Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results

by Stephen Guise

I had experimented with personal development strategies for a decade. When I accidentally started my first mini habit—and the changes I made were actually lasting—I realized the prior strategies I relied on were complete failures. When something works, that which doesn't work is exposed. The science in Mini Habits exposes the predictably inconsistent results of most popular personal growth strategies, and reveals why mini habits are consistent.

A mini habit is a very small positive behavior that you force yourself to do every day; a mini habit's "too small to fail" nature makes it weightless, deceptively powerful, and a superior habit-building strategy.

Mini Habits will better equip you to change your life than 99% of the people you see walking around on this globe. People so often think that they are the reason they can't achieve lasting change; but the problem isn't with them—it's with their strategy. You can achieve great things without the guilt, intimidation, and repeated failure associated with such strategies such as "getting motivated," resolutions, or even "just doing it.” To make changes last, you need to stop fighting against your brain. When you start playing by your brain's rules—as mini habits show you how to do—lasting change isn't so hard.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Productivity, Personal Development, Psychology, Audiobook, Personal Growth

127 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 2013

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, motivating read. I encourage you to give mini habits a try if you are trying to get started with new, healthier habits. The concept is simple, yet appeals to so many. This is easy, I can do this. That's what you'll be thinking as you learn about the concept and consider ways to apply it in your own life. Small changes can lead to increased motivation and willpower, which can in turn lead to big results. Read this book for yourself and see if you aren't enthusiastic to give this method a try.

[Stephen Guise · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I wrote this book—and authors generally like the books they write—I'm giving it five stars because the Mini Habits strategy has changed my life permanently. Please take a quick look at my results using mini habits:

I'm In The Best Shape of My Life

I'd been wanting to build muscle ever since I heard that women like muscles. And being strong seemed better than having my arms mistaken for spaghetti: "Hey Stephen, you've got a piece of...oh...OH...no, never mind."

But I always thought I had to get motivated to exercise—a belief reinforced by my sporadic success with it. Now I know that a strategy which succeeds sometimes is the most dangerous kind, because it deceives us to think we're at fault when it fails. Relying on motivation, I had managed to upgrade my arms to more of a linguini size, but that was over a period of several years, and I wished I could and would do more.

Everything changed for me one day in 2012; I wanted to exercise. I hadn't exercised in a while, though, so my motivation was drowned by guilt and I couldn't force myself to take action either. Long story short, I decided to do just one push-up, and ended up doing a full workout. My eyes were opened.

I would continue to do at least one push-up a day for the next 6 months, during which I researched the science of willpower, the brain (i.e. neuroscience), and habit formation. (I've been writing about self-improvement for about 3 years on my blog, Deep Existence, so I research this anyway.) After 6 months of that, my resistance to exercise had gotten very low, and I made the jump to the gym.

I've been going to the gym at least 3x a week since then, and my arms are at least penne size now and I'm working up to ravioli. I get plenty of aerobic exercise playing basketball regularly. So there you have it—I'm in the best shape of my life because of one push-up. How absurd!

...or is it?

I Have Quadrupled My Writing Output

You can copy and paste the story above and replace "exercise" with "writing." I aimed to write 50 words a day, and have since written 4x more than I wrote before. I generally write at least 2,000 words a day now.

I Read 10x As Many Books Now

Since I didn't read much before, after I started my reading mini habit (2 pages a day), I've read about 10x as much as before (about one book per week).

It doesn't matter if these results impress you or make you laugh—what matters is that they're impressive for me, especially compared to where I was. A reader of my blog reported he read 7 books in 3 weeks from his mini habit.

How and why do these small targets blow up into bigger results? That's what the book explains in great depth (and then gives implementation advice). The subtitle of "Smaller Habits, Bigger Results," isn't just a clever juxtaposition—it's an accurate description of most people's experience with having mini habits.

And the best part is...

Unlike traditional habit-building, you can pursue more than one mini habit at a time (I have just added my 4th one as the prior 3 are moderately strong habits now). I've become more fit, read more books, and written more all at the same time.

I've made more progress in the past year in these areas than I had in the previous five (literally); I'm not surprised. When you maximize your WILLPOWER so that it NEVER runs out, and you show up every day, good things happen. My "mini" habits are currently developing into full-blown, bigger habits.

