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Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results

Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results

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Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results
***A Worldwide Bestseller in 17 Languages!***

Lasting Change For Early Quitters, Burnouts, The Unmotivated, And Everybody Else, Too

Once I determined to start out exercising constantly 10 years in the past, that is what truly occurred:

  • I attempted “getting motivated.” It labored typically.
  • I attempted setting audacious large targets. I virtually at all times failed them.
  • I attempted to make modifications final. They did not.

Like most individuals who attempt to change and fail, I assumed that I used to be the issue.

Then one afternoon–after one other failed try and get motivated to exercise–I (unintentionally) began my first mini behavior. I initially dedicated to do one push-up, and it changed into a full exercise. I used to be shocked. This “silly thought” wasn’t imagined to work. I used to be shocked once more when my success with this technique continued for months (and to today).

I needed to contemplate that perhaps I wasn’t the issue in these 10 years of mediocre outcomes. Possibly it was my prior methods that have been ineffective, regardless of being oft-repeated as “the best way to alter” in numerous books and blogs.

My suspicions have been appropriate.

Is There A Scientific Rationalization For This?
As I sought understanding, I discovered a plethora of scientific research that had solutions, with no one to interpret them accurately. Based mostly on the science–which you will discover peppered all through Mini Habits–we’ve been doing all of it unsuitable.

You possibly can succeed with out the guilt, intimidation, and repeated failure related to such methods as “getting motivated,” New 12 months’s Resolutions, and even “simply doing it.” In truth, it is advisable to cease utilizing these methods if they are not supplying you with nice outcomes.

Hottest methods do not work properly as a result of they require you to combat towards your unconscious mind (a combat not simply received). It is solely whenever you begin taking part in by your mind’s guidelines and taking your human limitations seriously–as mini habits present you the right way to do–that you possibly can obtain lasting change.

What’s A Mini Behavior?
A mini behavior is a really small optimistic habits that you just pressure your self to do day by day; its “too small to fail” nature makes it weightless, deceptively highly effective, and a superior habit-building technique. You should have no selection however to consider in your self whenever you’re at all times transferring ahead.

The barrier to step one is so low that even depressed or “caught” folks can discover early success and start to reverse their lives immediately. And in the event you assume one push-up a day is just too small to matter, I’ve acquired one heck of a narrative for you!

Goal For The First Step
They are saying whenever you purpose for the moon, you will land among the many stars. Effectively, that does not make sense, because the moon is nearer than the celebs. I digress.

The message is that you must purpose very excessive and even in the event you fall quick, you will nonetheless get someplace. I’ve discovered the alternative to be true with regard to productiveness and wholesome behaviors. Whenever you purpose for the moon, you will not do something as a result of it is too distant. However whenever you purpose for the step in entrance of you, you would possibly maintain going and attain the moon.

I’ve used the Mini Habits technique to get into one of the best form of my life, learn 10x extra books, and write 4x as many phrases. It began from requiring one push-up from myself day by day. How ridiculous is that? Not so ridiculous when you think about the science of the mind, habits, and willpower.

The Mini Habits system works as a result of it is how our brains are designed to alter.

Word: This guide is not for eliminating dangerous habits (some rules might be helpful for breaking habits). Mini Habits is a method to create everlasting wholesome habits in: train, writing, studying, pondering positively, meditating, consuming water, maintaining a healthy diet meals, and so forth.

Lasting change will not occur till you’re taking that first step into a method that works. Give Mini Habits a attempt. You will not look again.

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  1. WestCoast Dad

    I’m not always a show-me-the-science kind of person, but I loved that Stephen Guise cites a lot of studies to support the idea he’s proposing. And while I can’t yet claim it has changed my life (that might take a while, and that’s not only ok, it’s the way our brains work, apparently), it is encouraging to realize there is a far better way to create good habits than relying on willpower and getting motivated. And I’m sure this is by design, to keep readers engaged—or maybe just a happy coincidence, that he’s got a delightful writing style—but this book has made me laugh out loud, a number of times. Highly recommend this valuable, enjoyable book!

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  2. Alties

    I’m a chronic procrastinator. I’m consistently pinned to my chair, half laying in it and mumbling about not being able to do anything. If I even think about doing something I really want to do, I have a difficult time raising just my hand. I’m an expert at not doing anything, and wasting time. I always thought big, too big. Even other time wasters were difficult to do, like playing games or watching tv shows. In a way, life was a cage where all the fun stuff I want to do was just outside my hand’s reach.Mini habits gave me the key to unlock that cage.I started simple, 1 push up a day. 1 minute walking outside. Read 1 page a day. 24 days have passed since I’ve started (I read the blog first of all, that’s how I’ve learnt the concept). Everyday a success.My 1 push up is still growing, but I’ve consistently do bonus reps. My “read 1 page a day” has resulted in completing 7 books in roughly 3 weeks. My 1 minute walk outside changed into me conquering my fear of darkness which has been with me my entire life. I go out twice now for two walks, and I run back from them. Once when it’s still light and once in the dark. My fear of dark has completely gone, I feel like I’m a completely different person now. I’m proud of my self. And all this from just walking outside for 1 minute.Mini habits will teach you what you need to know to get along with your brain, and leverage the power of habits. It’ll tell you how to get there step by step. Understanding is key here, because it’s easy to make a blunder, like increasing your requirements when they should stay “stupid small”. The book has everything you need. It’ll give you the science, and help you along your first steps. Once you know what you’re doing, you’ll have no trouble growing on your own.Like they say: Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.This book will teach you how to fish.

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  3. Amazon Customer

    I found this book a great inspiration to make the first step in applying changes to my life. The concept of mini Habits. seems absolutely clear and doable. The text is supported by rich bibliography supporting its content. Great value. Simple, but beautiful way of switching the productivity focus to where it belongs the most – Action. Get it, read it, share it. My first mini Habit was to read two pages of this book a day, which is a ridiculously small amount of reading. It shortly made me finish it in no time, but also made me start building new habits. Every day turned into a more positive and productive state of mind. I am truly enjoying becoming better one little step at a time. Very much!

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  4. Seamstress

    I am practically a professional pessimist, however, I am also highly disciplined, hard worker, taking on new tasks, learning new skills, assuming more responsibilities, always pushing myself, self critical…etc. About half way through this book I realized I was feeling a little high. Now I am not really experienced with feeling high, half a bottle of champagne is about it, drunk slowly with food it is great. But I do not know how else to describe what I was feeling. I was the “throw away kid” in the family. Everybody entertained themselves by talking about what a failure and disappointment I was, constantly from when I was tiny until I broke free of them. Perhaps I owe my current strengths to them, but then they are also responsible for my perpetual pessimism and dissatisfaction with myself. There are so many people out there who experienced sad childhoods, (Many much worse than mine!), I think this should be part of the grade school curriculum, and middle school, and high school, and on and on. Because isn’t a sad childhood very like the chocolate/radish experiment. You see all the lovely things that others receive (kindness, forgiveness, school clothes, birthday parties, etc.), and you do not, for no particular reason, and nothing you can do is going to change that…and you end up with serious ego-depletion. I think this concept is immensely important, for teaching and parenting. And especially for kids themselves. This is not a tricky concept. Growing will power through consistent small successes, creating an ego that expects success…. Nope not tricky. This is a method for healing squashed egos. It is all well and good to celebrate the quick learners, but how about the consistent workers too? If I still had a child in school, I would make for sure that his teacher had a copy of this book, and knew I expected him to read it. I would talk about it at the PTA, if there is still such a thing. Stupid Small efforts that I really think will have HUGE consequences for our kids. I do not see a downside, do you? Happy Trails to You, Seamstress

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  5. Stuart Dauermann

    I stumbled across the principle underlying this book intuitively about forty years ago, and it got me through a final crunch on a Master’s Degree I might not have completed without it. The principle really works! Stephen Guise does a good job of articulating the idea and explaining how and why it works. The key is that his approach defuses the anxiety and apprehensiveness we all bring to certain tasks in our lives, either because of their perceived magnitude, self doubt, fears of various kinds, leading to avoidance, also known as procrastination. By taking tasks in minute bites, all that apprehensiveness goes away, and more often than not, once we start chewing on the task, the enterprise picks up a momentum we never knew we had in us.This is a principle and a book that will bring greater freedom and control to EVERYONE. I especially appreciated his discussion of why motivation is a problematic goad to good performance. Far better to have a completely manageable procedure that gets you over all kinds of humps without any attendant anxieties. You will be glad you bought this book, and far more glad when you apply it!

