Does this sound familiar? You try to add a new habit and for a while, it goes well….until life gets in the way. The new exercise routine gets pushed aside when work gets busy. Your vow to keep the house clean slowly goes down the (messy) toilet. Having your child read/do chores/cook/ over the summer goes nowhere because he is so darn resistant.
On today’s show, we have a leading expert who shows us that building new habits doesn’t need to be hard. No, it can actually be easy, rewarding, and even fun (his words). We’re just going about it the wrong way.
BJ Fogg is director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, focusing on methods for creating habits and behavior change. He spends half his time in industry and the other half teaching at Stanford. He got his start focusing on how to change behavior utilizing mobile phones and over the years, improving health has become a theme. In December of 2011, Fogg created the Tiny Habits method. His Tiny Habits program has helped over 40,000 people create sustainable and lasting habits. He shares his wisdom and after listening to this episode you’ll never look at behavior change the same way again.
Jump Ahead
Highlights from the Show:
- The three components of behavior that must occur for that behavior to become a habit.
- The best way to stop a bad behavior and add a positive one, and why adding new behaviors is a better approach.
- How to add new behaviors using the Tiny Habits Method, and why it is incredibly useful for helping children form positive habits.
- Top misconceptions about behavior change that hold people back (and why it’s easier to create habits than people think).
- Why it’s so hard to create a habit abound something you don’t want or see as painful.
- The most important question to ask: “where does this new behavior fit naturally in my day?”
- How our culture misleads us into believing transformational change is better than incremental change when clearly it’s the other way around.
- Why effective behavior change is like growing a plant and has nothing to do with willpower.
Quote from the show
The skill of habit formation is a design challenge, it’s not a willpower challenge.
Take the Tiny Habits Challenge
Summer and the beginning of school are great times to create new habits. Sign up for Tiny Habits free 5-day habit challenge. Someone will send emails to you, coaching you as aim to create 3 tiny habits. Why not pick a few tiny habits to start with your kids too?
Links
Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab
Top 10 Mistakes of Behavior Change
Duration: 29:23
Download episode
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Podcast Music: Corporate Uplifting by Scott Holmes
I like the idea of adding in positive habits. Eventually, they crowd out the dysfunctional habits. I think it could also work with healthy eating. Taking a more abundant mindset toward food by adding in healthy foods but not “depriving” oneself by taking away all unhealthy foods.
Yes, it works for anything!