If what you've read here has piqued your interest, you will love the book. If you've had mediocre results with "getting motivated" for too many years, you will physically kiss Mini Habits after reading it (yes, even the digital version). Mini Habits contains scientific studies, intelligent logic, and a few anecdotes where helpful; it convincingly explains why this is the BEST way to reliably add new healthy habits into your life.

Note: This review doesn't count toward my 50 words for today. There are rules.

Cheers,
Stephen Guise

[Kati · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not blindly giving this book 5 stars, or even because it was an enjoyable read (though it was). I'm giving this book 5 stars, because the concept works. Roughly a year & a half ago, I read an article discussing some of the concepts from the book. I decided to implement the mini-habit concept to starting to work out. I didn't do 1 push-up a day. I set my goal as 5 minutes of walking, every morning. Not going out for a walk, just.... Dragging my tired @$$ out of bed first thing, and as soon as I've gone pee, walking out to my living room, turning on some show I've got DVR'd and mindlessly walking for no less than 5 minutes. Just 1 year and 2 weeks later, this has been habit for quite some while. And I've lost 20 lbs. (Also included my own rough take on Alton Brown's 4-lists diet.) I give this book 5 stars, because I have EVIDENCE in my own life that it works. I also recommend it freely to those around me who've talked about difficulties getting started on healthy habits. And now that I've finally read the book, I'm putting in a request for my library to obtain a copy.

My next step is to begin a small handful of new habits: 1 pushup a day; 10 second wall-sit; a German word per day; and plugging my thumb drive in and opening up one of my novel-documents (for me, even writing 50 words seems intimidating, but I CAN open up the damn document).

So there you go. Not a 5-star based on just reading the book. A 5 star based on my own success with the concept. If you've got any habits you'd like to form, give it a try. And even if you think the idea's probably bullshit, read the book, give it a try. What have you got to lose, except the time it takes to do "one pushup."

[Leanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is much to value in this book, but the repetition detracts from the message. I appreciated the references to studies and research, and found them to be interesting. Some examples and success stories from people other than the author would have been helpful.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about and can vouch for the effectiveness of mini habits, but I found this book very repetitive. If you read the first half of the book only, you won't be missing anything later. However, I do think the concept of mini habits is empowering and have found that the strategy works for me in boosting productivity at work and at home.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of self-help/psychology books, and when I do, I'm usually turned off by the "rah-rah-stare-at-your-navel-now-conquer-the-world" advice. Guise's book, however, turned out to be one of those books that has confirmed and shifted my beliefs that lasting change in almost every area of one's life can be achieved by taking tiny, or as he calls "stupid small," steps. When I think back on every major achievement I've reached in my life, I did so by breaking down the process into small, almost laughably simple, steps -- everything from writing books to adopting a vegetarian diet.

Since reading Mini Habits, I've become more convinced that "low and slow" is the the way to go. I consciously picked three "mini habits" to develop after reading Guise's book--1. Do one crunch a day 2. Read one page of a book (any book) a day and 3. Throw out/give away/recycle one item every day. It has been almost three months and not once I have skipped a day of doing these three things. They're so damn easy, I'd feel guilty *not* doing them! As a result:

1. My crunch-a-day habit has led me to join a gym, where I have gained 2% lean body mass and dropped almost 20 lbs. When I first started doing my daily crunch, I struggled to do one because I was newly recovered from a herniated disc injury that had severely weakened my core. I'm up to 100 crunches a day, and while I still have a fair bit of padding over my abdomen, I can feel my abdominal muscles underneath and they're strong and flat -- I've also lost 2" around my middle! (Weight loss may also be due to eliminating blood thinners for a clotting condition that prevented me from eating my normal vegetarian/leafy green diet.)

2. Last year I don't think I read one book from beginning to end. Since adopting my reading mini habit, I've read at least five fiction titles and a couple nonfiction books. I find that I can't go to sleep without doing a bit of reading on my Kindle.

3. A couple weeks ago, my husband noticed how neat and tidy our house was looking. Enough said! I've slowly been getting rid of clutter and clearing out areas of our home that were packed with crap and it's so nice to have breathing space again. All from just getting rid of one thing a day. :)

Guise's book is especially well-written, too, which I appreciated. I loved his book so much, I interviewed him for my blog The Renegade Writer http://www.therenegadewriter.com/2014...