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  6. Kerry Meacham

    I had signed up for the author’s blog a few weeks prior to this book release, so I kind of knew the basics. When I bought the book, I immediately set two mini habits of one push-up per day and a one breath plank per day. I have done this each day for a week now, and as he suggests, I am doing extra reps each day.The book itself is very concise and to the point. While there are antecdotes, the majority of the book is filled with substance. I had never heard of this concept before, but I’m going to see how it works for me. I do wish there was a way to use this with negative habits, such as smoking. I’m hopeful that Stephen will figure out a way to parlay this theory into that realm at some point as well.Bottom Line – Quick read, good content, well worth the time and money.

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  7. Amazon4Life

    If you struggle to be consistent with things in life this book is for you. The fact that I actually finished this book is proof that the author is on to something with mini habits. Best productivity book I’ve ever read.

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  8. RASJY

    I must say, I based my purchase merely on reviews and not because I was searching for a particular life improvement strategy, or because I heard of the bestselling status of the book. I’m glad I read this book and learned a lot from what the author shares with an exciting, simple, and innovating approach that touches diverse readers. This book can potentially help people (myself included) to change their lives for the best, and his input and scientifically supported research also helps you gain a new perspective on what we think we know as obvious, but really, we don’t. I hope to see more work from this author, and I hope he continues on a path to serve and help others, as he did with the book Mini Habits. Great job, Mr. Guise and thank you.

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  9. Violet Stasia

    I picked up this book after I saw it on a list of recommended books to read for self improvement or development in a Tony Robbin’s private group page. I cannot express enough how much I highly recommend this book for people wanting to make changes, struggling to make changes or those who are overwhelmed, burn-out or just looking for a new perspective or edge.For most of my life, I have been a real go-getter, that was highly motivated, successful and an avid learner. In the past few years, I had reached a point where I was really struggling to get myself to do anything. I was burned out. I had many things that I wanted to do, but found that all my old ways of getting myself to do things just wasn’t working.I am excited to say that this book has changed all that!I learned SO much from this book. One of the biggest insights about myself and why I was “stuck”, was that as I accomplished things, I would set the bar or goal higher and higher for myself. I reached a point where I had made the “must”, and all the “have to’s” and goals so big in my life, I had total resistance and did NOT want to do them. It was requiring more and more motivation to do anything, and my motivation tank had run out! The book explains more about this, but, it was a light bulb moment for me!I’m one of those people that thinks big and USED to believe If it was too small it wasn’t worth doing. However, if you aren’t able to get going, or you can’t even start, or you do and cannot sustain it, then it doesn’t really matter what size your goal is.Since reading this book, I have begun to exercise consistently, I do a little organization every day and I have completed one book, by reading every day. All that by implementing what he teaches. I feel good about myself and what I am accomplishing. I have set myself up to win. Some of what is recommend may sound too simple or too easy. Trust the process and just do it.This book really does make it easy.

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  10. Michael B.

    Like so many, I have issues with making improvements in my life. I want to make changes, but when I try it becomes overwhelming. At least that was the way until I read this book. Stephen Guise walks through the typical issues people, including me, face while trying to change their routine. Then he introduces his technique of breaking things down into smaller and more manageable steps. Stephen’s writing approach is simple, direct, and makes lots of sense. Since reading this book I have made several positive changes in my life. I thank Stephen for helping me become closer to the person I have always wanted to be.

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  11. Readalot

    When I found this book online, like with most of my purchases, I hesitated…. The resistance (which the author speaks about) kicked in…Why should I buy this book? How is it different from the rest? Will I have time to read it? Do I want it on kindle? Well, I must say that with its succinct size (perfect 116 pages!), and the discounted price of 4.99, this was a delightfully surprising introduction to the world of kindle.Not only did I find the principles engaging and relevant, but they were IMMEDIATELY put into practice, merely because they were so SIMPLE that saying them out loud really sounded stupid. But, that’s the point of the whole book..Setting goals so small that it becomes impossible to fail!I am grateful that someone has the passion to take the time to publish material so highly relevant to transformation.Easily, one of the best willpower (not motivational) titles I have purchased. Period.Cheers!

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  12. Seamstress

    I am practically a professional pessimist, however, I am also highly disciplined, hard worker, taking on new tasks, learning new skills, assuming more responsibilities, always pushing myself, self critical…etc. About half way through this book I realized I was feeling a little high. Now I am not really experienced with feeling high, half a bottle of champagne is about it, drunk slowly with food it is great. But I do not know how else to describe what I was feeling. I was the “throw away kid” in the family. Everybody entertained themselves by talking about what a failure and disappointment I was, constantly from when I was tiny until I broke free of them. Perhaps I owe my current strengths to them, but then they are also responsible for my perpetual pessimism and dissatisfaction with myself. There are so many people out there who experienced sad childhoods, (Many much worse than mine!), I think this should be part of the grade school curriculum, and middle school, and high school, and on and on. Because isn’t a sad childhood very like the chocolate/radish experiment. You see all the lovely things that others receive (kindness, forgiveness, school clothes, birthday parties, etc.), and you do not, for no particular reason, and nothing you can do is going to change that…and you end up with serious ego-depletion. I think this concept is immensely important, for teaching and parenting. And especially for kids themselves. This is not a tricky concept. Growing will power through consistent small successes, creating an ego that expects success…. Nope not tricky. This is a method for healing squashed egos. It is all well and good to celebrate the quick learners, but how about the consistent workers too? If I still had a child in school, I would make for sure that his teacher had a copy of this book, and knew I expected him to read it. I would talk about it at the PTA, if there is still such a thing. Stupid Small efforts that I really think will have HUGE consequences for our kids. I do not see a downside, do you? Happy Trails to You, Seamstress

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  13. kian mokhbery

    I am just blown away by the simple yet incredibly effective system introduced in this book. Even more incredible is the fact that you can start to implement his ideas immediately and see them work in your life as you continue to read. ( how often does that happen with ANY book?)It sheds light on aspects of your life that you never thought would be important. For the effectiveness, simple repetition of all the important aspects you need to remember, and concise length, I would give this book 7 stars if I could!Not only is it useful beyond belief, it’s an easy read that I will be recommending every chance I get.Be patient, read the book, trust the system, and wake up one day more accomplished than you ever thought possible.(I’ll check back in a couple years because I’m not giving up on the skeptics out there)

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  14. Kathleen M.

    This book was recommended to us by my kiddo’s therapist, and has helped me not only to help my anxious/ADHD teen experience success in their fight for organization and personal satisfaction, but also to start to make some important (and long resisted) changes in my own life. Focusing on my tiny “to simple and stupid to fail” goals has helped me spin my health and emotions well being in a better direction. I’ve actually been reading it in tandem with “What’s Missing in Medicine” by Dr. Saray Stancic and it’s helping me process her advice in ways that don’t make my head rebel and say “it’s all too hard and I’m going to fail!”

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  15. N

    Great book, easy read, super simple concept, interesting scientific support, *importantly* repetitive (but in a way that reframes, brings ideas up that are introduced at earlier points for added contextual support, reinforces your habit to approach goals in the new way being proposed by the author). It’s not a hokey self-help book. The author advocates for building willpower rather than motivating by taking tiny, almost too-easy steps towards a goal. It is an incredibly enabling, confidence-building approach that makes you feel accomplished on day one. Recommended to me by my therapist and I couldn’t recommend it more highly. The negative reviews don’t even make sense – ignore them.

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  16. Marie C.

    This book helped me bypass the stress of starting and maintaining a new goal.

