Behaviour change is difficult, but not impossible

While delving into literature on self-improvement, I repeatedly encountered the name “BJ Fogg” - social scientist and adjunct professor at Stanford University.

His name even cropped up in a book I read that was unrelated to self improvement, which portrayed him and his research in an unfavourable light. This made me curious.

Upon further exploration, I found his book titled “Tiny Habits”. The book made some big assertions regarding the malleability of human behaviour. I was a bit sceptical at first, but as I read on and tried out a few of the exercises laid out at the end of each chapter, I began to get some positive results, which filled me with hope.

The book is literally a step by step guide on how to change your life in small increments by teaching you a variety of methods to designing habits that stick.

What I've found most difficult though is the need to revise and re-design behaviours when they don't work out. While I always understood on the outset that this would be an iterative process, there have been some massive and unexpected changes to my physical environment, both at work and home. At work, I was offered experience in a new area that has a steep learning curve and continues to require lots of self-study outside of work hours just to keep up.

I'm in the process of relocating, I have had to constantly move things in and out of storage, or hide away my computer and textbooks at the end of every day. I haven't had access to simple things that I previously took for granted, like a table.

The changes to my physical and temporal environments have proven to be a massive impediment, derailing my journey of self-improvement.

Surprisingly, some of the habits that I designed have actually stuck. I no longer doom scroll in bed, I eat healthily, and I never forget to floss my teeth. It's time to get back on the wagon.

~ Kinetico