Imagine if you could change your behavioral habits without relying on willpower.
B.J. Fogg, a human behavior researcher at Stanford University, has come up with a reliable method he calls “Tiny Habits” to form new habits.
In the process of habit change, he has found that simplicity is more critical than motivation or willpower, and Fogg has simplified his nightly flossing routine down to the most basic behavior: cleaning only one tooth.
This may sound trivial, but Fogg believes that starting small is key. What he needed to learn was how to automate the flossing habit, which required simplicity far more than motivation.
This same principle applies to achieving our fitness goals.
Fogg’s Behavioral Model
Based on basic insights about habit formation, Fogg developed the Fogg Behavioral Model. This habit-forming framework suggests that “if a behavior is really easy, you don’t need much motivation to do it. However, if the behavior is difficult, you need a lot of motivation.”
Research shows that neither motivation nor willpower are reliable. Eventually, when you feel hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, you lose the motivation to continue sticking to a habit that requires a lot of motivation.
The rule for forming new habits is: the simpler the better.
What can you do today to get closer to your goal?
Damien Patrick, Fitplan athlete
The role of emotions in habit formation
Fogg also emphasizes the role of emotions in creating and reinforcing habits. When you feel positive emotions immediately following a new behavior, that behavior becomes more automatic.
After a week of starting to floss a few teeth, Fogg gradually increased the number of teeth he cleaned, and after a few weeks, flossing every night became a no-effort routine activity.
When new behaviors require little effort, you’re more likely to stick with them because you have no reason not to do them.
Anchor the new habit to an existing routine:
The final piece of the habit-forming puzzle is how to remind yourself to perform the new habit.In his research, Fogg found that the most effective way to trigger a new behavior is to combine it with an existing routine.
For example, if you want to complete a Fitplan workout once a day, you should link the new habit to a similar existing routine, such as drinking coffee. That way when you finish your coffee, you have a signal to open the Fitplan app and start your favorite athlete’s workout.
Setting clear intentions becomes very important. You want to anchor your new habit to something you’re already doing every day.
“After I do _, I’ll do __.”
Try it! Think of a habit you’d like to adopt right now and write down a small habit recipe right away. Then follow the behavior design process below.
Small Habit Approach:
Here’s a step-by-step process for applying Fogg’s tiny habit method to form a new habit Title:
Stanford Expert Reveals How the Power of Tiny Habits Shapes Big Transformations