[Jude St. Francis · Rating 1 out of 5]

اگر کتاب چگونه کمال‌گرا نباشیم رو از این نویسنده خونده باشید کفایت میکنه.
نیازی به خوندن این نیست.

[هالةْ أمين · Rating 3 out of 5]

بغض النظر عن كون كتب تطوير الذات وتحفيز النفس عبارة عن كلام معاد ومكرر على طول الـ 150 أو حتى 300 صفحة
وبغض النظر عن كوننا شبعنا ومللنا في الوقت نفسه من هذا الكلام
لكن في بعض المرات قد تقرأ عبارة ما أو طريقة أو وصفة تنير في داخلك " لمبة " كما يقولون تضيء لك دربا خشيت أن تطأه قدماك يوما لأي سبب
بعد مدة من الزمن في القراءة والاطلاع والبحث والتقصي تكتشف بأن ماكان سيئا في نظرك لم يكن بذاك السوء الذي تتخيله , هو سيءإلى حد ما لكن ماقد تخرج منه يكون جيدا بشكل كافِ
وهذا ما سيتجلى لك من هذه الكتب , هي ليست سيئة لكن كثرة الكلام عنها وفيها وتحويل غايتها والهدف منها والإتجار بها جعل منها مادة مستهلكة بالتالي تم تعميم هذا الحكم على كل كتاب يحمل نفس الغاية .
..
بكل الأحوال هذا الكتاب يحمل فكرة وهي: أن تتوقف عن وضع أهداف كبيرة وخطط مستقبلية عظيمة واكتفِ بتحقيق أهداف صغيرة متناهية الصغر كل يوم بيومه وبهذه الطريقة ستكتسب عادات جديدة جيدة والسيء من عاداتك ستتركه بسبب الإضافات النافعة التي ستملأ عليك حياتك

[Candleflame23 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes we really push our limits to the
maximum to achieve Big results In Avery fast way
And Probably this ends in a big failure.


‏
In this book "STEPhen Guise" lights up The way for
us to recognize That achieving Great results at any
field in our life could and would be done with mini
habits schedule .

“ Every new beginning comes from some other
beginning’s end”.

“Never Think A Step Is Too Small”

“Every big project is made of small steps just like
every organism is made from microscopic cells.
Taking small steps keeps you in control over your
brain. Small steps are sometimes the only way to
move forward if you have weak willpower. Learn to
love them and you'll see incredible results!”
.
.
#done
#أبجدية_فرح / 3/5
#Mini_Habits_smaller_habits_bigger_results
By #Stephen_Guis

[Mojtaba Shirani · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتابی در مورد اثر انجام کار های مثبت بسیار کوچک روزانه که متعهدانه پیگیری میکنیم مثل روزی 2 صفحه کتاب خوندن 10 لغت جدید یک حرکت شنا و تفاوتش نسبت به کتاب های مشابه اینه که نمیگه این عادت کوچک رو هر روز بزرگ کنید و بیشتر انجام بدید میگه اون رو انجام بدید اگه توان داشتید ادامه بدید والا همون حرکت کوچک کافیه
یه بخشی از متن کتاب رو پایین برای شما آوردم
تفاوت میان برندگان و بازندگان در این است که بازندگان هنگامی که همه چیز خسته کننده و یکنواخت می شود، از حرکت می ایستند. صحبت از انگیزه نیست، صحبت از این است که بتوانید اراده تان را بالا کشیده و حفظش کنید تا عادت هایی خوب و عمری بسازید.

[Yousof Mansouri · Rating 3 out of 5]

این دومین کتابی است که درباره موضوع عادت‌ها میخونم. از خوندن هر دو کتاب هم راضی بودم. نمیشه بهشون گفت روانشناسی زرد، چون واقعا حرفای الکی و صدمن یک غاز نمیزنن. موضوعشون مشخصه، در مورد این که چطور میشه عادت‌ها رو در خودمون به وجود بیاریم. و این موضوع خیلی مشخص و ریز باعث میشه خیلی حرفای الکی و کلی نزنن. کلا هم از داده‌های علمی و تحقیقات روانشناسی برای بسط ایده‌شون استفاده میکنند.
البته مشکل کتاب اینه که یه مسئله رو خیلی زیاد توضیح میده. فکر میکنم میشه از کل محتوای کتاب یه خلاصه ۲۰ صفحه ای درست کرد که هیچ لطمه‌ای به ایده اصلی وارد نشه و همه چیز گفته بشه.
با این حال ایده کتاب خوب و کاربردی بود و از خوندنش پشیمون نیستم.

