Tiny Habits, page 29
Share this book or its exercises. Go online and get my templates for the Swarm of Behaviors and use it with friends and family. You’ll find the tiny exercises in this book are effective learning tools at work, church, or school.
Create a family tradition of positive change. Start now no matter how challenging it seems. By sharing the Tiny Habits method and the concept of Shine, you can begin today to support one another in change. As you learn and practice change skills together, you will create a lasting legacy of empowerment.
In 2007 I taught what is probably my most famous class—dubbed the “Facebook Class” by the New York Times. Facebook had just launched its app-hosting platform, and I ran a new course at Stanford to better understand how everyday people using social networks can influence others. Using an early version of my principles and processes, students created apps and set them free in the real world (of social media). They were more successful than I could have imagined. Within six months, the students, without spending any money, had engaged more than twenty-four million people. I saw the awesome potential of Behavior Design to change the world and the awesome responsibility that comes with it.
In this book I’ve shared some important insights about how to think about and design for behavior change. The way I look at it, it’s like many breakthrough discoveries—when you uncover a universal principle, it has the potential to be used for good or evil. You can use the principles of basic chemistry to create fertilizer and life-saving medicines or you can use those same principles to make chemical weapons.
After we wrapped up the Facebook class, I immediately focused on how we could use technology-mediated social influence for perhaps the most ambitious, pie-in-the-sky good of all—world peace. Within three months, I created a new Stanford course called Peace Technology and invited students to join me. This effort expanded after the class ended, and it continues today in research labs and centers around the world under the title of Peace Innovation, with headquarters now based in The Hague.
On a smaller level but with the same lofty ideals, my focus outside of Stanford has been teaching innovators how to create products that improve wellness, financial security, and sustainable practices. The focus on doing good is a natural one for me. I grew up in a religious tradition that made this clear: Where much is given, much is expected. I’ve always believed that.
I recognize that I’ve been fortunate in my work. Over the years, people have opened doors for me, challenged me, and inspired me. As a result, I could focus my research, my innovation efforts, and my life on discovering and articulating the models and methods you have learned here, including the Tiny Habits method. I feel I’ve been given an answer to a puzzle piece by piece. And when it snapped together, I recognized something brand-new but yet so familiar.
Then I had the airplane dream, and I realized that I had failed to share much of my work. And I was deeply troubled by that fact. I believe that it’s not ethical to have the potential to do good and not use it for the benefit of humanity. It would be like finding a cure for cancer and keeping it to yourself.
But I am thankful and thrilled that this book is now a reality and in your hands. (And I’m certainly glad that I’m sleeping better.) If I had that airplane dream today, I would not feel regret. And I can’t wait to see how you’ll use these models and methods to make your life happier, help those around you, and make the world a better place.
I believe this book gives you everything you need to meet whatever challenges come your way and realize whatever dreams you’ve not yet been able to achieve. You now have a system for change, which means you don’t have to guess. You can design for whatever aspiration or outcome you want.
But that’s not all. You can now filter out all that noise and confusion about habits and human behavior. Because you know how behavior works, you know what to pay attention to and embrace, and what to ignore and discard. If an e-mail from a friend comes through about a new exercise or diet program, a quick scan will tell you all you need to know. Will it help you do what you already want to do? Will it help you feel successful? The answers to those questions are freeing because if the change program doesn’t satisfy these two requirements, it’s not worth your time.
The quality of our life on planet Earth depends on the choices we make every day—choices about how we spend our time, how we live our lives, and most important, how we treat ourselves and others. I’m sad to see how people seem more bitter, divided, and overwhelmed than ever these days. We are, as a global community, increasingly disconnected from ourselves and other people. The first step toward fixing what ails us is to embrace feeling better.
Habits are a means to this end.
They teach us the Skills of Change, and they propel us toward our dreams, and they add more Shine to the world. By embracing feelings of success and adding more goodness to your day-to-day life, you are making the world brighter not only for yourself but also for others. You are vanquishing shame and guilt, and you are freeing yourself and others who have endured a lifetime of self–trash talk.
