Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything(3)
After you put your feet on the floor in the morning, immediately say this phrase, “It’s going to be a great day.” As you say these seven words, try to feel optimistic and positive.
The recipe in Tiny Habits format looks like this.
My Recipe for the Maui Habit
After I . . .
I will . . .
To wire the habit into my brain, I will immediately:
wake up and put my feet on the floor,
say, “It ’s going to be a great day.”
A simple recipe for starting each day in the best way using the Tiny Habits method.
Over the years, I’ve helped thousands of people bring the Maui Habit into their lives, and the results have been excellent. It’s certainly been effective in my own life. With the Maui Habit, you can start immediately—and almost effortlessly—toward a better future.
Here are a few variations on this habit to consider.
Some people say a slightly different phrase each morning such as “Today is going to be awesome.” If that phrase or some variation works better for you, adjust as needed.
A few people have changed the timing. Some say this phrase when they look in the mirror in the morning. I’m quite sure that wouldn’t work for me. (I avoid looking in the mirror first thing. Yikes!) But if this spot in your routine works best for you, then go for it.
I suggest you start with the classic version as written on the recipe card, then modify it if needed.
When I do the Maui Habit each morning, I pause for two or three seconds after I say the phrase. I’m still waking up at that point, and I want the idea to sink in.
If you do the Maui Habit and feel that it won’t be a great day, I advise you to still say this phrase. I say it even on mornings when I feel exhausted or overwhelmed or anxious about the day ahead. In that moment, sitting on the edge of my bed, I try to feel optimistic. But if this feels phony, then I adjust the phrase and my intonation as I say, “It’s going to be a great day—somehow.”
I find this oddly helpful even on my worst days. When I’m worried about the day ahead, this statement—even when I say it with a question in my voice—seems to open the door just a crack to actually having a good day. And that’s exactly what happens most days.
Think of the Maui Habit as a simple practice you do each morning in about three seconds. This will show you how easy it is to get started, and it will help you learn the single most important skill in behavior change—feeling successful.
TINY IS SAFE
A friend of mine has an eighteen-month-old baby named Willa who is new to the whole walking thing. The other day Willa was running around our driveway chasing my dog, Millie, and I watched Willa trip and fall about a half-dozen times. Scaling curbs and negotiating sewer grates is tricky business for a toddler, but she kept popping right back up. Willa would squawk a little bit here and there, but she wasn’t actually getting hurt, so why not keep going? If I were the one learning to walk and crashing down on hard pavement, I’d be pretty banged up. At my height—I’m more than six feet tall—falling would hurt more.
The same concept applies to starting a new behavior or habit. If you have never done yoga before, there are multiple places to start—but they all have different levels of risk. You could decide to do one sun salutation or buy a month of unlimited classes at your local studio or hop on a plane for a week-long retreat in India. The investment of time and money and expectation is wildly different with each option. Very few people would take off to India without having stepped foot on a yoga mat. Why? Something in our lizard brains inherently understands how high these stakes would be, which is why it can feel hard to start something new if it is too big. If I can barely surf the gentle waves at Cove Park in Maui, I wouldn’t dare surf the massive swells at Jaws on the other side of Maui. I would likely get hurt, and I might lose all my confidence in surfing, even on small waves. Why would I do that to myself? It doesn’t sound fun. Better stick to Cove Park.
With Tiny Habits, risk doesn’t have to factor into the equation. Tiny can also be undercover. You can start to change without making a big scene. No one will sabotage you. This reduces the pressure on you.
Because these behaviors are so small and the program so flexible, emotional risk is eliminated. There is no real failure in Tiny Habits. There are little stumbles, but if you get up again, that’s not failure—that’s a habit in the making.
TINY CAN GROW BIG
Over the last twenty years, I’ve found that the only consistent, sustainable way to grow big is to start small. Amy, a former student of mine, was a stay-at-home mom who was trying to get an educational-media company off the ground. The idea of being her own boss and doing something she loved was thrilling. But there was so much to think about: hiring new employees, shopping around for office space, deciphering tax codes. She would procrastinate the important stuff, like legal agreements, and chose to work on tasks she loved, like designing her logo. But she was running out of time to build her business plan, and the thought of the venture falling apart in her hands paralyzed her. Amy wanted to get her business off the ground, and she kept making promises to herself that she’d tackle the big stuff soon—but months after the talking, she still hadn’t done any walking.