[Missy LeBlanc Ivey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book is chock full of stuff you may already know about yourself but just never thought about before. Not the most enjoyable book to read, but definitely the most reasonable motivator idea ever. Although a short little read, it seemed long-winded in the science area and a bit repetitive in other areas. Still, it is worth your time for a new idea.

Mental motivation is unreliable and we all know it. It depends on our mood, our energy. It comes, it goes. So drop it! Forget about it!
 
Forcing yourself to do things daily through pure willpower, regardless of moods or energy, is more reliable. But, if it’s a large thing you have in mind to create into a habit...it may also fail you. Willpower at least allows for consistency. The timer goes off, or you have it scheduled on the calendar, it's time to exercise...or it's time to write. Period.
 
But, if what you want to do daily seems daunting and overwhelming, then instead, just turn it into a "stupid small and ridiculous" habit, one that is too small to fail and too small to skip for special occasions and requires absolutely no motivation or willpower because it's so easy and effortless. These "stupid small" habits will help encourage you to do more and they will actually become mini habits. Mini habits force you to START.
 
For example, me?
 
I want to develop a habit of exercising everyday like I've done most of my life but now too lazy and absolutely energy-less. But, the thought of me spending 30 minutes out in the shop alone sweating my ass off in this blasted southern Texas humidity as I get older is a huge turnoff...so I just sit here reading or working on organizing my genealogy (I have no problems in these two areas), or doing whatever I'm involved in at the moment.
 
To help me get started, maybe I can choose to do 10 each daily: pushups, situps, & squats, in my room where it's nice and cool (OR, I can choose to get dressed and at least walk to the shop). If I feel motivated to do more than that, then it's a bonus, but I don't have to do any more exercises and I don't have to workout at the shop...just come back in and do my mini habit goal. The point is to get in the habit of doing something, at least, everyday and eventually the habit will be there and most likely the energy and motivation will be there to do more as it gets easier.
 
Other things I've always wanted to do, but either too lazy, unmotivated, or it just always seemed overwhelming:
 
- Journaling...agree to write one sentence a day (if motivated, keep writing)
- Eat more fruits and vegetables...eat one raw fruit or vegetable every day
- Drink more water...drink a glass of water BEFORE morning coffee
- Finish my family photo projects...scan at least one days photos every single day until complete
 
I've already developed a habit of reading every morning, after not reading a single book for 20 years or so to raise a family. But, now I have a problem of putting a time limit on that plus I need to develop a habit of spending quiet time with God each morning and reading my Bible to start my day and put reading my other books second behind that. But, then I find that when I start reading and studying the Bible, two hours or more slips by.

My problem is I always LOVE whatever I'm doing and can't put a time limit on whatever I'm involved in. I wonder if there is a book to help with that kind of problem? I'm usually full steam ahead with gazelle-like intensity and focus on that one thing until I'm finished...poor hubby.
--------------------
Blog: stephenguise.com and for mini habit ideas go to minihabits.com (also for purchasing habit tracking supplies)

[Glenda Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot believe how quickly I was able to read this book and implement the ideas in it! I also am thrilled at how fast I got results. My whole attitude toward life has changed. I was feeling overwhelmed and unsuccessful in getting some very important daily habits changed, but now I feel exactly the opposite. I've recommended it to everyone who will listen. It is so much fun to do! Wow! This is something I can do for the rest of my life!

[سماح عطية]

وهذا الكتاب أيضًا فكرت في قراءته بعد الاستماع لمقطع من قناة علي محمد علي
(علي وكتاب)
عادات صغيرة mini habits

[Tazbeea Oushneek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good thinking and effective approach. But at one point it felt like I'm reading the same thing repeatedly. It could be a much smaller book.

[Mahnoosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

هیچ‌وقت اولین اشتباه شما را نابود نمی‌کند. مسئله‌ی نابودکننده، آن اشتباهات مکرری است که به دنبال آن می‌آیند.