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  17. A. Hartman

    This book allows type-A, overachievers (like myself) realize that I don’t have to take on the world all at once. In this past year, my overachieving heart (though well-intentioned) broke down my central nervous system – specifically my parasympathetic nervous system. I’ve worked so hard in life for so much, to seemingly “lose” it all by losing my health. The mini-habits system is something that I can do and find success, at a time, where I feel like such a personal failure. Though I’ve become housebound and bedridden over the past year (sometimes even unable to drive, because of medications), even I can set mini habits and achieve them. My illness has stolen much from me, but this philosophy and practice allows me to experience success – even if it’s just reading a few pages out of a book each day. This book would be a GREAT read for chronically ill people, and I would highly recommend it. I “accidentally” came across this book (if you believe in accidents), and I’m so thankful that I did. Thanks, Stephen, for a great book – whether it was written at 50 or 1500 words per day!

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  18. taxiservice

    This book inspired me to try “stupid” small actions which changed how I look at my day. My goals didn’t even seem that big, but I still always seemed to either procrastinate and run out of time in the day, or not get started in the first place. Mini habits broke this cycle. Even if there is little extra time in the day for personal projects, there is time if I approached the activity like a mini habit. Before, I wasted little chunks of time. Now, I do more of the things that I really care about…I actually do some fun, creative activities instead of just boring, mundane life requirements!

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  19. Amazon Customer

    I rarely read a book before because I feel tooooo LAZY as hell as a person.and then I found this book, Mini Habits, I skeptical about this book in the first time. I thought this book will be boring as others book about habits. But it’s totally wrong. This book changes the way I live my life, indeed.Here it is my progress (daily):1) Wake up at least at 9 am2) Eat vegetable a little (I always eat average)3) Read books for 3 pages4) Read my religion holy book for 1 verse and the meaning5) Open the book (Yes, it’s stupid easy, I intend to study)I’m in progress about a month and a half now, I feel really strong and like a champion of my life! Usually I felt a loser in my life because I don’t have any good habit.Buy it!! You’ll never regret. This book worth more than 20 bucks!

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  20. Lady Quixote

    (This review was completely rewritten on December 26, 2018. Because WOW, Mini Habits has totally changed my life!)According to the University of Scranton, Journal of Clinical Psychology (2012), New Year’s resolutions have an abysmal success rate of only 8%.What this means, of course, is that 92% of all the New Year’s resolutions that will be made six days from now, are never going to happen. The majority of these resolutions will fall by the wayside within the first couple of weeks.I was looking back over my old blog posts recently and I saw where I had made the declaration on New Year’s Day in 2016 that I was going to finish writing my memoir by the end of that year. And it never happened.About 80% of us intend to write a book someday, according to what I have read. And, for the vast majority of people, that “someday” for writing a book never comes.The first time I tried to write a story about my life, I was in my twenties. I thought I was ready to tell my real-life horror to healing story, but I wasn’t even close to being ready.Today, four decades later, thanks to all the healing therapy that I have had in recent years, I know that I’m as ready as I will ever be to share my story with the world. But even so, writing my memoir is still very hard. It is all too easy, on any given day, to come up with one excuse after another for putting off writing. “I’ll do it tomorrow!”But tomorrow never comes. All we have is today.Sometimes, like when I made a determined New Year’s resolution, I would get all excited and write like my brain was on fire for several mega productive days in a row. But sooner or later, something always happened that seemed bigger than my ability to write, and I wouldn’t get any writing done that day.Sometimes the problem might simply be a headache. At other times, I was just too tired to write. I might get some worrisome news from someone I love, or maybe see something on the national news that upset me. Some days I was too busy running errands, or doing laundry, or taking care of our rescue dogs.There were also many times when I was planning to write a part of my story that was especially painful to think about, and on that particular day I would rather think happier thoughts and enjoy where my life is right now. For all of these and many other reasons, I kept setting my manuscript aside, intending to come back to it tomorrow, or next week, or next month — or next year.This has been my reality for far too many years. Trying and failing, and trying and failing, and trying and failing again, to write a memoir. Even on those days when my writing was going great, I was rarely capable of keeping up the momentum for long. Usually, one solid week of writing every day was the best I could manage at a time. Which is pretty much the longevity of the average New Year’s resolution!Writing so sporadically kills the continuity, too. I kept losing the “flow” in my writing. For this reason, even though I tried really hard to pick up where I had left off, I found that I couldn’t do it, after too many days of not writing had gone by. Which means I kept starting my memoir all over again. I haven’t kept count, but I probably did this hundreds of times.More than anything that I may ever accomplish in this life, I want to finish and publish my memoir. Lord willing, I don’t want to take my story to the grave.But I am not going to make another New Year’s resolution next week, only to fail before the month is out. And that’s okay, because I don’t need to make any more New Year’s resolutions to write my memoir. Why? Because 111 days ago, on September 7, 2018, I discovered an entirely new way of getting myself to write, every single day.So far, this new way of building a daily writing habit is working perfectly for me. For the past 110 days, I have not missed a single day of meeting my memoir writing goal. (I haven’t done today’s memoir writing yet, which is why I say 110 days, instead of 111. But I have no doubt that I will meet my writing goal for today, before I go to bed tonight.)I met my writing goal even on November 20, when my doctor told me that I had skin cancer and needed surgery right away. I met my writing goal on Thanksgiving, as we traveled to be with family. I met my writing goal on December 6, when I checked into the hospital and had surgery under general anesthesia. I met my writing goal on the day after my surgery, when I was in pain and feeling very woozy. I met my writing goal while my husband and I have been battling a miserable flu of some kind for the past couple of weeks. Through headaches, stomach aches, and coughing fits that almost made me pass out, I have met my writing goal every single day.And then there was Christmas! That’s right, I met my writing goal on Christmas eve and on Christmas day.When people came to visit, I met my writing goal. When we had places to go and errands to run, I met my writing goal. When I got some very bad news about my precious aunt, and when I read things in the news media that shattered my heart, I met my writing goal. Even when I was writing very hard things, I still met my writing goal. Regardless of what has been going on, even on the most challenging of days, I have met my writing goal every day for the past 110 days, without missing one single day.I have never been able to do this before. It’s like a miracle — and yet, this method is completely natural — which is why it works so well!This new way that I have found to reach my daily writing goal, doesn’t just work for writing. This method works for any kind of goal that you may want to implement in your life. Five days after I started my memoir writing goal on September 7, I added two daily exercise goals and one daily housework goal. And I haven’t missed any of those goals, either, since I started my three additional goals on September 12. For the past 105 days, through all of the ups and downs: cancer scare, surgery, being sick, bad news, and the holidays, I have met every one of my four daily goals, every single day.Not only have I met my goals every day — on the vast majority of days I have actually exceeded my goals, usually by a tremendous amount.With the exception of having the flu and my recent surgery — which turned out NOT to be cancer, yay! — this is the best my life has been, EVER. Thanks to all the planks I’m doing and the miles I’m putting on my exercise bike, my muscle tone is the best that it’s been in decades.  Best of all, I have written so much further than I’ve ever written in my memoir before — and I am still going strong!So — how is this even possible? When 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, when approximately 80% of us want to write a book and never do, and when the vast majority of exercise programs fall by the wayside within the first month — after all the years that I have tried, and failed, over and over again, to write a memoir and to get my muscles in better shape — HOW am I doing this?Here’s how: I bought a book. I read it. And I did what it said.I have read countless self-help, how to write, how to overcome writer’s block, and how to stop procrastinating books, within the past half century. And yet all of those books failed me, just like my New Year’s resolutions always failed.But Mini Habits by Stephen Guise actually works.Take it from an expert in trying and failing to meet an important goal: forget New Year’s resolutions. Whether your goal is getting in shape, cleaning up a terminally messy house, writing a book, pursuing higher education, or whatever you want to  accomplish, if Mini Habits can work for me, I believe it can work for anybody.What’s so different about Mini Habits? The science behind it, that’s what’s different. Mini Habits works, because this is the way our amazing brains were created to work.Thank you for reading my review. God bless, and have a Happy Mini Habits New Year! 

