Creating new habits doesn't have to be hard - in fact, they can be surprisingly easy.
Developed by Dr BJ Fogg, the Fogg Method is one of many popular methods for forming a new habit and claims you can change a behaviour with just 3 simple steps.
1. Start Specific (and small)
- Fogg suggests that the trick to this step is setting a very small and do-able goal, which can easily develop into a habit for example, making sure you walk at least 10,000 steps a day. The easier it is succeed in doing this, the higher the belief in your ability, which motivates you to achieve harder tasks
2. Make it easy
The easier you make a behaviour, the more likely you are to do it. If you've now built yourself up to a goal of say, working out at least 3 time per week, here's a few ways you can make this behaviour easier to carry out:
- Pack your gym bag the night before and lay your clothes and trainers out ready
- Pick a a gym close to your home or work that doesn't require effort to attend
- Do a workout you enjoy
As Dr Fogg says, "it is simplicity that changes a behaviour"
3. Find a Trigger
Triggers are the things that tell people to carry out their behaviour and can be split in to two categories: Internal and External. External triggeres are things like our alarm going off in the morning, triggering not only that it's time to get up , but that it's time to get up and workout, or the act of shutting down your computer, or your boss telling you to go for lunch. Internal triggers are emotions and feelings like hunger, frustration, lethargy, rage, boredom.
As you perform actions from external triggers you’ll associate them with emotions and if repeated enough, internal triggers are formed.
So as a recap - start small, make it easy and find a trigger - the 3 ingredients to creating sustainable habits for life!