[عبدالمنعم الهوسه · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب عادات صغيرة
4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
العادات الصغيرة هي خدعة عقلية ، لنتمكن من خطو الخطوة الأولى..
•
الكتاب مركز على فكرة واحدة أن البدء بعادات متناهية الصغر يمكن أن يحقق نجاحاً كبير مع الاستمرار •
عادات صغيرة + تحفيز ذاتي + قوة إرادة = نتائج كبيرة
هذه معادلة الكتاب في اعتقادي

يعيب الكتاب من وجهة نظري أن جعل الكاتب كتابه وكأنه العصا السحرية لكل شيء. •
أعجبني في حديثه أن التحفيز ليس كل شيء. نحتاج لقوة إرادة
•
من المهم الانتباه لنقطة أكد عليها الكاتب : نحن بين الاستعجال في حصد النتائج والتطلعات الكبرى وبين النظر بتفاهة العادة
الصغيرة •
أعجبني أنه أكّد على خرافة 21 لتمكّن العادة في شخصية الشخص. كنت أذكر لمن حولي هذا لا يستقيم بكل حال وجاء الكتاب وأكّد ذلك ، وهي منتشرة بل يعتقد البعض أنها دراسة مثبتة
وهي أن العادة تصبح عادة للشخص خلال 21 يوم !!
العادة يا كرام تختلف بحسب الشخص ونوعها وكثافتها قد تحتاج شهر أو 3 أشهر •
لا تستصغر الشرر .. فمنها تنطلق
كتاب لطيف زاده لطفا أجواء الحرم المدني

[Carleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book *completely* resonated with me! I'm just not a "Type A" driven person and was frustrated with my lack of goal-reaching successes. Now I'm learning to think differently - rather than trying to find huge amounts of willpower (that I just don't have) in order to reach my BIG goals, I'm creating mini habits (that don't need willpower) and building upon them. Small, consistent actions that will get me to the big goals. I find the "tiny wins" to be incredibly empowering, too. Much prefer this upward cycle to the downward spiral that I kept experiencing before: get excited about big goal, take a few steps, lose willpower, quit, and repeat.

Thank you Stephen!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is this month's read for my local book club. We not only have to read it, but we also have to put it into practice before we meet up in two weeks. I liked this but I'm not a fan of the Homework.

I liked the author's approach to change that is supposed to stick by rewiring the brain. Setting mini-goals that will then transform into a habit if you do it every day is what this book is about. The author uses examples from his own experiences with this logic. I appreciated his personal touch, as well as his zest for how this has helped him. I will have to reread this one in two weeks for book club. I will also have to set mini goals that I want to be habits, so we will see how it goes.

[Hossam Elsayed · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب حلو جدااا وبسيط
بيتكلم إن العادات الصغيرة جداً لدرجة التفاهة ، الواحد حيعملها وهو مش شايل همها وعقله وجسمه مش حيعارضوا الإستمرار عليها
وحاطط شوية مواصفات توضح إن العادة البسيطة اتعودت عليها خلاص تقدر تزود عليها وهكذا.


"أن تكون صاحب الأهداف المحرجة والنتائج المبهرة أفضل من أن تكون صاحب الأهداف المبهرة والنتائج المحرجة"

[Citibila · Rating 3 out of 5]

După ce am citit deja Atomic Habits, nu simt ca mi-a adus multe idei noi. Am preluat, însă, ideea de a avea un calendar mare in care sa notez in fiecare zi “execuția” unui miniobicei. O sa văd cum funcționează pentru mine.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit I was prepared to NOT like this book. In fact, when I got it, as a first reads winner, my initial thought was, "gee, I'm glad it was free." And why was I so negative towards a book I hadn't even read yet...because the premise was absurd to me. It went against everything I thought I knew about self-help. I was a born and bred "motivation is EVERYTHING" girl. And here was a book telling me just the opposite. That I don't have to be MOTIVATED to make changes, I have to have just enough willpower to do one SMALL thing every day and I can make grand sweeping changes in my life. HOGWASH I said. Yep, I actually said the word HOGWASH! But then I started actually READING the book, putting aside what I thought I already knew about how the brain works, how habits are formed, what will make life easier and better. And you know what? I found myself saying, "Yes! That makes sense. Stephen, you're onto something here!" And before you know it, a book that I had only planned to give a cursory glance, started to become one of my favorite self-help type books. I like how the author engages the reader, makes jokes, all the while explaining his ideas in an easy to read and implement way. He's not at all pedantic like some other writers in this genre. I initally gave this book 3 stars, but have upgraded to 4. I am about 3/4ths through the book that I just received yesterday. So it is possible that the remaining 1/4th will earn that other star. So far I'm impressed, and can't wait to start putting some mini habits into practice in my own life.

