Mini Habits by Stephen Guise

Discover the Life-Changing Strategy of This Worldwide Bestseller in 17 Languages! UPDATED: Includes the best habit tracking apps of 2017. Lasting Change For Early Quitters, Burnouts, The Unmotivated, And Everyone Else Too When I decided to start exercising consistently 10 years ago, this is what actually happened: I tried "getting motivated." It worked sometimes.I tried setting audacious big goals. I almost always failed them.I tried to make changes last. They didn't. Like most people who try to change and fail, I assumed that I was the problem. Then one afternoon--after another failed attempt to get motivated to exercise--I (accidentally) started my first mini habit. I initially committed to do one push-up, and it turned into a full workout. I was shocked. This "stupid idea" wasn't supposed to work. I was shocked again when my success with this strategy continued for months (and to this day). I had to consider that maybe I wasn't the problem in those 10 years of mediocre results. Maybe it was my prior strategies that were ineffective, despite being oft-repeated as "the way to change" in countless books and blogs. My suspicions were correct. Is There A Scientific Explanation For This? As I sought understanding, I found a plethora of scientific studies that had answers, with nobody to interpret them correctly. Based on the science--which you'll find peppered throughout Mini Habits--we've been doing it all wrong. You can succeed without the guilt, intimidation, and repeated failure associated with such strategies as "getting motivated," New Year's Resolutions, or even "just doing it." In fact, you need to stop using those strategies if they aren't giving you great results. Most popular strategies don't work well because they require you to fight against your subconscious brain (a fight not easily won). It's only when you start playing by your brain's rules and taking your human limitations seriously--as mini habits show you how to do--that you can achieve lasting change. What's A Mini Habit? A mini habit is a very small positive behavior that you force yourself to do every day; its "too small to fail" nature makes it weightless, deceptively powerful, and a superior habit-building strategy. You will have no choice but to believe in yourself when you're always moving forward. The barrier to the first step is so low that even depressed or "stuck" people can find early success and begin to reverse their lives right away. And if you think one push-up a day is too small to matter, I've got one heck of a story for you! Aim For The First Step They say when you aim for the moon, you'll land among the stars. Well, that doesn't make sense, as the moon is closer than the stars. I digress. The message is that you should aim very high and even if you fall short, you'll still get somewhere. I've found the opposite to be true in regards to productivity and healthy behaviors. When you aim for the moon, you won't do anything because it's too far away. But when you aim for the step in front of you, you might keep going and reach the moon. I've used the Mini Habits strategy to get into the best shape of my life, read 10x more books, and write 4x as many words. It started from requiring one push-up from myself every day. How ridiculous is that? Not so ridiculous when you consider the science of the brain, habits, and willpower. The Mini Habits system works because it's how our brains are designed to change. Note: This book isn't for eliminating bad habits (some principles could be useful for breaking habits). Mini Habits is a strategy to create permanent healthy habits in: exercise, writing, reading, thinking positively, meditating, drinking water, eating healthy foods, etc. Lasting change won't happen until you take that first step into a strategy that works. Give Mini Habits a try. You won't look back.

[I am adding this sentence to my review: Months after having finished this book, I must honestly say that it has changed my life for the better.]

I liked it very much and find his ideas really helpful. I have already begun applying the idea of mini habits and it is making things easier for me. People complain about a bit of repetitiveness, but that's OK; it really doesn't detract from the message. And if it is annoying, that just means you don't have to read every word to get the point!

A good book and I recommend it to anyne struggling with consistency and good habits.

About the book: Mini Habits explains the logic behind an innovative approach to achieving your goals. Motivation and ambition aren't necessarily what will drive you to success; rather, it's your small day-to-day habits that will really get you on the right track. Learn how to harness their power with these blinks.

About the author: Stephen Guise is a writer, blogger and researcher who specializes in personal growth and fun learning. His latest book is called How to Be an Imperfectionist.

My highlights:
Most of our lives are governed by our habits. And a lot of our daily activities are governed by habit
When stressed and incapable of making a decision, we resort to our habits.
The first few weeks will be a struggle because those neural pathways are still weak. But soon enough, your brain will strengthen the connection
Our brains feature a powerful habit-forming system.
The prefrontal cortex has one major flaw: it gets tired fast. Making the right decisions is in fact a huge energy drain. While we might find it easy enough to resist that tub of ice cream in the freezer for most hours of the day, chances are that your prefrontal cortex will give up once it's gotten tired. At this point, your basal ganglia will take over and you'll suddenly find yourself holding a big bowl of cookies and cream again!
Willpower, not motivation, is the best tool for creating good habits.
Willpower's benefits are well known to psychologists.
Every time you create a new positive habit, such as meditating each day, you flex your own willpower muscle.
Willpower, unlike motivation, is dependable. You can build it up, and once you do, you can rely on it.
Mini habits are the most efficient investment for your limited willpower.
You can avoid the loss of willpower with minor, almost ridiculously tiny goals. After all, the main threats to our willpower are effort, perceived difficulty and fatigue – why not choose a target that only takes a little effort?
The greatest hurdle we usually face is the first one: going from inertia to mobility. With a mini habit that helps you start small, you can be sure to start smoothly.
Mini habits have a whole host of additional benefits.
Mini habits are also great at making you feel like you're in control. Humans hate the feeling of being out of control, or worse, being controlled by others. We like to make our own decisions, which is what makes us happiest.
Mini habits boost your self-esteem.
Plan and develop your mini habits carefully.
First, choose your habits wisely. You can start with a list of habits that you'd like to have at some point in your life.
Next, ask yourself why these habits are appealing to you; this is to ensure that you've got the right motivations.
With a list of motivated habits established, it's time to create mini habits to match.
Mini habits shouldn't be daunting at all. They should be so small that you can incorporate several of them into your daily routine, starting out with two or three per day.
Habit cues are signals that remind you it's time to perform your mini habit.
Monitor your progress and don't forget to reward yourself.
It's not just the goal that your habits lead to that's important. Developing a daily routine that is full of helpful rituals is something you can be proud of too.

Final summary
Instead of trying to motivate yourself to achieve daunting goals, take things one step at a time. By building up a routine of positive mini habits, you'll give yourself the chance to enjoy small successes every day, while making real progress toward your true aspirations.