Making habits
Behavioral change, small steps, learning, and shipping early and often
I once read it takes 21 days to make a habit. Today is day three. Will we make it to day 21 together? I hope so. We’ll see.
A few years ago, I tried out an app called Fabulous that aims to—in its words—use “behavioral science to help you make smart changes and build healthy habits.” It’s actually a pretty intriguing app. (Disclosure: I subscribed for at least two years. Disclaimer: I am not trying to sell you anything here so you can relax.)
I first learned of it from Dan Ariely, the fascinating behavioral economist at Duke University (who is an advisor to the Fabulous team). The key insight for me is in this quote below.
Behavioral change is not about the final goal. It’s about dividing the big changes you seek into smaller behaviors and getting you to accomplish them one at a time.
This, in a sense, is what I’m doing here.
In an earlier life, I would have brainstormed and planned and strategized for quite a long while—all in an effort to create something perfect. Unfortunately, too often, what actually happens is the goal isn’t achieved at all. In the language of business, the product never actually ships.
Instead, I’m now leaning into the concept of MVP, or the minimum viable product. Would it be nice to have a clear value proposition before I started writing? Of course. Then you would know what you signed up for. But I am approaching this iteratively. We’ll get there. And, for those of you who have already found me and are choosing to follow along on this journey: thank you.
I want to return to the Fabulous once more:
Running is not the behavior we’re trying to teach you, it’s the goal. We’re only trying to get you to put your shoes on and start your power song. We know that these two actions almost always rekindle your motivation enough to get you exercising. We’re only asking you to perform two simple actions.
That’s what Fabulous is: summing up tiny habits into profound long-term changes.
This is what I’m trying to do here. Start with the simple habit of sitting down to write for a few minutes each day. And build from here.
God-willing, life is long. Days are short. Like a pebble tossed into a calm lake, little choices today can ripple out to profound changes over time.
Until next time,
-bp
Bryce. Welcome. I started Substack in October of 22. Never a writer until sickness and family death brought it out. We only need to write what we are authentic at. We all have a story right? We are storytellers. New subscribers so often come from us making comments from others. Maybe we are the only ones that can make a difference in their lives. That’s significant. I was never brave enough to step out and write. Substack affords that and is a great community. Looking forward to reading your muses.