Robin Sharma has a pretty cool quote about change. It goes “change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and so gorgeous at the end.” I feel like we are still in the middle because things sure feel and seem messy. But I’m hopeful that on the other side of all this we will find something gorgeous. Today we are going to talk about goals and how to create change in your life.
Macro Goals:
Before we dive into micro goals, let’s first start talking about our big picture goals. In the example earlier, our superstar set a goal to lose 25 pounds in 2020. This is a good goal because it is a SMART goal. SMART is an acronym that stands for:
Specific – goal is direct, detailed and meaningful
Measurable – trackable and easily quantifiable to identify your progress
Attainable – is it in your power to accomplish it with the necessary tools & resources
Realistic – within reach and relevant to your life’s purpose
Time Based or Time Bound – has a specific, defined period of time
These are really important to set yourself up for success. So a goal that isn’t SMART is something like “I want to pay down debt”. Now let’s make that a SMART goal. It would be “I want to reduce my outstanding student loan debt by $5000 before Christmas 2020”. I recommend that you write down your goals, make them SMART and focus on 1 – 3 tops at a time. It allows you to give it your all and take the next step of creating a plan through micro goals or tiny habits to be on your way to success. So now that we have our macro SMART goal, lets get micro:
One of the prominent voices helping individuals make positive change happen is Dr. BJ Fogg who is a professor at Stanford University. In his book “Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything” Dr. Fogg gives the strategies and research behind creating lasting behavior change to reach your goals. It is all based on taking baby steps and using existing behaviors and routines to jump start our new, positive habits.
Dr. Fogg created a behavior change model with a pretty easy to remember equation. It is B=MAP where Behavior is driven by Motivation Ability and a Prompt. Let’s take a closer look at each element:
Motivation – high vs. low; primary driver that creates the desire for change; has physical, emotional and social levels or elements as well
Ability – hard vs. easy; running a marathon vs. walking for 5 minutes; affordable, feasible, realistic
Prompt for the behavior – a trigger or signal to kick off the change; health scare, a loss or a spark of an idea
Things that are easy to do in terms of the Ability element require less motivation to do the behavior and create the habit whereas hard things will require more Motivation and potentially multiple Prompts. Regardless of how easy or hard the goal or chance is in front of us, setting micro goals or tiny habits around existing behaviors we do every day or week will help us get ahead. You can create your micro plan around this sentence:
“After I _____existing behavior______, I will ______tiny new behavior_______”
After I start my morning coffee, I will take my daily vitamin
After I check Instagram, I will do 2 minutes of box breathing
After I get my paycheck direct deposited, I will put $10 in my emergency fund
Take an existing habit (brushing teeth, walking the dog, etc.) and add the tiny behavior. Over time you can expand the tiny habit to get you closer to your overall goal. Dr. Fogg wanted to do more strength training as he got older to boost his physical wellness. So he came up with a tiny habit based on something he does 6 to 8 times a day. His habit started as: After I pee, I will do 2 pushups. There is one last piece of behavior change that Dr. Fogg says is critical. We have to celebrate ALL of the successes.