[Derodidymus · Rating 3 out of 5]

foarte probabil să aplic cele citite, nu de alta dar oricum plănuiam ca după sesiune să reiau programul de trezit dimineața și toate activitățile care mă fac să mă simt vie :)
am apreciat faptul că afirmațiile autorului se bazează pe studii științifice și faptul că cineva a adresat în sfârșit chestiunea cu timpul necesar formării unui obicei- NU, NU DUREAZĂ 21 SAU 30 DE ZILE, ci mult mai mult/ puțin în funcție de om și, mai ales, de dificultatea obiceiului pe care vrei să îl adopți.
recomand celor care au nevoie de un imbold pentru a se (re)apuca de introducerea acelor obiceiuri bune în viața lor.
o lectură ușoară și motivațională :)

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be incredibly cliche, this book changed my life. I now walk everyday (usually 30+ mins but at least 1 minute) and write in my journal each night (usually a few paragraphs but at least 1 sentence). I can feel myself building these habits without the angst and impending doom of inevitable failure from previous attempts.

It's certainly not rocket science but a huge thanks to the author, Stephen, for bringing the technique to light. And to Kelina Young for sharing the book!

[Ying Ying · Rating 4 out of 5]

The content in this book is repetitive, but definitely worth reading! This book came timely to my life. I had recently come from rejecting meditation to having daily 10-minute meditation sessions. Through this book, I have understood why and how this transformation happened. I had tried a one minute meditation, went to 3 minutes and finally found that I could even enjoy 10 minute-meditation! Now that I know how this happened, I could perhaps apply mini-habits in other areas of my life.

[Andreea Chiuaru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un easy read, destul de practica, cu ceva studii interesante presărate pe ici, pe colo. Nu pot sa zic că mi-a revoluționat felul în care îmi văd viața, dar nu regret că am citit-o.

Mai multe pe blog: https://blogdeidei.ro/mini-obiceiuri/

[فاطمه خورشیدی · Rating 2 out of 5]

کتاب صوتی‌اش رو گوش دادم و یک شکنجه‌ی تمام عیار بود. لحن بد خواننده و اشتباهات فراوانش یک طرف، کل ایده‌ی کتاب در یک صفحه قابل بیانه و بقیه‌اش تکرار همون حرف بدون دلیل و روشنگری بیشتره.
دو ستاره به‌خاطر همون کلیت ایده که برام جالبه امتحانش کنم و در کل به نظرم یک کتاب زرد خودیاری محسوب میشه، در مقابل کتاب قدرت عادت که باز یه مقادیری عمیق‌تر بود.

[Rob Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

About the book: Mini Habits explains the logic behind an innovative approach to achieving your goals. Motivation and ambition aren’t necessarily what will drive you to success; rather, it’s your small day-to-day habits that will really get you on the right track. Learn how to harness their power with these blinks.

About the author: Stephen Guise is a writer, blogger and researcher who specializes in personal growth and fun learning. His latest book is called How to Be an Imperfectionist.

My highlights:
Most of our lives are governed by our habits. And a lot of our daily activities are governed by habit
When stressed and incapable of making a decision, we resort to our habits.
The first few weeks will be a struggle because those neural pathways are still weak. But soon enough, your brain will strengthen the connection
Our brains feature a powerful habit-forming system.
The prefrontal cortex has one major flaw: it gets tired fast. Making the right decisions is in fact a huge energy drain. While we might find it easy enough to resist that tub of ice cream in the freezer for most hours of the day, chances are that your prefrontal cortex will give up once it’s gotten tired. At this point, your basal ganglia will take over and you’ll suddenly find yourself holding a big bowl of cookies and cream again!
Willpower, not motivation, is the best tool for creating good habits.
Willpower’s benefits are well known to psychologists.
Every time you create a new positive habit, such as meditating each day, you flex your own willpower muscle.
Willpower, unlike motivation, is dependable. You can build it up, and once you do, you can rely on it.
Mini habits are the most efficient investment for your limited willpower.
You can avoid the loss of willpower with minor, almost ridiculously tiny goals. After all, the main threats to our willpower are effort, perceived difficulty and fatigue – why not choose a target that only takes a little effort?
The greatest hurdle we usually face is the first one: going from inertia to mobility. With a mini habit that helps you start small, you can be sure to start smoothly.
Mini habits have a whole host of additional benefits.
Mini habits are also great at making you feel like you’re in control. Humans hate the feeling of being out of control, or worse, being controlled by others. We like to make our own decisions, which is what makes us happiest.
Mini habits boost your self-esteem.
Plan and develop your mini habits carefully.
First, choose your habits wisely. You can start with a list of habits that you’d like to have at some point in your life.
Next, ask yourself why these habits are appealing to you; this is to ensure that you’ve got the right motivations.
With a list of motivated habits established, it’s time to create mini habits to match.
Mini habits shouldn’t be daunting at all. They should be so small that you can incorporate several of them into your daily routine, starting out with two or three per day.
Habit cues are signals that remind you it’s time to perform your mini habit.
Monitor your progress and don’t forget to reward yourself.
It’s not just the goal that your habits lead to that’s important. Developing a daily routine that is full of helpful rituals is something you can be proud of too.

