Book Review: Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, PhD

I find BJ Fogg a fun-loving and curious researcher who really explored human behavior in an exciting way. He created the Behavior Design which involves a theoretical model of human behavior to help people make changes and ultimately reach their goals. It’s interesting to also learn that his research in Stanford on human psychology helped in the development of Facebook and Instagram. No wonder they were able to bring people to use these social media more and more- sadly for some people in an addicting way.

The book showed an interesting perspective on human behavior. While many of us would blame on the lack of “willpower,” when we fail to change, BJ Fogg explains that it’s not a character flaw but a design flaw. It is nearly impossible to rely on willpower to change. He teaches the basic strategies you can do to start making good habits and eradicate the bad- and this is by making everything tiny. Sustainable transformation lies on the secret of tapping into the ability to change, prompt and motivation, following this simple formula, B=MAP.

Behavior= Motivation x Ability x Prompt

For behavior to successfully change, it requires the combination of these three. BJ Fogg, however, doesn’t believe that motivation is a major game changer since it is fickle, unstable and hard to control. He focuses on prompt and ability instead.

How to Use Behavior Design?

BJ Fogg took the time in adding a summary of steps and exercises in between chapters and incorporating Tiny Habits Recipes (at the back of the book) which I find very useful when brainstorming my own recipes and any habits I want to build up and change.

Here’s an example of a Tiny Habit Recipe, following the formula,

After I.... I will…

After I wake up in the morning, I will open my window and take a few deep breaths.

Steps:

1.       Pick an Anchor Moment

Identify an action that already happens automatically in your daily life. For example waking up, brushing your teeth, taking a shower, etc. This becomes your prompt (cue) in attaching your desired behavior.

2.       Insert New Tiny Behavior

Make sure to make the desired behavior very tiny. Instead of going for 1 hour of workout, make it 10 minutes. Making it too hard and unsustainable make you feel all the more frustrated and more likely to give up early on. The logic behind this is that making the tiny small and easy will require less effort to do and will not require much willpower. Conversely, if an hour of workout is too difficult for you, it will require more effort and more reliable to willpower to make the behavior stick. Start with tiny and you will find yourself implementing bigger changes consistently and automatically into your usual daily routine.

3.       Instant Celebrate!

BJ Fogg keeps on stressing how important this step is in enforcing habits. Did you know that by celebrating, you are leveraging your neurochemistry in the brain and making the behavior more addictive? Our bodies produce this dopamine rush making your brain wanting to repeat the behavior in the future. Using the words of BJ Fogg, by celebrating you are “creating a feeling of Shine.” This “shine” makes us feel good and this encourages us to change for the better. Saying “Good job!”, pat on the back or a happy dance right after the tiny habit will encourage you to do more.

Basically, the “Tiny Habit Recipe” is Anchor, Tiny Habit, Celebrate!

If (prompt), then I will (new tiny habit). Then I will (celebrate)!

Be open for adjustment throughout the process. Don’t stay rigid in every Tiny Habit Recipe you create. When the prompt and tiny habit doesn’t seem to fit and show results, simply keep on brainstorming. BJ Fogg illustrates and explains the tools you can use like Swarm of Behavior and Focus Mapping.

My Top Quotations:

“Information alone does not reliably change behavior. This is a common mistake people make, even well-meaning professionals. The assumption is this: If we give people the right information, it will change their attitudes, which in turn will change their behaviors. I call this the “Information- Action Fallacy.”

“There are only three things we can do that will create lasting change: Have an epiphany, change our environment, or change our habits in tiny ways.”

“Do not leave changes to chance. Design for your future deliberately and efficiently so things change for the better in every part of your life.”

“Tiny is mighty when it comes to change.”

“People change by feeling good, not by feeling bad.”

“Habits may be the smallest units of transformation, but they’re also the most fundamental. They are the first concentric circles of change that will spiral out. Think about it.”

“Cultivating habits- good or bad- is a lot like cultivating a garden.”

“Emotion creates habits.”

Who Should Read it?

I think this is a very good read for anyone who wants to improve and grow. If you have difficulty moving from point A to B in anything- from eating habits, productivity, exercise, building relationships, etc. this will help. Whether you are in need of guidance to change or assisting someone to change, the principles in the book is quite universal as it involves the basic behavior of a human being. But of course, reading without applying will have you miss the point as habits are only enforced by doing. It's highly suggested that as you read along, you apply the strategies and integrate in your usual daily routine.