Changing our behaviors can feel like a monumental task. We pressure ourselves to go big or go home. Not surprisingly, these big expectations are often unrealistic, and that’s a recipe for disappointment and self-criticism.
Instead, we should think small — as in tiny behaviors that can become habits. The idea is to make these behavior changes so small that they’re easy to do, according to BJ Fogg, a behavior scientist at Stanford University and author of the new book Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything.
“It’s easier to create habits and change than most people think, and it’s faster than most people think,” Fogg says. “It can even be fun, if you do it in the right way.”