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  21. Amazon Customer

    I just finished reading Mini Habits by Stephen Guise. It was excellent.The premise of the book is really simple. Like a lot of other authors, Guise thinks the best way to make change in your life is to create habits. These habits could be exercising, writing, meditating or even just thinking happy thoughts. However, where Guise differs to other authors is the method he has for building habits.Based on his own experience and backed up by his reading of contemporary neuroscience Guise argues that the best way to build a habit is to set a daily practice. Nothing too new there! But where Guise gets interesting is that he says you should make the duration of this practice so short you simply can’t miss it.Some of the examples Guise used himself were to do just one push up or write fifty words everyday. The logic behind the strategy is that doing an act every day will eventually develop into an automatic behaviour – you won’t have to force yourself to do it.As Guise demonstrates, neuroscience tell’s us that willpower is limited – and if your tired or have had a hard day at work your willpower levels will be down. By making the practice so ridiculously small though, it only takes minimal will power. Furthermore, your willpower is strengthened through use, similar to exercising a muscle, so a short daily practice will actually help to increase your willpower over time.And perhaps the funniest part is that by setting the bar so low, you are more likely to begin the practice and so will often go beyond the minimum! It is a way to trick your mind into beginning, which it is often is resistant to do if the task is really large. As Guise says, you will often find yourself doing “bonus reps”.

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  22. Nuky

    I really liked the simplicity of the mini habits. They truly are “stupid simple”. I am just starting, but I am really interested in the weight loss book.

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  23. Smarty Pants

    After 20 years of smoking, I quit six months ago. It was the techniques that finally worked for quitting smoking that had me googling how to apply to other areas of my life. That’s when I came across Stephen’s blog. I signed up to be notified when his book was released.The book is short and to the point, I read it in two days. I’m a knowledge hound so not reading through page number increasing fluff is worth the 5th star I would have not given for the 3 or 4 typo errors. The method is simple. The science is there, even more than is mentioned in the book. When I asked myself why I was able to finally give up smoking I was embarrassed at the ‘drilled down’ answer. It was not any of the big motivational reasons I’ve heard all my life. It wasn’t for my family or health. It was to increase intimacy with my new boyfriend, who does not smoke. My reason was stupid small and very selfish. It worked!While my goals happen to be similar to Stephens’, the endless possibilities of this method seem to elude the author. I look forward to seeing the list of mini habits growing beyond Stephen’s interest, which are the only examples given. My new habits revolve around fitness, reading and being a mom. I am starting my first habit today. While my aspiration is to lose over 100lbs and become a generally fit and healthy person the new habit i’m starting today is… Put leash on dog. lol! I will be adding read 2 pages to my autistic son and hug while saying I love you to each of my children.I will be using mini habits with my Autistic son as well. The basis for all ABA therapy is the mini habit system. However it can become overwhelming when its seen as having to do 100 steps just to take a bath. I’m going to only allow 3 steps in whatever process we are working on. 3 steps every day, we can do that. His habits to work on are: before every meal walk to bathroom, turn on light, turn on faucet. I will help him complete the activity beyond that point(washing hands), as I do now with all of it. But those 3 steps he will do on his own, no matter how long it takes. Once the 1st step is a habit, I will add the next step.I will be back in a month to update progress (good, bad or otherwise).

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  24. Nathan K

    I learned of this book when it was offered to my via bookbub. Since the preview made sense and seemed so simple, and the reviews (over all) we very positive, I decided to purchase it and see what it had to say.I’m grateful I did.The information presented on what to do and why it works is easy to understand. Also included are personal examples as well as additional resources to use if you want. The author also repeats that if a goal seems to be too big, make it smaller. And explains why.I’m excited to start doing this tonight, Dec. 26th, 2016 because today marks my ten year anniversary of being a non-smoker. Time to add new, positive habits and goals I think.I’m not sure what the normal listed price is for the book, but I didn’t pay much and I believe I got my money’s worthy easily. Hopefully I won’t forget, and I’ll leave an update in 6 months or a year or so, to update everyone on how my progress grows.I’d recommend this book to friends and family.

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  25. Pierre Quintana

    This book blows away the excuses that are in your mind. It helps you realize that small consistent steps are more important than once in a while actions. The research presented in an easy to digest fashion. I read the book and implemented the mini habits immediately. Read this book and strive with small steps to your best life.

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  26. Mark W. Holbrook

    I have spent 47 years unable to practice piano daily, unable to consistently exercise, and unable to develop all sorts of consistent, positive habits. This book showed me that I’m not an idiot, I was simply trying to do too much. After reading Mini Habits I am well on the road to doing those things that I’ve wanted and needed to do for my entire life. In short, this book is life-changing, it works, and Stephen Guise shows you exactly why it works using scientific studies and logical proofs. The concepts are not based on mere opinion or fanciful ideas! I subscribe to the author’s newsletter, and it’s one of the few that I look forward to reading each week – he consistently provides high quality information. I’ve been telling friends and family about this book, and it’s going on my Top 5 Essential Books List.

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  27. kimberly falzone

    Do you struggle to juggle all your responsibilities as a mom? Is self-care neglected because you’re caring for other people constantly? I’m a mom of four. Two are in college, one has special needs, and the youngest is 9. I have always felt like I needed to be four different people, one person for each of my children because it requires so much of me to help them all. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK. You do not lack the will power. You do not lack the ability to achieve your goals. You CAN take care of yourself, your house, and your children every day. No matter what you think your MO is, you’re better than all your failures. Inside your brain are all the plans, all the dreams, all the habits you need, just waiting to be released. I’m 50 years old. Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Apart from the Bible, no other book has ever had this big of an impact on my life. Understanding how God created our brain to work is the KEY to success. I LOVE the success I am having each day in my “mini” ways and they have catapulted me to Much Bigger Results than I ever had before. Not only that, but all my kids are catching on. Even my youngest is being trained to change her life in mini ways. She is readily accepting and liking the success that she is having, like keeping her room clean!! I wish I had read this 20 years ago, when I first became a parent. But, better late than never. And, yes, you need to actually read the book. I just finished tonight and knew that I had to leave a review. Start living the life you always dreamed and be the person you always wanted to be. You can do it! God bless!!

