rolls.
After I walk through the doors at school, I will tell myself (insert your intention here).
After I finish dinner, I will move for 30 seconds.
Make this year different. Instead of the big goals, think about something you forget to do (like take your daily vitamin) and attach it to an existing habit or behavior. Or, think of something you want to build into your life like meditation, connecting with others, eating plant based foods, and start small. This is a game changer. You start small and these small changes ripple into the rest of your life. Before you know it, tiny is growing!
Here’s to tiny healthy habit stacking in 2023!
