“The easier a behavior is to do, the more likely the behavior will become a habit.” BJ Fogg, Author of Tiny Habits
We all have a reluctant Elephant. While our Rider wants to lose weight, train at least three times a week, and look and feel better, the rest of our brain likes things just the way they are. Any time we suggest stepping outside the comfort of our daily routines, it raises red flags in our brains. The bigger the ask, the stiffer the resistance the Elephant will put up, and as you know, in this contest, the Rider is totally outmatched.
The First Rule of Behavior Change, Shrink the Habit, is the best strategy for developing good habits. It is also the most counterintuitive of the three rules of behavior change. Why start with small daily commitments when you want to make the most rapid progress possible?
The first reason is that we are focused on developing the habits that will produce the goal instead of the goal itself. It’s a subtle distinction but a massive shift in mindset. I’ll expand on this systems-first philosophy in the execution chapter. The second reason is that small commitments will produce more progress through greater consistency.
The overarching idea is that Shrinking the Habit makes it easier to start, so you never procrastinate. After you meet your mini-commitment, you are encouraged to do as much as you feel like doing. The key is to design the minimum requirement based on what you could force yourself to do under the worst possible circumstances.
The concept of breaking big tasks into small ones is probably familiar to you. We’ve all used this method to make large projects feel less intimidating. Shrinking the Habit works on the same principle. It prevents our Rider from looking too far into the future and becoming exhausted, unable to direct the Elephant.
Our goal with these mini requirements is to achieve 100% consistency. We want to develop the habit of winning as much as the behavior we are shrinking to silly small proportions. These early wins will engineer hope and optimism by programming our subconscious to expect success.
Winning is winning, as far as your brain is concerned. Repetition and rewards are how you condition your subconscious to expect success. Every time you register the completion of a habit on your habit tracker, it will give you a satisfying shot of dopamine that makes you feel like a winner. If you have calories remaining, you could reward yourself for completing all your daily commitments with a small treat; moderation is the key.
Shrinking the Habit allows us to build a rock-solid foundation to weather our worst days and thrive on our good ones. It is rigid and flexible in all the right places. You’ll use willpower to force yourself to start and motivation to keep going past the initial requirement. Your Rider will never feel overwhelmed, and your Elephant won’t feel bullied.
It’s an amazingly simple system that will allow you to make progress on days that you would otherwise do nothing, with the weak promise of I’ll do better tomorrow. As you know, tomorrow is a terrible plan, especially if you are trying to develop a habit.
I’m excited to share this life-changing strategy with you and show you why it is superior to 99% of the self-improvement strategies on the market. I’ll show you the many flaws with the standard motivation approach to self-improvement that ignores the schizophrenic nature of our brain, why willpower is a superior starting strategy to motivation, and why progress is better at generating motivation than inspirational speeches.
My second book, Lean by Habit – A Bulletproof Plan for Body Transformation is NOW available on Kindle. If you prefer audio, did you know that the Alexa App can read Kindle books while you’re driving or going about your day?
SAMPLE THE FIRST HOUR FOR FREE:Â leanbyhabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/LEAN-BY-HABIT-Better-1.m4a
Small Changes, Fantastic Results
If you are looking for a simple, common-sense approach to weight loss that creates a strong-firm body for life, Lean by Habit is it! It contains everything you need to get in great shape. You’ll have eight free downloadable training programs to choose from based on your goals, a flexible diet, a habit tracker scorecard, and other execution-focused materials to help you succeed.
Lean by Habit combines the best behavioral and exercise science to produce outstanding results through short-daily bouts of exercise. Fifteen minutes is all you need to start getting leaner, fitter, and stronger.
If you are motivated to improve how you look and feel, the time to act is NOW! Don’t give your motivation a chance to wane and your excuses time to talk you out of it. When it comes to improving your life, there is no place better to start than with your habits, and there is no better program than this one to help you do it.
Click HERE to get it delivered to your device and start taking those small steps that produce tremendous results. Act now before the book increases to its normal price of $9.99.
This book contains:
- The Three-Step Process for Behavior Change
- The Four Elements of Execution
- Eight Programs (with downloadable training logs)
- A Habit Tracker Weight Loss Scorecard
- Flexible Diet
The  AUDIBLE and PRINT versions will be available in November 2024.
If I can help you overcome challenges or answer questions, please email me at LeanByHabit@gmail.com.
Is there a better investment than the one you make in yourself? Purchase Lean by Habit NOW and start making the small changes that add up to spectacular results.
All the best,
Jeff Emblen
Author of Lean By Habit and The Fat Loss HabitÂ
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