I had a lot of positive responses to my post on breaking down your habits into smaller goals. Today I want to go a little bit further on that subject and get into anchoring habits.
Anchoring your habits, just means you tie them to something else you are already doing. This way you don't have to start a completely new routine, you just add on to what you already do.
This is a great video from Dr. BJ Fogg on starting with very small changes to reach big goals:
In case you don't have time to watch the video, I want to give you the highlights and action steps.
There are 3 ways for change to happen:
1. You need some level of motivation
2. The ability to make the change
3. Something to trigger the behavior
If you are reading this right now, then you are already motivated to make a change in your life. Or you are one of my family members. Thanks fam.
And if you are breathing, you have some ability to make the change.
But do you have a trigger yet? That is a key part most of us are missing.
Here is Fogg's Formula for a "Tiny Habit"
An example he uses is: After I pee, I will do 2 pushups. Sounds very doable right? I don't recommend pushups on a bathroom floor, but I think this is a great habit. And then you slowly build on that, adding more pushups after every bathroom break.
There are so many ways you could use this! To get back to our example from Monday, you could use: After I brush my teeth at night, I will turn my cell phone off
Figure out what you want to change, find a tiny habit that supports your goal, and then anchor it to something you are doing right now.
PS- if you need help with this, Dr. Fogg's web site offers a 5 Day Tiny Habits session at no cost. You can read more here ---->Tiny Habits