Source: independent.co.uk
Big goals are overwhelming and usually paralyzing that can simply become obstacles rather than compelling destinations that pull one towards them. Habits are a set of behaviors that are triggered, done and followed by a reward that you are usually after. They can be a reasonable means of accomplishing your goals. You do something on a regular basis until that type of behavior gives you the specific reward that represents your goal. Despite sounding so easy, in fact, it is not. Sometimes, we are also procrastinating from starting the habit formation itself.
However, a very good suggestion in these types of situations comes from the Stanford Professor BJ Fogg, who advices to start a new habit with something that is very small that you simply cannot say no to. As times passes by, that type of habit will itself expand, as you might even be surprised then.
Let’s say that you are interested in writing a book, which in this case is a goal. If you find yourself constantly procrastinating rather than starting writing the book, you can identify a particular mini steps of actions that you can do in a short period of time. An example can be writing 3 sentences every day before breakfast. It might seem as a very small number of lines, but sometimes you might find yourself in the mood of righting a lot more lines. However, there might also come times, when you just don’t seem to feel like you are ready or that you are capable of writing them. During these situations, that mini habit of writing 3 sentences of that book which you plan to publish becomes very helpful.
This technique of setting a bottom line of a particular habit and not skipping it is something that can be considered as a very good method of changing the habits. A lot of people who want to start a new habit set the bar too high, and are very harsh towards themselves, thus not allowing any margin for error and recovery. The bottom line on the other hand begins with something that is very small and that can be acted upon almost always and that can be expanded during the days when one is motivated and in the zone.
This sounds very simple, which in fact is, but nobody is actually doing or sticking to it. Knowing something is quite different and is not sufficient to benefit from it. Knowledge followed by action is what most of the time differentiates those that get the results they desire.
