Traditional habit books will tell you about the cue-behavior-reward structure of habits
from studies, and then proceed to tell you the obvious next step-pick your cue,behavior,
and reward. But what if you want to do something like think more positively in general?
What if you want to do something at varying times? Mini habits open up a new realm
of possibility here. The following is especially relevant for flexible schedules and general
habits like gratefulness.
Mini habits are rooted in autonomy,freedom, and flexibility. The goal is to empower you
to have constant success.We can apply this philosophy to restrictive habit cues by instead
setting a 24-hour deadline with no specific cues.
Have you noticed that bad habits have multiple cues, while everyone suggests that a
good habit should have one cue?It's no wonder bad habits are so strong!They have
sprawling roots tied to many different cues in your life. That's because bad habits grow
naturally through repetition in various circumstances, while we grow good habits
artificially with the "single cuebehavior-reward" formula.It's true that if you only have a
single cue, you will still be more mindful of that behavior.For example, if you think two
happy thoughts at 2 PM every day, then you'll probably think them more in general too.
But doing it at 2 PM every day can feel restrictive and forced (depending on your
personality). In addition, when you set a specific time to do something, it can feel wrong
to do it outside of that time. For people who have a morning habit of writing, many of
them won't ever write at other times of the day. I write at any and all times of
day-whatever fits my schedule best.