BJ Fogg knows human behavior. If you need some proof his Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford helped tech giants hack human psychology to develop addictive products like Facebook and Instagram. In a somewhat redemptive move, he has renamed his lab the Behavior Design Lab and is now using his groundbreaking theoretical model of human behavior to help people design healthy and happy lives. He calls his approach, Behavior Design.
Far too often, I hear from folks who have decided they “don’t have any willpower” or simply don’t believe they have the ability to change following several failed attempts at improving their health. I believe that every human has the capacity to transform and the issue is often misinformation on how behavior change works, not some deep-seated character flaw.
Behavior change is a skill and BJ Fogg is a wonderful teacher of the skill set. He teaches the basic techniques that give you the power to eradicate bad habits, and install the self-serving habits you desire. Here are some key highlights from his book on ways to start developing the power to change at will.
The theoretical backdrop of all of his work is the Fogg Behavioral Model. Fogg developed a theory of human behavior that goes as follows: Behavior = Motivation x Ability x Prompt (B=MAP). Thus, when looking at changing your behavior, it requires a combination of motivation, ability, and prompt (or cue). Contrary to what we often hear, Fogg doesn’t believe motivation is a particularly useful lever to pull. Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. Instead, Fogg recommends focusing on prompt first and ability second.
Here is how to use this theory practically. Decide on a new habit you’d like to install. For example, meditation or a morning walk. Pick something you have some intrinsic motivation around.
Pick an Anchor Moment. This is where the prompt comes in. Find a habit that already happens automatically in your daily life. Mundane things like waking up, turning off your alarm, brushing your teeth, showering, eating meals, getting dressed, etc. Tie your desired behavior to this existing behavior. This is also referred to as “habit stacking”.
Insert New Tiny Behavior. The key to this step is actually shrinking the desired behavior into the tiniest version of it (ideally something that takes 30 seconds or less). You’d be surprised at how many people resist this principle. I frequently am in conversations with coaching clients who have yet to have any success implementing their desired change but refuse to shrink the goal. Doing nothing somehow seems more palatable than making the goal tiny. Here is the logic. Every time we try to change our habitual behavior it requires a lot of effort and there is a lot of friction to overcome. The bigger the change, the more willpower that is required. If you start tiny, you are more likely to implement the change consistently which eventually makes the behavior automatic. Once it is automatic, the new habit can grow.
Celebrate! This is the part of the Tiny Habit Formula that is easiest to dismiss. It can feel arbitrary and silly. It’s actually important. When you celebrate, you are leveraging your own neurochemistry to make the behavior addictive. By celebrating ( or as Fogg says, creating a feeling of “shine”) you are conjuring up a tiny dopamine rush, which makes your brain more likely to repeat the behavior in the future. This is how we learn, adapt, and even become addicted to things. Use this to become attached to your new habit. This can be as simple as telling yourself, “I’m awesome”, “Good work”, or as elaborate as a happy dance. It should be something you can do immediately after you do the tiny habit.
Fogg combines these steps into a framework called a “Tiny Habit Recipe”. Use this to create a behavioral recipe for your desired habit. The basic format for a tiny habit recipe is: If (prompt), then I will (new tiny behavior). Then you celebrate. Don’t stress that your tiny habit is not the full, ideal version of the habit. Fogg reminds us that these “tiny habits” are simply habit seeds. Once we plant them by consistently doing the small version of the habit, the behavior is able to grow.
What is one tiny habit you’d like to adopt? Write your own tiny habit recipe and practice the skill of behavior change in your own life. Let me know how it goes!