The most profound transformations you’ve read about in this book are not about discrete habits being formed; they are about essential shifts in experience. From suffering to less suffering. From fear to hope. From being overwhelmed to feeling empowered. These shifts were made because Amy, Juni, Linda, Sarika, Sukumar, Katie, Mike, and others decided to embrace feeling good and use it as a lever for greater change. In doing so, they overcame devastating circumstances, cyclical dysfunction, and years of self-criticism. They regained control of their lives and discovered what we all are capable of making—the small changes that change everything.
I’ve created additional materials for you in the appendix. If you want more tools and resources—such as case studies, worksheets, and teaching outlines—you’ll find them at TinyHabits.com/resources.
Acknowledgments
This book became a reality mostly because shortly after my airplane dream Doug Abrams tracked me down, persuaded me to meet for lunch at Stanford, and inspired me to share my work in book form (finally). Giving me invaluable guidance through the writing and publishing process, Doug was more than a world-class literary agent. He became a true friend and an ongoing inspiration. Thank you, Doug, so very much.
Doug introduced me to Lauren Hamlin, who became my closest collaborator in transforming my research insights and hands-on experience into polished prose on the page. She brought her East Coast toughness to my West Coast optimism, and together we created this thing—a book—that exceeded my expectations. Working with Lauren was a delight. During our time together, I know she made personal sacrifices to get these ideas into your hands, and—I hope—into your hearts and minds. Lauren, the words “thank you” are simply not adequate to express how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me.
My sincere thanks to Lara Love for helping me make the commitment to this book and for providing guidance at critical moments. I also very much appreciate the careful work of Katherine Vaz, who scrutinized every word, every idea, and every transition in this book. I admire your charm when you needed to give me bad news, and your dedication to helping me communicate each idea better.
I will be forever grateful to the entire publishing team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, especially Bruce Nichols. Thank you for your confidence in my work and your passion to bring my insights about human behavior to a wide audience. Working with you and your team has been fun and uplifting.
I’d also like to thank all the editors and publishers who are bringing the book to a global market: Joel Rickett at Ebury for his editorial insights; Caspian Dennis, Sandy Violette, and the team at Abner Stein; Camilla Ferrier, Jemma McDonagh, and the team at the Marsh Agency.
Long before I dove into creating this book, people helped me move my work forward. I give thanks to my long-time collaborator and friend, Tanna Drapkin. As we worked together at Stanford and elsewhere for many years, Tanna has provided strengths in areas where I was weak and energy when I was tapped out. No one has supported my work longer or more thoroughly than Tanna.
Others at Stanford University stepped up over the years to champion my research, teaching, and innovation. Many people inspired me and opened opportunities along the way, including Byron Reeves, Terry Winograd, Roy Pea, Keith Devlin, Martha Russell, Phil Zimbardo, and the late Cliff Nass. I’m also grateful to others at Stanford who helped me in ways they may not even realize, including Jennifer Aaker, John Perry, Tom Robinson, Bill Verplank, Tina Seelig, and David Kelley.
When I first shared Tiny Habits with the world in 2011 by posting a simple invitation on social media, I had no idea this would become a huge part of my professional and personal life. I am grateful to early supporters and champions of the Tiny Habits method, notably Liz Guthridge and Linda Fogg-Phillips. There are more people—thousands, in fact—who joined my program and gave feedback and insight. People all over the world have contributed to what you find in this book.