Final summary
Instead of trying to motivate yourself to achieve daunting goals, take things one step at a time. By building up a routine of positive mini habits, you’ll give yourself the chance to enjoy small successes every day, while making real progress toward your true aspirations.

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes a book comes along at just the right time for a particular reader; this was the case for me and "Mini Habits." I'd had a longstanding desire to improve my health and fitness, for a variety of reasons, but for the last six months, I've been stuck in a rut and haven't made any progress. It's as if my brain, or some part of my mind, is rejecting the behaviors I'm trying to implement, like exercising more and choosing better foods for my meals. I've been kicking and screaming like a child (internally, of course!) before getting on the bike, or getting to the gym, or eating salad instead of a bagel. My "healthy behavior avoidance system" has been on full alert, and just trying to do something good for my body for a change has seemed utterly exhausting, before even taking the first step.

Then comes "Mini Habits." I swear, I haven't been paid for this, but as I said before, right place right time. I've read about variations in this topic in other books, but here Guise breaks the concept of mini habits down and explains why it actually works. In a nutshell, you're fooling the resistant part of your brain, the part that doesn't want to change the habits it already has...a bit like a child faced with a change in routine. By making the changes so small they're ridiculous - his example is doing one pushup - your brain doesn't fight it. So you do the one pushup, you've accomplished your goal. However, if while you're down on the floor, you want to crank out a few more, or add a couple of crunches to the mix, why that's just gravy. That's the bonus for your already achieved mini goal: not necessary, but definitely a happy consequence of just doing the one pushup. I've tried it this week, setting as a goal doing five minutes of any exercise at all: dancing, biking, getting up and walking around the house. I've managed to get on the bike, ride my five minutes, and wouldn't you know? It felt so good, I kept going. But always with the thought in mind that I could stop any time after my five minutes, which left my resistant brain an out...which for some reason, it seems to need.

I feel successful, and I know even on a bad day, I can do five minutes of exercise and still consider it a success, because I'm creating a habit that will eventually, if all goes according to plan, blossom into a full blown exercise habit. I'm sold. I withheld one star because the writing style was basic at best, and it really seems like the whole concept could be explained in one page; there's a lot of repetition and padding to get it to short book-length. But still, for the ideas alone, a highly recommended read for those of us who have child minds.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Fun to read and very, very helpful. Basic idea: if you want to build a good habit, start small--stupid small. Example, the author started getting shape by committing to do 1 push-up a day. That's it. But the ease of doing it (one day he almost forgot and rolled over in bed to do his push-up right there) allowed him to establish a real habit. And then slowly, once the habit was in place he increased the workout. He has applied it to many other area of life and is living how his last e is turning around, one habit at a time. Note: he does say this works for adding good habits--not for stopping bad habits. 

Short and life changing. I'm starting a mini habit today--really. 

[Note: for the first time in my life I'm re-reading my favorite books, to reinforce their messages and to see if I would still consider them one of the greats. The review above is my original reaction. The comments below are my thoughts now.]

How does it compare to my memory of the book? Would I still recommend it to others?

I really enjoyed it. Still a great read. However, I did remove it from my recommended list only because there is another book on there about habits that is even better than this one (Atomic Habits). This book is just a subsection of that book, so rather than recommend two books on habits, I'm just staying with the one.