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  28. Ben Marlin

    Mini Habits work. Here’s my proof:For many years, I was a regular exerciser. My zeal for exercising ebbed and flowed, but I always did something on a regular basis to get my heart pumping. At my best, I walked to the gym in 25-degree weather – in shorts, because I’m not smart – and I ran several miles on the treadmill. I exercised even more when I had a gym in my apartment building. I felt great, and I never once questioned whether exercising was a worthwhile practice. It so obviously improved every facet of my life.Then, a few years ago, I stopped. Maybe it was moving out of the building with the gym. Maybe work got busier. Maybe it was having a kid. Whatever the reason, my exercising habit dwindled and eventually disappeared outright. I could not find the time or – more importantly – the motivation to fit in a half-hour of exercise into my days.As is true of all habits, not exercising became easier and more ingrained each day I did it. Not only was it easier physically to lay in bed rather than run on a treadmill, my brain became better and better at justifying my lack of exercise:”I have no time – not in the morning, the afternoon, the evening, weekends, weekdays. It’s too cold out. It’s too cold in. My gym is too far away [my gym was a block away; I could see my apartment building from the treadmills]. I would definitely exercise at Equinox, but I can’t afford to join. If I had a treadmill at home, I would run every day. I can’t do exercise DVDs because it would annoy the people living below us. Exercising would take away time I could be spending with my wife and our new baby. What if my son ended up in therapy because daddy was too busy exercising to play with him? I can’t risk it.”Even more insidiously, my lazy brain began implanting deeper ideas that would prevent me from exercising today, or tomorrow, or any day: “Does exercise really matter? I’m a cerebral guy – who cares what my body looks or feels like? Sure, exercise is great for Michael Phelps, but I don’t need it. My life is just fine without it.”But it affected me. While I maintained a healthy weight through dieting, and I walked several miles each day as part of a normal life in New York City, I could still feel the lack of regular cardio exercise, the kind that really gets my heart pumping. I felt the lack of exercise in my chest. My body dragged. I was in lousy shape. Climbing a flight of stairs caused me to lose my breath. While singing songs to my baby son, I had to pause for breath between each verse. I even confessed to a friend that “I get winded while whistling.”In the back of my mind, I had the nagging notion that I was hurting myself by not exercising. But it was dwarfed by the impeccable, inarguable logic behind a sedentary lifestyle.To the tiny extent that I did want to exercise, the idea of running a few miles seemed like torture. But of course, I couldn’t do any less than that. I was going to exercise perfectly, or not at all.I waited in vain for my old motivation to suddenly return, for the day when I’d wake up, realize how vital exercise was, jump out of bed, and run five miles with a smile on my face. But it never came.A few months ago, I read Mini Habits; and everything Stephen said about willpower and motivation lined up with my own experience. He understood every dirty trick my brain had pulled to keep me from disrupting my lazy, comfortable, and deeply unhealthy equilibrium.I decided to build the Mini Habit of exercising for 5 minutes per day. My Mini Habit would, at least initially, consist of running in place in our backyard if the weather was good, or in our laundry room if it wasn’t. It felt absurd, like it would accomplish nothing, but it was an exercise commitment that flew under the radar of every excuse that my brain could come up with. My brain simply said, “Sure, whatever, Carl Lewis. Have fun with your ‘exercise’. Maybe you’ll qualify for the New York City Marathon over in the laundry room.”That night, I laced up my sneakers and headed to the laundry room. My brain didn’t try to stop me. I huffed and puffed in place for five minutes. When my timer went off, I wheezed, “Oh, thank you, thank you” and, coursing with relief, I threw off my sneakers.That was 85 nights ago, and I haven’t missed a night of exercise since then. A few weeks ago, I felt comfortable enough to bump up my Mini Habit to ten minutes of exercise per night. A few days ago, I added 2 1/2 minutes of crunches after I run in place.If any of this becomes too onerous, I’ll shift back to five minutes per night until I’m comfortable exercising again. For now, though, it feels right; and every night of exercise makes the next night easier to accomplish, physically and mentally.Eventually I hope to build back up to a half-hour of running, and not just running in place. But I know I’ll get there; and I know that it will only happen if I continue to do something – however small – instead of nothing.Even with only 5-10 minutes of cardio every night, I feel so much better. I breathe easier. I walk faster. I sing – and even whistle – without any detrimental effects.Perhaps most importantly, and fully in line with the book’s philosophy on exercise and willpower, exercising has slowly brought back my motivation to exercise. I’m remembering how good I feel when I’m a regular exerciser, the joy of resting, covered in sweat, after I’ve pushed myself to accomplish something physically difficult. I get excited picturing how my body will eventually look. I’m realizing – once again – how important regular exercise is to my physical, mental, and emotional health.After 85 nights, I’m excited about this. Slowly, over several months, exercising has once again become a part of my identity. None of it happened magically overnight. It happened in sweaty five- and ten-minute mini-increments.Mini Habits helped me improve a vital area of my life when nothing else worked. Thank you to Stephen for inventing such a fantastic concept. I hope that anyone who wants to make a similar change will give Mini Habits a try.

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  29. Dehlila Claire

    You need it. You might not think you need it, but you need it. It will change your life if you let it.

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  30. Lady Quixote

    (This review was completely rewritten on December 26, 2018. Because WOW, Mini Habits has totally changed my life!)According to the University of Scranton, Journal of Clinical Psychology (2012), New Year’s resolutions have an abysmal success rate of only 8%.What this means, of course, is that 92% of all the New Year’s resolutions that will be made six days from now, are never going to happen. The majority of these resolutions will fall by the wayside within the first couple of weeks.I was looking back over my old blog posts recently and I saw where I had made the declaration on New Year’s Day in 2016 that I was going to finish writing my memoir by the end of that year. And it never happened.About 80% of us intend to write a book someday, according to what I have read. And, for the vast majority of people, that “someday” for writing a book never comes.The first time I tried to write a story about my life, I was in my twenties. I thought I was ready to tell my real-life horror to healing story, but I wasn’t even close to being ready.Today, four decades later, thanks to all the healing therapy that I have had in recent years, I know that I’m as ready as I will ever be to share my story with the world. But even so, writing my memoir is still very hard. It is all too easy, on any given day, to come up with one excuse after another for putting off writing. “I’ll do it tomorrow!”But tomorrow never comes. All we have is today.Sometimes, like when I made a determined New Year’s resolution, I would get all excited and write like my brain was on fire for several mega productive days in a row. But sooner or later, something always happened that seemed bigger than my ability to write, and I wouldn’t get any writing done that day.Sometimes the problem might simply be a headache. At other times, I was just too tired to write. I might get some worrisome news from someone I love, or maybe see something on the national news that upset me. Some days I was too busy running errands, or doing laundry, or taking care of our rescue dogs.There were also many times when I was planning to write a part of my story that was especially painful to think about, and on that particular day I would rather think happier thoughts and enjoy where my life is right now. For all of these and many other reasons, I kept setting my manuscript aside, intending to come back to it tomorrow, or next week, or next month — or next year.This has been my reality for far too many years. Trying and failing, and trying and failing, and trying and failing again, to write a memoir. Even on those days when my writing was going great, I was rarely capable of keeping up the momentum for long. Usually, one solid week of writing every day was the best I could manage at a time. Which is pretty much the longevity of the average New Year’s resolution!Writing so sporadically kills the continuity, too. I kept losing the “flow” in my writing. For this reason, even though I tried really hard to pick up where I had left off, I found that I couldn’t do it, after too many days of not writing had gone by. Which means I kept starting my memoir all over again. I haven’t kept count, but I probably did this hundreds of times.More than anything that I may ever accomplish in this life, I want to finish and publish my memoir. Lord willing, I don’t want to take my story to the grave.But I am not going to make another New Year’s resolution next week, only to fail before the month is out. And that’s okay, because I don’t need to make any more New Year’s resolutions to write my memoir. Why? Because 111 days ago, on September 7, 2018, I discovered an entirely new way of getting myself to write, every single day.So far, this new way of building a daily writing habit is working perfectly for me. For the past 110 days, I have not missed a single day of meeting my memoir writing goal. (I haven’t done today’s memoir writing yet, which is why I say 110 days, instead of 111. But I have no doubt that I will meet my writing goal for today, before I go to bed tonight.)I met my writing goal even on November 20, when my doctor told me that I had skin cancer and needed surgery right away. I met my writing goal on Thanksgiving, as we traveled to be with family. I met my writing goal on December 6, when I checked into the hospital and had surgery under general anesthesia. I met my writing goal on the day after my surgery, when I was in pain and feeling very woozy. I met my writing goal while my husband and I have been battling a miserable flu of some kind for the past couple of weeks. Through headaches, stomach aches, and coughing fits that almost made me pass out, I have met my writing goal every single day.And then there was Christmas! That’s right, I met my writing goal on Christmas eve and on Christmas day.When people came to visit, I met my writing goal. When we had places to go and errands to run, I met my writing goal. When I got some very bad news about my precious aunt, and when I read things in the news media that shattered my heart, I met my writing goal. Even when I was writing very hard things, I still met my writing goal. Regardless of what has been going on, even on the most challenging of days, I have met my writing goal every day for the past 110 days, without missing one single day.I have never been able to do this before. It’s like a miracle — and yet, this method is completely natural — which is why it works so well!This new way that I have found to reach my daily writing goal, doesn’t just work for writing. This method works for any kind of goal that you may want to implement in your life. Five days after I started my memoir writing goal on September 7, I added two daily exercise goals and one daily housework goal. And I haven’t missed any of those goals, either, since I started my three additional goals on September 12. For the past 105 days, through all of the ups and downs: cancer scare, surgery, being sick, bad news, and the holidays, I have met every one of my four daily goals, every single day.Not only have I met my goals every day — on the vast majority of days I have actually exceeded my goals, usually by a tremendous amount.With the exception of having the flu and my recent surgery — which turned out NOT to be cancer, yay! — this is the best my life has been, EVER. Thanks to all the planks I’m doing and the miles I’m putting on my exercise bike, my muscle tone is the best that it’s been in decades.  Best of all, I have written so much further than I’ve ever written in my memoir before — and I am still going strong!So — how is this even possible? When 92% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, when approximately 80% of us want to write a book and never do, and when the vast majority of exercise programs fall by the wayside within the first month — after all the years that I have tried, and failed, over and over again, to write a memoir and to get my muscles in better shape — HOW am I doing this?Here’s how: I bought a book. I read it. And I did what it said.I have read countless self-help, how to write, how to overcome writer’s block, and how to stop procrastinating books, within the past half century. And yet all of those books failed me, just like my New Year’s resolutions always failed.But Mini Habits by Stephen Guise actually works.Take it from an expert in trying and failing to meet an important goal: forget New Year’s resolutions. Whether your goal is getting in shape, cleaning up a terminally messy house, writing a book, pursuing higher education, or whatever you want to  accomplish, if Mini Habits can work for me, I believe it can work for anybody.What’s so different about Mini Habits? The science behind it, that’s what’s different. Mini Habits works, because this is the way our amazing brains were created to work.Thank you for reading my review. God bless, and have a Happy Mini Habits New Year! 

