Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything

Linda is the author’s older sister; they’ve been close since childhood. Linda has faced many struggles, including bankruptcy, a husband with early-onset Alzheimer’s, and a son who died of an overdose. As his training program grew from free to huge, the author asked Linda to help him develop a system of trainers and programs to handle the flood of interest. Her work with Tiny Habits benefitted her, and she developed a flair for teaching its principles. Her story is one of several mentioned in the book that demonstrate how Tiny Habits can make surprisingly powerful improvements in lives haunted by daunting challenges.

Amy learned Tiny Habits and transformed from a frazzled mother to a successful parent and entrepreneur. Like Linda, Amy’s problems typify those of many readers; the book uses her story to show that anyone under significant stress can use Tiny Habits to get transformative results.

Sarika’s bipolar condition responded well to the Tiny Habits approach. She used the technique to establish order and calm and reduced her reliance on medication. The book uses her story to show that people who struggle with a variety of unusually stressful situations, including mental health challenges, can improve their lives with effective habits that they design.

Sukumar struggled with weight gain; his efforts to diet and exercise proved largely futile for 17 years until he started using Tiny Habits. He began with a very small act—two pushups—and this grew into a large and robust habit. Each good habit led to the growth of other supporting habits, until Sukumar had an entire suite of good behaviors that supported his weight loss and exercise program; his physical strength grew while his waistline shrank. The book states that good habits tend to multiply in people who practice Tiny Habits and portrays Sukumar as a major symbol of that potential, especially in Chapter 6, where his case gets studied in detail.

Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom’s easy-to-use Instagram interface was partly influenced by Fogg’s college classes on human behavior. Their accomplishment serves to illustrate not only the enormous power of simplicity but proof that the author’s theories work well in real-world applications such as business start-ups.

Jill struggled to celebrate small wins, as outlined in Chapter 5. She learned that it’s valid to celebrate the little successes because they have a big effect on a person’s forward progress. A small win, after a lifetime of zero such wins, is a big thing and deserves applause. Jill learned how to reward herself for behaviors that enhance her relationships: Something as apparently minor as cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast permitted her spouse to prepare dinner more easily for the family, and it removed a barrier to their relationship.

Radio host and avid runner Juni had a big sweet tooth, and her weight and health worsened until her energy started to flag at work. Juni’s mother died in 2015 of diabetes; Juni was the strong one in the family, but she destressed by eating ice cream and gaining 15 pounds. Her job and raising two kids—one of whom has autism—didn’t help her stress levels. She learned how to use Tiny Habits to address her behavior of eating sugary foods and design it out of her life. She also dealt with the grief from losing her mother by journaling and reaching out to friends, both good habits in themselves that helped her push away from the dessert table. Juni is the book’s chief example of someone who learns how to remove a harmful habit.