A special thanks to people who shared their stories with me during the writing process. Some of those stories are in this book, and some are not. In either case, your experiences and insights made this book better—and fun to write. My gratitude goes out to Mike Coulter, Emily E., Mallory Erickson, Juni Felix, Linda Fogg-Phillips, TJ Jones, David Kirchhoff, Shirisha N., Margarita Quihuis, Sukumar Rajagopal, and Amy Vest. In addition, I thank others who shared real-life stories and examples with me, including TJ Agulto, Kevin Ascher, Ginger Collins, Roller Derby Renee Schieferstein, Joe Dimilia, Mark Garibaldi, Jonny Goldstein, Kate Hand, Brittany Herlean, Manjula Higginbotham, Maya Hope, Roger Hurni, Judhajit “JD” De, Brendan Kane, Erin Kelly, Ellen Khalifa, Glen Lubbert, Kevin McAlear, Jasmine Morales, Gemma Moroney, Barry O’Reilly, Steve Peterschmidt, Mary Piontkowski, Shirley Rivera, Ramit Sethi, Wingee Sin, Michael Stawicki, Khadija Tahera, Renee Townley, Michael Walter, and Bert Whitaker.
I want to express my deep gratitude to my colleague Stephanie Weldy, who assisted me on most every emergency and every nonemergency in the writing process. She cleared the path for me almost on a daily basis. She oversaw the interviews—real people, true stories—and she helped shape the texture and tone of this book.
The experts I’ve trained in the Tiny Habits method have moved this book forward in ways that are too numerous to list. If you’re a Certified Coach in Tiny Habits, I thank you for investing time in my methods and for your efforts in making this book better for everyone. I’m sure I’ll miss naming some of the most influential coaches (sorry), but here are a few who really stepped up (and who come to mind as I write this): Amy Vest, Juni Felix, Linda Fogg-Phillips, Edith Asibey, Joshua Bornstein, Kristiana Burke, Mike Coulter, Judhajit “JD” De, Charlie Garland, Jonny Goldstein, Kate Hand, Katherine Hickman, Manjula Higginbotham, Joshua Hollingsworth, Jason Koprowski, Shelley Lloyd-Hankinson, Martin Mark, Ruby Menon, Shirley Rivera, Christine Silvestri, Dave Spencer, Deb Teplow, Erwin Valencia, Stephanie Weldy, Michelle Winders, and Misako Yok.
I want to give a special note of thanks to the experts in human emotions who inspired and guided a vital part of this book: James Gross, Lisa Barrett Feldman, Aaron Weidman, and Michele Tugade. Thank you for taking time from your busy lives to help me.
On the broader research side of things—making sure I had my facts straight—I have many people to thank, including Elena Márquez Segura, Brad Wright, and David Sobel. (In addition, David also suggested the name Motivation Wave many years ago at one of my boot camps.)
Before arriving at Stanford, I was fortunate to learn from teachers and mentors who shaped my thinking and challenged me to master valuable skills. These people opened the early doors to what you find in this book: Donna McLelland, Clayne Robison, Kristine Hansen, Don Norton, Bill Eggington, Chauncey Riddle, and John Sterling Harris.
I also want to thank a wide range of people who have supported me from both near and far. These people include David Ngo, Derek Baird, Michael Fishman, Ramit Sethi, Rory Sutherland, Jim Kwik, Joe Polish, Tim Ferriss, David Kirchhoff, Amir dan Ruben, Mark Bertolini, Partha Nandi, Vic Strecher, Kyra Bobinet, Jeffrey Bland, Mark Thompson, Rajiv Kumar, Sohail Agha, Ted Eytan, Tom Blue, Benjamin Hardy, Julien Guimont, Jason Hreha, Hiten Shah, Dean Eckles, Margarita Quihuis, Maneesh Sethi, Tony Stubblebine, Vishen Lakhiani, Barry O’Reilly, Andrew Zimmermann, and Esther Wojcicki.
I want to thank friends in Maui who kept me grounded, active, and optimistic throughout the writing process. (I lived in Maui when writing most of this book. And, yes, that was wonderful.) My thanks go out to Dorothy, Jenn, Mitch, Bob, and Wanda and other friends for checking in and cheering me on. I also want to thank the surfers and SUPers in the Kihei Cove lineup—the regulars in the “dawn patrol”: Tommy, Glenn, Brandice, Dana, Jeff, Rosie, Mitch, John, and the rest of you. When I surfed with you each morning, I didn’t talk much about this book, but your aloha and encouragement energized my mornings so I could work hard the rest of the day. To you, I say mahalo.