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  31. kpoling

    This is a fantastic book for anyone struggling with building self-discipline, and I can personally attest to that difficulty. The writing is clear and concise, and downright funny in some cases. Guise is one writer who can relate to this problem and testifies to his personal experience often in the text. Even the concept of mini habits is freeing, and I have made progress on my own goals even while I was still reading. I grew up with undiagnosed ADD, so I had lots of trouble forming productivity habits in college and adult life. This book goes into why habits drive our behavior (neural pathways) and this explains why I always had so much trouble “making” myself do things. It turns out that our brains are actually wired to resist change, and our willpower is a limit resource! And yes, science backs this up! I have been so much more productive since reading this because I can tell myself, ok, you only have to fold one towel, then I end up folding the entire basket of laundry. Or, I only fold one towel, but it’s better than the zero towels I would have folded had I relied on my underdeveloped willpower. This is a crude example, but the point is that setting a small goal helps get you going and builds self-esteem, which most people have in short supply if they struggle with self discipline. This book also goes into why our traditional self-help in this area often fails. This book works well as a behavior modification program with one of Guise’s other books, How to be an Imperfectionist, as well as Gabrielle Ottenger’s Rethinking Positive Thinking (the book that uses the WOOP technique). I am so pleased with the results produced by the techniques in this particular book that I want to let everyone know not to waste their time on the conventional self-help books in the area of self discipline and productivity. Read this book if you want to see results.

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  32. Book Hoarder

    I would recommend this book to anyone, like me, who has trouble getting and staying motivated to incorporate good habits in their lives. Stephen Guise lays it all out: why our motivation wanes and what we can do about it. Breaking down a desired habit into something that is ridiculously easy to do was a game changer for me. I’m one of those perfectionists whose brain thinks, “Hey, this looks too hard. If you can’t finish, why bother to even start?” Mini habits circumvent that mindset. Small successes can beget big results. I was so impressed by these concepts that I sent this e-book as a gift to my siblings. I hope they get as much out of it as I have. Read this book! It’s a fast read and you can even use it to start your first mini habit: read two pages a day.

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  33. Emily

    He just breaks down what other books like the one thing do. Really simple. How to attack something you’ve hated to enjoy again. So grateful so have this book shared with me to get. Took lots of notes and underlining!

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  34. JMillz

    I promised myself I would not start any habits, with the exception of one, until I finished the book. That one habit was to read one page, just ONE, before bed each night, One page turned into two, turned into a chapter. I finished the book within a week and knew exactly what 3 habits I wanted to begin. Those three habits have a total time investment of less than 10 minutes per day. As Mr. Guise says it would take longer and use more energy to talk myself out of doing each habit than just doing them.6 weeks later those habits are sticking and I’m ready to add three more.This book is easy to read, the psychology makes sense, and it isn’t overwhelming,I have recommended this book to several friends and have purchased additional copies for gifts!

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  35. zork2112

    This turned out to be just what I needed. There were a lot of changes I needed to make (e.g. working out, getting back to reading) that I had been trying to get going on for a long time, but was never able to make progress. After listening to this, I really found that by making these mini habits that I’m actually getting things done now. The author is totally correct in that it’s getting started that is the toughest resistance that needs to be overcome. By using mini-habits, you have the tool to do that. I find that just as the author had suggested, that once I get started I nearly always exceed my mini-habit. And even on the days when I don’t I still feel the success of having met the mini-habit goal. On a related note, if you have an Android phone, there is a free app called “Loop Habit Tracker” that is perfect for tracking mini-habits.

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  36. T. Walsh

    Just finished the book a week ago, and it’s already making a difference. For example, I’ve been wanting to work in sit-ups, push-ups and lifting dumbbells into my regular walking, but the usual reasons of tiredness, young kids, too late in the night have me avoiding sit ups for four years. After reading the book, I set my mini-goal of one sit up. As a result, one week later, I’m doing 40 sit ups and brought the dumbbells back in from the garage and doing one set each day. (So glad I didn’t give those dumbbells to charity.)The book explains how you are defeating yourself when you set big goals because the brain will resist big changes. So, setting these mini-goals will trick the brain in expanding the comfort zone. Then, the mini-habits will stick and their effect will be significant like compound interest.Powerful concepts. Wish I had this book 20 years ago, but I imagine Mr. Guise would be just an adolescent 20 years ago.

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  37. Evan Hadkins

    This is an excellent book. It is clear, simple and could help you change your life.The basic idea is to make progress in small steps, so that you build a habit without battling resistance. Simple? Certainly. Intelligent and helpful. Absolutely. The idea is to ‘trick your brain’ by choosing a goal or habit so small that you will always be able to do it, then do it daily (and you will find that you almost always exceed your goal, and build a habit). The trick is not to waste your willpower fighting resistance but choosing something so ‘stupid small’ that you have no resistance to it. The example that did it for Stephen after years of problems getting fit was to set the goal of doing just one pushup a day. If he did more bonus! But if he did one he still achieved his goal – and one pushup is an awful lot better than none.The whole system is explained in one long chapter – so you can skip to there and then go back to read what interests you if you like. Stephen provides footnotes to academic literature where you can chase up the research if you wish to.Criticisms? I found it a little repetitious at times. (I’m an intuitive – I like the main idea and its application spelt out and left at that). However what Stephen is saying is always clear and his reasoning is always spelt out. He also shows how his system is backed by the academic literature. You are not left at any stage needing to guess what he is saying or why he is saying it.This book gives you everything you need to start changing your life one habit at a time, one ‘stupid small’ at a time. Recommended without hesitation or qualification.

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  38. YetiKitty

    I bought this book for Kindle about a week ago. It made sense to me and as usual for me, I overdid, coming up with about a dozen good habits I wanted to acquire immediately. Fortunately, after a couple of days, I noticed it said something like 1 – 4 and cut back my list to 4 behavior changes to begin with. Starting out with only 4 habit changes, it isn’t so overwhelming and shows signs of working to the point that I no longer have to consult my list to remember what habits I’m working on.Then, yesterday, I bought EFT and Tapping for beginners and went through the tapping routine once to try it out. I found it so calming, I added tapping to my list and now have 5 items on my list.After running through the tapping routine just before bed time, I slept all night without waking, which is a major milestone for me. I have been an insomniac all my life, waking in the middle of the night and not able to get back to sleep for 2 or 3 hours. I believe I’ll be able to stick with it and I think this combination of mini habits and tapping is really going to do me some good. I feel very encouraged.For the curious, my list of mini habits includes:1) doing at least one stitch of crochet a day. (I have a bad habit of starting projects and then abandoning them.)2) eating one vegetarian meal a day.3) reading 2 pages of something self improving.4) 1 crunch a day5) 1 tapping routine before bed time.Since I am 78 years old, my bad habits are pretty well established, but better late than never.Wish me luck.

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  39. Patricia Daugherty

    Love this book. The idea of setting daily goals that are so small that it literally by-passes your resistance and tendencies to procrastinate is brilliant. It really works. At least it works for me. The rewards far out way the small investment in time each day. An example: I’ve been trying to learn Spanish. I recently moved to a Spanish speaking country so I’m highly motivated. I took lessons at college, a language school and a private teacher but I was still afraid to speak. I tried studying every day at home but I couldn’t make myself do it. Months passed and I would ‘forget’ to study. After reading Mini Habits, I made it my goal to spend at least 10 minutes a day watching Spanish conversation lessons online. For over a month l have watched short video lessons everyday and made noticeable progress with seemingly little effort. I am having real conversations with people I meet on the bus and in the bank. The 10 minute a day mini habit has helped me more than anything else. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has had a hard time achieving their goals and developing good habits.

