#1214 Character Flaws vs. Design Flaws

In our last +1, we talked about me and the weed.

Strangely, I now LOVE weeds. And, I love pulling them out. In addition to that squirt of celebratory dopamine, there’s something about having my hands in the dirt that’s magical—as all you gardeners/ranchers/etc have known for much longer than I have! 🌱

Recall that the TINY Habit was to simply pull out ONE weed.

That might sound absurd. And, frankly, it kinda is.

But…

IT WORKS.

Why?

Well…

One of the things I didn’t mention before that I think is worth mentioning now is the fact that when we design our behaviors, we want to make sure we design them for the days we have the LEAST Motivation.

Unfortunately, most of us sit down and commit to new behaviors when we’re feeling super-jumbo-fired up (aka Motivated!). Then we think we need to commit to some huge goal like meditating for an hour a day or training for an hour a day or doing 4.5 hours of Deep Work a day or whatever.

Then what happens?

Then we fail to hit those standards.

INEVITABLY.

Then we beat ourselves up and think something’s wrong with us.

INEVITABLY.

Then we give up—often feeling even worse about ourselves and thinking something must be wrong with us.

INEVITABLY.

Which is why BJ Fogg makes the VERY (!) important point that: “We are not the problem. Our approach to change is. It’s a design flaw—not a personal flaw.”

Think about that.

It’s not a character flaw per se. It’s a DESIGN FLAW.

We simply haven’t mastered the process of effectively DESIGNING our Behavior.

And…

Rule #1 of Habit change? Make it EASY to win.

That hour of meditation? Commit to 3 breaths after you brush your teeth in the morning. You can do that whether you feel Motivated or not.

That hour of training? Follow BJ Fogg’s lead and commit to 2 push-ups after you go pee. You can do that (or something like it) whether you feel Motivated or not.

That 4.5 hours of Deep Work before inputs? Commit to 1 MINUTE of Deep Work after that new 3-breath mediation practice of yours before inputs. You can do that whether you feel Motivated or not.

That’s Today’s +1.

One more time.

(Echo! Echo! Echo!)

What’s a Habit you’d like to install?

How can you make it super crazy jumbolisciously T I N Y?

Yah. Silly small.

Got it?

Now go rock it.

Whether you “feel” like it or not.

And don’t forget to Celebrate!!!

Micro +1. Micro +1. Micro +1. for the aggregated and compounded Jumbo WIN!