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To Achieve Big Goals, Start with Small Habits

Updated | Leadership Revolution (L-REV)

Overview

Have you set lofty behavior change goals year after year only to find yourself in the same place? Do you feel daunted by achieving and sustaining such big changes? Instead of “going big or going home,” try breaking your giant goal into smaller more realizable “micro habits.” In this HBR article, Sabina Nawaz, a global CEO coach, encourages you to identify “ridiculously small” micro habits that you can sustain before building on.

The Learning Upshot

After completing the work on this page, you will be able to:

  • Know what a micro habit is and how it relates to a larger goal
  • Realize the importance of accountability partners
  • Attempt a micro habit of your own

Read the Article

Make It Actionable

Now it’s time to personalize it. Give this concept some momentum in the workplace and your own life by completing the following “Make It Happen” Micro Habit Worksheet:

“Make It Happen” Micro Habit Worksheet

Part 1: Establish your micro habit. This section is the primary (required) part of formulating your micro habit.

  1. Topic: What competency are you working on?
    Sample: Accountability
  2. What is Your New Micro Habit?: Identify a “ridiculously small” micro habit.
    Sample: Show up to my next team meeting 2 minutes early.
  3. Set an Implementation Intention: How will you implement the new behavior? Create an implementation intention that ties the behavior to a specific setting or context so when you encounter that trigger or cue, your brain is already scripted to respond.
    Sample: When I see my next team meeting on my calendar, I will set a reminder for it. When my reminder goes off, I will immediately walk over to the conference room.
  4. Pinpoint the Why: Describe why you are making this change. Connect the new behavior to your goals or values.
    Sample: I want my colleagues to know that I am a reliable team player. I also want them to know that I value their time.
  5. Repeat Your New Habit: Repetition is key to habit formation. Use this space to keep a tally of how many times you repeated the new behavior.
    Samples: “III” (tally marks) or “5/2, 5/15, 5/27” (by date)
  6. Build Social Accountability: Share your intention with someone. In this space, document with whom and when you share your intention. Take it one step further and establish a regular check-in accountability framework for additional support.
    Sample: On 5/2, I shared with my colleague Shannon that I plan to arrive 2 minutes early to our next team meeting.

Part 2: Make it stronger. This section is optional and provides ideas to further promote habit formation.

  1. Monitor the Old Habit: Creating new habits often involves breaking old habits. Vigilant monitoring, that is, catching yourself engaging in an old habit, has been shown to effectively help with breaking old habits. Use this space to name the old habit and keep a tally of how many times you caught yourself engaging in the old habit.
    Sample: My old habit is arriving late to my team meetings. Out of 5 team meetings, I arrived late to two of them.
  2. Avoid Unwanted Temptations: Identify what entices you away from your new habit and steer clear of it.
    Sample: I tend to ignore alarms and reminders, or I keep working after they’ve gone off. I should pay attention to my reminders and stop what I’m doing.
  3. Create a Reward Structure: Anticipation of a reward can be a motivator. Reinforce the new behavior by tying it to a specific stimulus or reward.
    Sample: I will take a “happy break” every time I accomplish this new behavior.
  4. Connect it to Something You’re Already Doing: It’s much easier to implement a new habit when it’s tied to something that’s already in your routine.
    Sample: I usually jot down a few talking points at my desk just before the meeting. I can consider doing this in the conference room instead of at my desk so that I am already in the room when the meeting begins.
  5. Give Space for Grace: Strive for consistency, not perfection. If you stumble, forgive yourself and move on. Consider establishing a mantra or positive self-talk for when things don’t go as planned.
    Sample: “My mistakes are stepping stones” or “I am on my own path” or “My challenges make me a stronger me”.

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