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  40. ReviewScroller

    I have read hundreds of books on personal and professional development over the past 40 years and this easy read is a gem and among the top 5 in terms of impact. One of the strengths of the book is how well Stephen explains “why” these strategies work and how he has designed them to customize to your needs so that it is almost impossible to fail. Purchased both the Kindle e-book and the Audible version (I spend a lot of time on the road) and found they complement each other well in that the entertaining writing style of the book translates extremely well in the hands of the skilled narrator and helps me more quickly absorb the material and put it to work. Was so impressed that I quickly purchased his second book “How to Be an Imperfectionist: The New Way to Self-Acceptance, Fearless Living and Freedom from Perfectionism” and am finding that book also exceptionally well-researched, written and useful. That Audible version has the same excellent narrator. Not many books are truly life-changing, but both of these are.

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  41. Clåre

    I’ve always been full of excuses to avoid doing the things that I know would help me in the medium- and longer-term time scales. The technique of mini habits cuts through those excuses like butter! This book is helping me RIGHT NOW! 👍

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  42. george

    This is great advice for getting yourself into action and moving forward. I have already put several mini habits into action. And I am happy to say that I am now doing more regularly than ever.

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  43. Smarty Pants

    After 20 years of smoking, I quit six months ago. It was the techniques that finally worked for quitting smoking that had me googling how to apply to other areas of my life. That’s when I came across Stephen’s blog. I signed up to be notified when his book was released.The book is short and to the point, I read it in two days. I’m a knowledge hound so not reading through page number increasing fluff is worth the 5th star I would have not given for the 3 or 4 typo errors. The method is simple. The science is there, even more than is mentioned in the book. When I asked myself why I was able to finally give up smoking I was embarrassed at the ‘drilled down’ answer. It was not any of the big motivational reasons I’ve heard all my life. It wasn’t for my family or health. It was to increase intimacy with my new boyfriend, who does not smoke. My reason was stupid small and very selfish. It worked!While my goals happen to be similar to Stephens’, the endless possibilities of this method seem to elude the author. I look forward to seeing the list of mini habits growing beyond Stephen’s interest, which are the only examples given. My new habits revolve around fitness, reading and being a mom. I am starting my first habit today. While my aspiration is to lose over 100lbs and become a generally fit and healthy person the new habit i’m starting today is… Put leash on dog. lol! I will be adding read 2 pages to my autistic son and hug while saying I love you to each of my children.I will be using mini habits with my Autistic son as well. The basis for all ABA therapy is the mini habit system. However it can become overwhelming when its seen as having to do 100 steps just to take a bath. I’m going to only allow 3 steps in whatever process we are working on. 3 steps every day, we can do that. His habits to work on are: before every meal walk to bathroom, turn on light, turn on faucet. I will help him complete the activity beyond that point(washing hands), as I do now with all of it. But those 3 steps he will do on his own, no matter how long it takes. Once the 1st step is a habit, I will add the next step.I will be back in a month to update progress (good, bad or otherwise).

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  44. Jerry P.

    . . . then give yourself the gift of reading this one. The book’s premise is a ridiculously simple concept, which may well explain why almost everyone so far has over-looked it. Until now.The cliche praise of calling a self-improvement book a life-changing experience is–in this particular case–more than justified and precisely on the mark.It’s an easy one or two night read, and years from now you may look back on the time you read it as the precise point at which your life began to significantly change for the better. We truly owe Stephen Guise a profound degree of gratitude for getting us to believe that “stupidly small steps” can–and almost certainly will–contribute to significant and positive changes in our lives–and, by indirect effect–also to those around us. So here’s a high five to ya Stephen.PS: After reading your book I started out small by giving people a “high one” (finger) salute, but it was so often misinterpreted that I just had to jack it up to a five.

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  45. Tyler Mercier

    Mini HabitsThe book Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results by Stephen Guise is based on the story of how the author discovered that mini habits work better than traditional big habits. For ten years the author tried many different personal development systems, to build significant daily habits that would help him achieve his fitness and writing goals, and had no success. One night in desperation he decided upon a mini habits – just one push-up a day. To his surprise this mini habit empowered him to do more and more push-ups and to ultimately develop fitness habits that helped him achieve his goals.His surprising results with mini habits inspired him to research why they worked so well in achieving major results. The author’s personal experiences with a motivational approach to achievement was that to be motivated to work on a goal, it had to be big enough to be exciting, like running five miles a day or writing 2000 words a day. The daily tasks required to achieve the goals took so much willpower to start that he never had the energy to get started, much less start a new habit. Without “motivation” he could not get anything done.Researchers have discovered that to be motivated to achieve a goal, which requires habit formation, the goal has to be big enough to get people excited. For many people just coming up with a big “exciting” goal was enough of an accomplishment. Having the goal was a reward enough and they no longer felt the need to actually accomplish it. Those who tried to accomplish a big goal which required developing new habits that took a lot of energy and willpower had a very negative experience and feeling of failure when the goal was not achieved. The result was a huge resistance to developing new habits and a negative experience every time forming new habits was attempted yet not accomplished.Establishing a mini-habit, on the other hand, does not require a lot willpower to start and since it is easy to do, it creates a regular positive experience by doing it each day. Even though the mini-habit is ridiculously small, it provides a positive sense of accomplishment and encouragement. It is important not to increase the mini-habit goal so that it remains easy to do. The mini-habit doesn’t require much energy to start so there is more energy to do the work.The author suggests taking at least a month to see if mini-habits will work for you. I tried the mini-goal the author had, to write 50 words a day on a book I have been working for a year about what I have learned about cancer that I think everyone should know. The first few weeks the mini-goal seemed to help a little, but now that I have been doing it for 6 weeks it seems to be helping a lot. It not only helped with writing the book, but it contributed to me focusing the content and scope of the book. Instead of trying to explain the historical models of cancer and how recent discoveries are finding them to be wrong, I am focusing on the stunning new discoveries and the success of non-toxic cancer treatments. Last week I wrote more in a day than I have since high school.I feel using mini-goals is helping me achieve my goals. If you want to try a new way to accomplish things try out mini-goals. I highly recommend this book – Five Stars.

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  46. MichaelF

    So I have just created a new mini-habit. My new mini-habit is I will leave one amazon review for every 10 books I read. Like many of you, I have relied heavily on customer reviews when making a kindle order. I search for books in areas of interest to me and then I immediately look at the customer reviews to help me decide which book resonated with its readers. I am sure, that I went through the same process before selecting this book. If you want to know whether or not Stephen Guise’s message resonated with me, the fact that I am writing this review should be all the proof you need. The overall theme of his mini-habits system is that good intentions are not the same thing as good results. The only thing that matters when changing behavior and making it habit forming is the ability to do the behavior consistently even on your worst day. By setting the bar very low (not a negative thing) success becomes inevitable. As I was reading this book, this philosophy kept making more and more sense to me. In fact, I am happy to say that I have set 4 mini-habits for me and after 3 weeks I have yet to fail in achieving them. It may not sound impressive to many, but I and anyone else who reads this book, will understand how important this consistency is in reaching long term goals. My favorite line in the entire book that so succinctly summarizes this process is: “Be the person with embarrassing goals and impressive results instead of the person with impressive goals and embarrassing results”. This book is for anyone who wants to make any type of positive change in their life, and it makes that change seem not only possible but a lifetime habit.

