N4L 125: "Tiny Habits" by BJ Fogg

Nonfiction4Life

SUMMARY

Dr. BJ Fogg, founder and director of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University, unveils his breakout book, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. A bright yellow sheath striping the book cover boldly claims, “This Book Will Change Your Life!” Inside the book, Fogg explodes myths promoting traditional approaches to change, explaining why old ideas such as exercising willpower, strengthening resolve, and getting motivated just don’t work. In their place, we learn the Fogg Behavior Model that cracks the code to human behavior by revealing how we actually form new habits. In brief, we can change by simply starting small. Indeed, by starting tiny! Beloved by more than 40,000 students, Fogg himself embodies his own teachings, finding success at every turn by creating Tiny Habits. His advice: "You don't need to procrastinate changing your habits. It's so simple and easy and straightforward!"

KEY POINTS

• Only three things can change behavior: having an epiphany; redesigning an environment; and making tiny, incremental changes that wire in habits.
• Tiny Habits don’t require tapping into willpower or sustaining high levels of motivation.
• Willpower is effective in helping us get things done, but it’s not good for creating habits over time.
• Focus on “wants” rather than on “shoulds.”
• Big aspirations or audacious goals are great, but the way to get to them is through Tiny (consistent) Habits.
• Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, creators of Instagram, found wild success because their original design was very simple.
• “After” is the best place to place a prompt, relying on a routine already in place. Action prompts (AKA: anchors or routines) work best for creating Tiny Habits.
• “Pearl Habits” originate with something that annoys us.
• To be most effective, Tiny Habits should be immediately followed by a celebration.

SOME MYTHS FOGG EXPLODES

• It takes 21 days to create a habit.
• I need to measure my progress in order to create a habit or break one.
• By setting a resolution I can change my habits.
• If I find what’s behind my habit -- the craving -- then I can break it.
• Changing behavior is painful or unpleasant.
• I must have an accountability partner in order to stick to my new habit.
• You should change only one habit at a time.
• The only way to stop a bad habit is to replace it with something else.
• You need to track your behavior daily to form or break a habit.
• As you get older, you lose the ability to change your habits.
• If you repeat a behavior enough, it becomes a habit.

QUOTES BY FOGG

• “Information alone does not reliably change behavior (AKA 'the Information Fallacy').”
• “Help people do what they already want to do.”
• “Behavior change is a skill…but as you practice it, it becomes second nature—just like driving.”
• “Forget about everything you thought you knew about habits and behavior change, and start over! There’s a new and better way of thinking about this.”

BUY Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything

• RECOMMENDATION BUY the movie What About Bob?

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