One of my favorite books is Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg because it’s so applicable to fitness and he shares many fitness examples in the book.

Here’s the simple run down….

  • For behavior change to occur, it must check 3 boxes.
  • Motivation – you can’t get someone to do something unless they are motivated to do it. On the chart below you will see it can range from low to high.
  • Ability – we naturally take the path of least resistance so when something is hard we avoid it and when it’s easy it increases the likelihood we will do it.
  • Prompt – we are constantly being prompted by things like email, text, social media. But what prompts do we have in place to help us to take care of ourselves? A prompt can be anything you see like a calendar reminder, sign, object or alarm.

How can you apply this?

For example, let’s say you want to build the habit of consistently going to a session 3x week. You know when you are consistent, good things will happen. You will be healthy and feel better.

✊ Motivation – first you have to understand what is really motivating you. For me, it’s to have the ability to say “yes” to my kids when they want to play in the pool, ride bikes, shoot hoops or anything else physical. I don’t want to be the dad that can’t or won’t due to physical limitations.

🚗 Ability – if the gym is on your drive to work, grocery store or near your house it makes it very easy for you to do. Next you want to always have workout clothes in your car so you don’t have to make it harder to drive home and change.

🎉 Prompt – having your sessions on your google calendar is one prompt. Another is to ask yourself after every workout “when is my next session” and book it on your app. That’s a great prompt too!

This can apply to non-fitness stuff too. I have a date night with my wife on my calendar (prompt), I don’t want her to fall out of love with me (motivation) and I make it easy by planning it every week for her so she just needs to show up (ability).

I follow some local IG accounts with things to do and places to eat to keep me stimulated with ideas.

So, if you ever want to change your behavior or someone else’s, be sure to check these 3 boxes. This is the simplest way to habit hack I’ve found so I thought I would share it with you.