Encourage New Habits By Stacking Them On Top Of Pre-Existing Habits

Developing a new habit — or changing a bad one — takes a lot of work and patience, and your process is essential to whether you succeed or not. Instead of starting a new habit out of the blue, stack it on top of another habit you already have.

In the TEDx talk you can watch above, behaviour guru BJ Fogg explains why change comes best in small steps. He also suggests that you look to the habits you already have for support. We all have habits already, so why not piggyback and stack a new habit on top of that one. Fogg’s example of this is doing push-ups every time he uses the restroom. He started just by doing one push-up every time he went, but over time he now does eight push-ups every time. Once you’ve stacked one habit, why not stack another? After you do push-ups — or whatever your version is — stack on having a glass of water. Baby steps are key, and — as Fogg demonstrates — pumping yourself up with a vocal “I’m awesome!” never hurt anyone.

Forget big change, start with a tiny habit [YouTube]