In Tiny Habits, Dr. BJ Fogg tells us:
“How can I make this behavior easier to do? I call this the Breakthrough Question, and it turns out that there are only three answers. All three approaches manipulate the ability element of B=MAP to move you above the Action Line and increase the likelihood that you will actually do a behavior.”
Dr. Fogg tells us about the Ability PAC Person:
- Person – “Increase your skills.”
- Action – “Make the behavior tiny.”
- Context – “Get tools & resources.”
Below is the design flow in order to make a behavior easier to do.
#1 “Are you feeling motivated enough to learn a new skill? Yes? Great—do it. And now go to the next question. No? Next question.”
#2 “Are you feeling motivated enough to find a tool or resource? Yes? Excellent, make it happen. And now go to the next question. No? Next question.”
#3 “Can you scale back the behavior to make it tiny? Yes? Fantastic. You’re done. You can start practicing your new habit. No? Next question.”
#4 “Can you find a Starter Step for your behavior? Yes? Great. Make the Starter Step your initial habit, then do more later when you feel like it. No? Uh-oh. If you said no to all of these questions, you might need to go back and match yourself with a different behavior.”
When troubleshooting installing and deleting behaviors, the second place to start after prompts is with ability.
Remember, you can scale back the behavior to make it tinier, increase your skills, and/or get tools and resources to make behaviors easier to do.
