What’s the easiest version of your goal?
Putting on your shoes and stepping outside probably only takes about 90 seconds. It takes minimal effort. It’s a super easy thing to do.
But often, the hardest part about going on a run is putting on your shoes and walking outside.
It’s so much more difficult to start something—to go from “zero to one”—than it is to continue something that’s already in motion.
In his book Tiny Habits, Dr. B.J. Fogg describes something called the “action line.” If something is too hard, and motivation is too low, we don’t take action. But, if motivation is high enough, and the action is easy enough, we take action.
Check out the Fogg Behavior Model here…
Click to expand the image :)
Back to running: instead of setting a goal to “run 15 miles each week under a 9-minute per mile pace” (difficult and low motivation), you set a goal to “put on my running shoes and step outside four times each week” (easy and high motivation).
This will turn you into the kind of person who is always outside with running shoes on. Then, being a runner becomes much, much easier. I mean, you’d feel so silly if you didn’t at least run a little bit, right?
Here are some things for you to consider:
Are you being too ambitious with your goal-setting? Is it too hard?
Are you choosing goals that have enough underlying motivation?
How can you increase your motivation?
How can you break big goals into smaller chunks?
What’s the easiest version of your goal?
Why don’t you pick up Dr. Fogg’s book here?
P.S. I’m working with a small group of motivated artists to break big projects into small chunks in the 15-day Creative Consistency Challenge. Why don’t you join us here?
