You already know that habits have the power to transform your life.
The other day we shared a podcast with the coaches about a man who says he does 2 push ups every time he visits the bathroom.
Now, even though this sounds a little weird, because we wouldn’t recommend doing push ups in the bathroom (maybe right outside the bathroom?!) … the basic info was solid.
It was all about making realistic changes in your lifestyle to support your goals.
The man--BJ Fogg--is actually a Stanford behavioral scientist who studies how people create routines and change habits.
He used his 2 push up habit to kick start another “tiny” but healthy change in his life.
And do you know what happened?! They all added up to a 20+ pound weight loss in just a few months.
He wrote a book about it called Tiny Habits. He also came up with a formula that outlines how to make these changes automatic, so you don’t even have to really think about them:
"Behavior (B) happens when Motivation (M), Ability (A), and a Prompt (P) come together at the same time."
This basically means that to make a lasting behavior change (habit), you need to piece 3 things:
- Motivation: You have to WANT to make a change. If you think you SHOULD make a change but you aren’t really into it, it won’t stick.
- Prompt: This is a reminder to do the behavior. It could be something like going to the bathroom or opening the refrigerator door or setting a timer or alarm on your phone. Or, your reminder could be a reward … if you want to check your phone, you need to do 5 squats first.
- Ability: Not only you should be physically able to do the behavior, but also have the time and space to do it. Doing those 5 squats takes a lot less time and is much easier than running 1 mile!
Over time, this formula adds up to habits (and results) that can stick for a lifetime.
One of the things we really like about this approach is that it is super achievable.
He set the bar low – rather than making himself do 10 push ups, he just did 2. That gets rid of the dread factor!
Then he built it up from there, adding or changing a few behaviors as they occurred to him, eventually creating dozens of reflexive changes in his daily life!
Pretty awesome, right?
REFERENCES:
www.insider.com/stanford-researcher-bj-fogg-weight-loss-push-ups-routine-2020-1
