I’m fascinated by the science behind behaviour change, especially in the area of habit formation and how emotions influence one’s ability form new habits. In my experience, when there is difficulty adopting new habits, it’s rarely due to a lack of will! The difficulty is often due to a myriad of barriers. Stress, fatigue, negative self-talk, conflicting social influences, impatience, a lack of accountability, fear of failure and overwhelm are common barriers I observe when it comes to forming desirable habits.

I also observe that many people wait for (and rely on) motivation as a prompt to change habits. The thing is, motivation is incredibly unreliable and it can dwindle pretty quickly! It’s the systems and habits in our lives that will shape outcomes, not motivation.

So what’s the solution? Start with Ridiculously Small Steps.

Start with steps so small they seem almost ridiculous. Want to read more? Start with one page a day. Want to get to bed earlier? Start with 5 mins earlier. Want to drink more water? Start with 1 extra cup each day. Want to eat better? Start with a few extra mouthfuls of some veggies each day. Want to move more? Start with 1 extra minute of movement per day. The smaller the step, the less resistance you’ll feel, and the more likely you are to stick with it.

The beauty of tiny habits is that they often lead to a domino effect. Once you’ve established one small habit, it’s easier to add another. Over time, these little changes can accumulate and lead to substantial changes in mind and body. Before you know it, you’ll have finished that book, or done a 30 min workout, or doubled your veggie intake.

What’s the key to these tiny habits working? You MUST celebrate the small wins!

Don’t underestimate the power of celebrating your tiny wins. When you accomplish a small change, no matter how trivial it may seem, take a moment to acknowledge your achievement. Give yourself a pat on the back (literally), smile to yourself, do a happy dance.. whatever you feel like! This positive reinforcement helps wire your brain to associate the habit with a reward, making it much more likely to stick. It’s not repetition, not self-criticism, not frequency and not star dust that wires new habits into the brain – it’s GOOD feelings!

Tiny works for EVERYONE

If you’re stressed, unmotivated, tired, overwhelmed, tend towards negative-self talk, have conflicting social influences or fear failure – please consider embracing the tiny habits approach. You can still create positive change despite being faced with these barriers. I’ve seen it work, over and over and over again.

“Don’t leave change up to chance, design for it” – BJ Fogg (behaviour change expert and author of ‘Tiny Habits’)