I want to give special thanks to my sister Linda, whose generosity in sharing her experiences and heartaches in the service of getting the word out is nothing short of staggering. I am in awe of my big sister once again. A similarly heartfelt thank-you to my parents, Gary and Cheryl Fogg. They have been encouraging me to write this book for ten years. Even at the earliest stages of the Behavior Model and Tiny Habits, they gave helpful feedback and guidance. As you can imagine, when it comes to my life and impact in the world, my family has always been my biggest champions.
And finally, a huge hug to my life partner, Dennis Bills, who has endured my obsession with human behavior every step of the way for more than twenty years. Aside from keeping me nourished and happy, he has lovingly submitted to countless personal experiments and more chatter than is humane about Tiny Habits, Behavior Design, the Behavior Model . . . you get the picture. His unwavering support gave me superpowers to research, learn, apply, and teach what I’ve learned to thousands of people—and with you, the reader of this book.
Appendixes
I’ve included these appendixes to help you better understand and apply my work.
* * *
For additional references and resources related to this book, go to TinyHabits.com/resources.
Enjoy!
Behavior Design: Models, Methods, and Maxims
This graphic gives you a visual overview of some models, methods, and maxims of Behavior Design. I created it to help you see the bigger picture better. If you want to use this graphic (or a newer version) in your work projects or your teaching, please go to BehaviorDesign.info to find out how to do that.
Behavior Design
Models
Methods
How to think clearly about behavior
How to design for behavior
Fogg Behavior Model
B = MAP
Motivation–PAC Person
Motivation Wave
Motivation Vectors
Ability—PAC Person
Ability Chain
Prompts—PAC Person
Tiny Habits (Methods specific to Tiny Habits)
Starter Step
Scale Back
Anchoring (Existing Routine ⃗ New Habit)
Recipe Format: After I_____, I will _____
Recipe Maker Tool
Pearl Habits
Rehearsal: Anchor ⃗ Habit ⃗
Celebration
Celebrating to feel Shine
Other Models in Behavior Design
Swarm of Behaviors
Spectrum of Automaticity
The Skills of Change
The Behavior Change Masterplan
Power Zone Model
Other Methods (Also used with Tiny Habits)
Troubleshooting a behavior: P⃗A⃗M
Swarm of Behaviors Worksheet
Magic Wanding
Focus Mapping (Behavior Matching)
Discovery & Breakthrough Questions
Design Flow: Easier to do
Maxims
#1: Help people do what they already want to do.
#2: Help people feel successful.
Steps in Behavior Design
Fogg Behavior Model
If you want to use this graphic or a version of it, please go to BehaviorModel.org to request permission. You will also find other versions of this graphic at the Behavior Model website.
Fogg Behavior Model
Teaching the Fogg Behavior Model
THE TWO-MINUTE SCRIPT
Step 1: Introduction
Let me explain how behavior works by teaching you the Fogg Behavior Model. This will take about two minutes.
Behavior happens when three things come together at the same moment: Motivation, Ability, and a Prompt.
Step 2: Drawing the graphic
You can visualize this model in two dimensions. Along this vertical axis is the level of Motivation for a behavior, and it can range anywhere from high to low.
Along the horizontal axis is the Ability to do a behavior. It’s also a continuum. On the right is high ability, and I’ll label that side as “easy to do.” On the left side of this axis are behaviors that are “hard to do.”
Step 3: An example
Suppose you want someone to donate to the Red Cross. If they have high motivation, and if it’s easy for that person to do, they will be here in the upper-right corner of the model. When a person here gets prompted to donate, they will do the donation behavior.
In contrast, if someone has low motivation to donate to the Red Cross, and if it’s hard for them to do, they will be here in the lower-left corner. When that person is prompted, they will not do the behavior.
