The ABC's of Habits'

If you want to get good at something… It takes practice… If you want to be consistent with practice… its takes strong habits’… So whether you want to be the best basketball player or a better algebra student it’s important to understand the science of what makes habit’s stick.

BJ Fogg in his book Tiny Habits talk about the “ABC’s” of forming a habit.

A Stands for Anchor. You need an anchor for when you want to start your habit.

If your always looking for inspiration to do your homework or practice your jumpshot this is impossible to be consistent. Because some days you just won’t be motivated and it will take a lot to convince your brain to practice. It’s much easier for your brain to go along with a routine. An anchor can be anything… After I get home from school, i have my snack (anchor) and then I start my homework. When I finish my homework (anchor) I go outside and practice basketball… After I brush my teeth (anchor) I make sure my homework is in my backpack.

B Stands for Behavior. Behavior is the habit you want to practice.

Make your goal habit so small that you can’t fail. So if you want to practice basketball. Instead of two hours a day and feeling guilty when you don’t practice for that long… a better beginning habit would be shoot 5 shots. It is very likely after 5 shots you will want to continue to practice. Some days 5 shots will be all you can do and instead of feeling down on yourself about what you didn’t do you will have a win. Maybe it rains or your so busy you missed your behavior… have a plan for those days. I like to make it up the next day. So you didn’t practice your 5 shots Monday because of the weather that means Tuesday you will make it and shoot at least 10 shots, that way you can mentally keep feeling good about your habits.

C is for Celebration. When you do your behavior you want to celebrate!

This is Fogg’s key insight and thinks it will become a revolutionary concept: celebrate when you practice your habit. This neurologically wires your brain to want to continue to practice the habit ( it releases a chemical response of dopamine and activates the part of your brain that makes habits stick). So whatever feels like a good celebration to you works just fine ( maybe… a fist pump, A yell, a mental “Ohhhh yeah!!!”) Have a short intense celebration each time you accomplish your habit and watch it stick!

Well now you know the ABC’s of a habit, what’s one habit you want to start? Let’s do it. Pick your anchor, make it sooooo small you can’t fail, and celebrate!