Why You Should Start Small When Forming Habits

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Last week I shared my end of year review and 2019 goals. It’s that time of year when people are making resolutions to try and improve themselves. On the one hand, I really like the initiative that people take in making resolutions and the optimism they are approached with. On the other hand, various statistics point out that nearly 80% of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned be February and never become habits.

So does this mean resolutions are worthless? Should we stop making them? No, I think we just need to go about making them in a different way.

Building a Streak

One of my goals for 2019 was to do 50 pushups per day. So far it’s been 3 weeks, and I haven’t missed a single day. Now while I consider this a success so far, it hasn’t been easy. My chest has been so sore, there have been plenty of days I didn’t feel like doing them, and there have been some pushups done right before bed.

It hasn’t become habit or routine yet, but I have been driven to check off the box and keep my streak alive. Jerry Seinfeld calls this the “chain effect” where once you have a daily streak going, you’re driven to avoid breaking it no matter what. I’ve read that some habits can be formed as quickly as a few weeks, and other times they can take 6 months or more.

50 pushups is enough where it makes a difference in my life, it pushes me to get better, but it’s not so big of a goal that it becomes daunting. If I had chosen 100 pushups, there’s a high likelihood that I would have either missed multiple days at this point or abandoned the goal altogether. I’ve done this with another goal, where I currently have a massive streak of reading the Verse of the Day in the Bible app on my phone for 263 straight days! I’m hoping to get my pushups streak to that level as well.

Minimum Viable Effort

Stanford researcher BJ Fogg calls this, “minimum viable effort.” Author James Clear also mentions this concept in his new bestselling book Atomic Habits. In business, a minimum viable product is a product that has just enough features to satisfy early customers. The thought process behind it is to get it out into the market as quickly as possible, so the team can begin to collect feedback for further product development.

“Minimum viable effort” works in a similar way. Fogg and Clear are saying that when looking to form new habits, you should start with something very small and easy to build consistency.

“The idea is to make your habits as easy as possible to start. Anyone can meditate for one minute, read one page, or put one item of clothing away. And, as we have just discussed, this is a powerful strategy because once you’ve started doing the right thing, it is much easier to continue doing it. A new habit should not feel like a challenge. The actions that follow can be challenging, but the first two minutes should be easy. What you want is a “gateway habit” that naturally leads you down a more productive path.”

-James Clear, Atomic Habits.

I also heard Clear discuss this on a podcast, where he described a man who wanted to start exercising consistently. He took this “minimum viable effort” principle to the extreme. Each day he would get dressed into his gym clothes, and drive over to the gym. Once he got there, he would do ONE exercise, and then leave. While this may sound ridiculous, it is actually brilliant. Over time he’s building the habit of going to the gym. The hardest part is learning that consistency. Once the fear has been overcome and the habit has been formed, he can start to add more exercises to his routine.

Start Small and Grow Over Time

Many times people try to do too much too soon with their resolutions. For example, if you never exercise and then you tell yourself that you’re going to start exercising two hours a day, 5 days per week, how do you think it’s going to go? Most likely you’ll do it once or twice and will start to lose motivation quickly. The excuses will pop up, the fatigue, and the dread of going to the gym. The new habit is never formed and the goal is abandoned.

This same principle can be applied to your money. Overwhelmed with where you’re currently at? That’s ok, you don’t have to fix your finances overnight. Take one small step today, and each day after that. After some time passes you’ll look back and be amazed at how far you’ve come. We started out barely making more than minimum wage, with $40,000 in student loans. Fast forward 4 years and we’re debt free, having crushed $55,000 in debt! It all started with that first step and building positive money habits.

If you’re looking for ways to get started, check out my post with 5 Steps for Turning Your Finances Around. You can also sign up for my email list below to receive a free guide budgeting guide to help you get organized and make progress on your financial journey!

Final Thoughts

Focus on one area of your life to improve upon at a time, start small, and build the habit. Once you succeed, move onto the next area. My 50 pushups goal isn’t huge, and that’s exactly the point. It’s something small that I can use to form a habit and then build onto over time. So far so good.

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