Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything(86)
close my eyes and take three relaxing breaths.
Anchor Moment
Tiny Behavior
Celebration
An existing routine in your life that will remind you to do the Tiny Behavior (your new habit).
The new habit you want but you scale it back to be super tiny—and super easy.
Something you do to create a positive feeling inside of yourself (the feeling is called Shine).
After I dock my computer, I will take a sip of water.
After our team huddle, I will thank the first night-shift person I speak to.
As we taught the nurses to implement the Tiny Habits method in their busy, stressful jobs, we could see that the nurses were changing together despite being so tired and pressed for time.
But that’s not all. The nurses embraced celebration. We took one full class to help them understand how to celebrate their tiny successes and why they should do it. This paid off in a surprising way. The nurses started celebrating their own successes, as we’d hoped. But they also started celebrating one another—a quick clap for a fellow nurse who took a drink of water, a high five after a colleague sat down in the break room, a “Good for you!” after someone took a deep relaxing breath.
We went on to train different groups of people at the hospital. This included emergency room staff and hospital administrators. And we ran a formal research study to measure the effects that Tiny Habits had on the nurses.
Before the nurses started our training, they had completed an anonymous questionnaire about stress and resilience. Three months after our training ended, the nurses answered the same questions again, and the data showed statistically significant improvements in these areas.
“I practice stress-reducing habits daily.”
“I am managing my stress well at work.”
“I practice building resilience techniques throughout my day.”
“I practice healthy habits daily at work.”
“I recognize when something goes well at work.”
“I am able to design positive habits at home.”
Linda and I were pleased that the Tiny Habits method could help tackle such a challenging problem in the workplace. But we were even happier that our efforts helped these healers be less stressed, healthier, and better able to serve those in need.
And I had a big surprise that didn’t come from the research data but from an overall impression: If someone is stressed out, if they are pressed for time, if they feel overwhelmed, they cannot make big changes. And they aren’t likely to even try. I saw that Tiny Habits was the only realistic path that would work for people in that situation. And it may be the only realistic option for you and the people around you.
The Bigger Picture
When you see the world through Behavior Design glasses—viewing behavior as a puzzle to be solved—the realm of the possible opens up well beyond your home or office. We live in a world with no lack of problems big and small. I believe that with the principles of Behavior Design, the methods of Tiny Habits, and the Skills of Change practiced and ready to use, you have everything you need to start solving whatever challenge you face. I’ve seen my students and the professionals I’ve trained use Behavior Design to address problems that seemed intractable. Whether changing together means deepening your relationships, helping your child reach her fullest potential, or improving working conditions for people in high-stress jobs, I hope you see that with the right approach almost any change is possible.
Behavior Design is not a solitary pursuit. With each habit we design, each tiny success we celebrate, and each change we make, we reach beyond our personal lives. We shape our families, communities, and societies through our actions. And they shape us. The behaviors we perpetuate matter. Behavior Design is not just about losing ten pounds or putting the phone down during dinner. It’s about becoming the person you want to be—and creating the kind of family, team, community, and world we want to live in.
Tiny Exercises to Enhance a Group’s Skills of Change
EXERCISE #1: SHARE THE BASICS OF BEHAVIOR DESIGN
Step 1: Ask your work team or family to join you for thirty minutes to learn something new that some Stanford scientist invented.
Step 2: Hand out the Swarm of Behaviors worksheet or have them draw one.
Step 3: Ask people to write an aspiration inside the cloud.
Step 4: Ask them to come up with at least ten behaviors that would lead them to their aspiration. (Give people about five minutes—but you might need to help them.)
Step 5: Ask people to put a star by the five behaviors that would be the most effective in helping them reach their aspiration.
Step 6: Ask people to circle any behavior they could get themselves to do. The behaviors with both stars and circles are their Golden Behaviors. Explain what that means.
Step 7: Have the group share their Golden Behaviors and discuss how they could turn them into reality. If you continue on to designing for new habits, help your team use the Tiny Habits method.
EXERCISE #2: SOLVE A PROBLEM TOGETHER USING BEHAVIOR DESIGN