4 min read ⌚ 

Smaller Habits, Bigger Results

We live half of our lives on autopilot.

But is that such a bad thing?

“Mini Habits” shows readers how they can develop good habits that improve the quality of their lives and make them happier.

Who Should Read “Mini Habits” and Why?

If you have always wanted to change the way you live your life and spend your everyday, but never found the motivation, then this is the book for you.

If you are constantly trying to eat healthily, wake up early, stop procrastinating, but always end up going back to your old ways, then this is the book for you.

If you are a person who thinks that only big steps can take you places, then this is the book for you!

“Mini Habits” will show you how a tiny step forward, can create a big leap in your life.

About Stephen Guise

Stephen Guise is an author, researcher, and blogger. His expertise lies in fun in learning and personal growth.

“Mini Habits Summary”

Studies show that people are in autopilot mode 45% of the time.

We constantly think about the past and the future and oversee the present moment with all its beauty.

As a result, many people are stressed out about things that have happened, and they have no control over, or things that might never happen at all.

Moreover, most of the people’s actions and behaviors are also resulting from the autopilot.

Sadly, motivation does not always (if ever) make people persist in changing their ways of living and working. Usually, the levels of motivation decrease with time, and so, people who start big, always end up giving up and going back to where they started from.

It may sound like a hard thing to get rid of, but we are here to tell you that you can actually use this information to your advantage, to lead a happier life.

How?

Just add good habits to your autopilot.

Sounds easier said than done right?

Well, it is not!

“Mini Habits” shows you an incremental way of changing your life for the better. You will not even notice that you are changing, and your resistance to change will decrease.

So, what do you do first?

First, do not overburden yourself and make things easy!

If you start too ambitiously, chances are, you will give up once motivation disappears.

And it always does.

Just think about it. Isn’t that the reason why you cannot stay consistent with your exercise and healthy eating habits?

If you just start exercising every day, after being a “couch-potato” for a while, you will eventually get demotivated, since you will not be able to accomplish the challenge every time.

Instead of doing it, just start easy.

What is easy?

Let’s say you do one push up a day.

One push up? That is it?

This reaction to the “challenge” will keep you going. You will do it with no sweat and never fail.

In no time, you will be adding more push-ups to your routine.

That is also the art of kaizen. It is doing a thing for only a minute a day.

You do not need to do it an hour, or two.

Just focus on an activity a minute, every single day. Then you will not have the excuses that you do not have any time.

Everyone has a minute to spare!

Furthermore, track your habits, so you can also see your progress.

You can do this the old fashioned way (pen and paper), or you can use some of the many apps available to you on your smart devices.

Goals gain power the moment you write them down.

Each day, look at your list and notice how far you have come.

Also, the list will remind you of all the habits you need to finish doing for the day.

Finally, do not increase your standards if one of the days you are so motivated that you exceed your target.

Your best one single day cannot possibly be your best every day.

So, resist the temptation, to save yourself from failure.

Exceeding your goals is great, and you should celebrate them. But when it comes to developing new habits, the secret is going slow.

Key Lessons from “Mini Habits”

1.      Be Easy on Yourself
2.      Track Your Progress
3.      Increase Your Standards Slowly

Be Easy on Yourself

Whenever you start something, set an easy goal, that it is impossible to fail at. Setting hard goals will only undermine your motivation since it will be impossible to be at peak performance at all times.

So, make just a small step, and work from there.

Track Your Progress

Tracking your progress is important so you can see how far you have come. It will motivate you more, and will also show you what things you have left to do each day.

Increase Your Standards Slowly

There will be days when you will perform better than others. Do not fall into the trap and make those days your standards. Instead, just keep to your small goals.

You can try to overreach them, but the standard should remain constant. Increase it slowly.

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“Mini Habits” Quotes

Our Critical Review

Mini Habits has become a bestseller, probably mainly because of the simplicity it lays out a strategy for developing habits that anyone can understand and use.

It is a book that explains the reasoning of our brain and the “science” of habits and convinces readers that willpower is what everyone should rely on when trying to become a better version of him or herself.

Readers who are introduced to the subject may find the content repetitive, but it is interesting how even such readers would enjoy the book since it makes you feel like changing your life is an effortless quest.

Emir Zecovic

Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.