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  47. A. Boyce

    I listen to audio books while working (artist) or driving, and this is one that I listen to, move on to something else, and then come back to a few weeks later. It is a little mini habit of its own.So far I’ve formed several mini habits, including drinking water each day (something I used to hate) and logging mileage and expenses regularly, taking care of mail as soon as it comes in (my desk looks so much better) and now I have to work on an exercise mini habit. I’ve been doing some exercise each day at home, but I’ve hesitated to go to the gym. Today I’m going to set out my shoes and clothes (smallest step ever, but it works for me).If you try mini habits it actually can change your life overnight, but if you’re like me it’s not going to be a huge change, just a tiny step in a better direction. The point is that they’ve all been permanent steps, for at least 8 months on the water, 6 months for logging mileage/expenses, 3-4 months for exercise at home, etc. Once you’ve formed a habit for that long it’s easy to move on to another mini habit.btw – I tried doing 3-4 mini habits at once, and it only stuck for one at a time, which was ok. The author covers all this so you know it’s normal and how to keep going. Again, not promising huge changes in your life, but sometimes the little habits you don’t think about make life a little better permanently.

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  48. Jay Rajput

    The advice in the book is clear and concise and it works. I have read other personal development books and always found myself struggling with the concept and idea, but not with this book. The book is nicely written and talks to the point. I have started implementing the ideas in the book and have found my life to be fun filled with mini habits. I do not not know if eventually I will make some big changes with these mini habits or not, but I have started enjoying them. Doing these mini has calmed me like meditation. Do more by doing less is the mantra.I learn spanish every day on duo lingo. I do push-ups and chin-ups everyday. I read books everyday (technical and fiction). I think a positive thought everyday. What else do you need in life :)?

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  49. Brandon

    There are a lot of books on habits these days. Everyone is trying to tell you the best way to form habits based on good but outdated and possibly biased research (it’s hard not to be, this review is a tad biased as well). This book was written out of the authors 10+ years of struggling with habit formation and self-discipline. He found something that worked for him, then he put it through all the tests. This book works, it shows you how our brains love consistency and how they are extremely hard to change at first…. Then once the habit is formed, it is extremely hard to change back. It could be quite boring actually… That’s a good sign.Anyway, make this the book on habits that you read all the way through. The concept and strategy is very simple. Great read! Extremely practical and applicable.

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  50. SANBEE

    The idea’s in this book work for me…..I will read it again and again and so on, just to remind myself that life is not that difficult when taken in mini bites…. I have mini habits on the go NOW. My garden, a rather large one (4 acres) that was being neglected big time…It all looked too overwhelming for me to deal with…NOT NOW, not after trying the one weed a day trick…. I ended up doing one potted up planter of annuals a day or one pruned shrub a day and so on. Even on rainy days one weed a day is definitely achievable…(like run outside grab a weed put it in the rubbish and run back inside, now that is still successful in Stephen Guise and my eyes)………The bonus….my family called in today and commented on our beautiful garden…. They laughed when I told them it all started with one weed a day…..Thank you Stephen Guise and thank you Amazon for making this book available for me to learn such a valuable MAXI lesson

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  51. ericawriter

    Today I did five pushups — four more than I planned. I ran 17 minutes,16:30 more than I had initially intended. And now, as I type this, I am marching my way toward a goal of 50 words for the day.These aren’t feats of valor in themselves, though the genius of these three micro-goals are the whisper-soft starts they offer. When all you have to do is drop and do one pushup, the horror of not completing your trifling goal for the day is far greater than doing what’s required to meet it.The techniques — and the even goals I chose for myself — come from Mini Habits, yet another book in the sprawling self-help weedpatch. What sets Mini Habits apart, however, is that its author, Stephen Guise, wastes no time laying out a credible and actionable path to transforming sloth to industry without the extra baggage and pseudoscience of other works in the genre.Instead, Guise opens with a treatise on the value of willpower over motivation (motivation is a feeling and feelings inevitably change) and then goes on to cite to good effect various studies in ego depletion, habit formation, and subconscious mechanics. According to those studies, there are five principle things that deplete willpower: hypoglycemia, negative affect, effort, perceived difficulty, and subjective fatigue. Building on the studies, Guise points out levers for those categories, most of which center on his mini habit concept. What makes Guise’s book an absolute gem, in fact, are the chapters he writes on getting down to business. Unlike 

    The Power of Habit

    , which though replete with well-reported long-form journalism, is light on actionable information, Mini Habits allows — or even demands — I put its information to concrete use (313 words so far — 263 more than I had required of myself). To minimize guesswork Guise’s recommendations are nearly black and white and he proscribes them with caveats to maximize success. For example, he says to start with one and certainly no more than four mini-habits, because 100 percent success will enhance your self-efficacy.Self-efficacy, Guise points out, is where the gold of mini-habits lies. By completing a goal — even one that seems crazy small — you get a little jolt of personal power that can spill over to other areas of your life. I’ve completed three today (including the one sun salutation this morning with a Warrior II and Triangle tacked on) and I have to say I feel pretty nifty. The 450 words I’ve written so far, too, stand as an apology for this book.I only sat down to write because two sentences were all I was on the hook for, and lo, we have this review! If my results are anything like the typical reader’s, mini habits are a solid tool for salting a few casual miracles into your routine. Guise’s book is an excellent guide.

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  52. Adriana Robbins

    Wow!! This book is well written and provides actionable steps you can easily take within the very first sentence. I just finished reading the book moments ago but am on day 3 of my new mini habits. The cool thing about reading this book is that it immediately made sense to me. I had several “aha!” moments. I had already begun to recognize the same benefits of mini habits in my own life but struggled with implementing them further. This was partly because I didn’t have a defined strategy and partly because it goes against conventional methods. Well I do now!! Thank you Stephen for writing this book so I can now confidently implement this strategy with a plan. I already have 5 people lined up to loan this book to and have shared the information about this book and where I bought it with probably another dozen people. This is a must read for everyone!!! I now plan to seek out his other books to read.

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  53. Dee

    My favorite part is when Stephen says some parts of this book were written when he had a headache. His point being that you need to start to do those things that are important to you even when you don’t “feel” like doing them. He describes this as will power. He explains that will power is limited and can be depleted in certain situations. He gives 5 different ways it’s depleted and how to circumvent the problem. The ideology is very specific and concrete and definitely great information to have if you’re really ready to start changing yourself and your life for the better. I also loved the anti-procrastination/self doubt decision making piece. I’ve already seen change and it’s given me a more optimistic clarity about what I’ve been doing that’s counterproductive with who I want to be. There’s so much useful information here. I’ve been listening over the past month and it’s all making a lot of sense.

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  54. read til you drop

    His premise is sound and his advice works. Now if I can just get motivated to exert my willpower, I’ll be a more productive person. I’m being ironic here, but that is what this book is about–willpower vs motivation and I believe that the author is on to something and I benefited greatly from reading this book and I find myself pulling it up on my Kindle and re-reading sections of the book to remind myself of what he said. This has helped my golf game and my music practice. I have developed mini-habits where I will practice my swing in the living room (I have a high ceiling) or the backyard for just a couple of minutes and I am able to take those swing habits to the golf course. Same thing with my music practice. Rather than sitting down to a two-hour practice session, I will practice a simple progression or lick until I perfect it. Small gains, big results from mini-habits.

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  55. Happy Gal

    I used to be a hopeless procrastinator, perfectionist and quitter. I could never reach a goal because my expectations were ridiculous, my goals were ridiculous and rigid, thinking about them sucked the life out of me, and it eventually became easier to just forget it.This book has totally turned things around for me. It never dawned on me to do things in “baby steps” although I’ve probably been told many times. I guess that when I bought this book, I was ready to listen.Mr. Guise’s book has been priceless in helping me to recover from cancer and treatment. The despair over not making any “progress” was overwhelming me and I cried a lot. But when I started setting up mini habits, everything changed. I suddenly had “goals” that I could achieve, and could see progress. My expectations were drowning me, and the mini habits pulled me up to the surface.My mini habits were not earth shaking – put on clean socks every day and say one prayer every day. As I got better, I added the one push up and read two pages every day. The biggest benefit for me at the time was that I could actually do something that I wanted to do and it didn’t completely wear me out.Talk about the sun coming out! I’m not finished with everything except for follow up testing, etc. I don’t necessarily feel like I “beat” cancer, I feel like I completed a journey, a journey that I was terrified to start but I came through with my sanity intact.Thank you Stephen.

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  56. Mrs. Strouse

    We love this book! No kidding. My son and I both read it and our mini habits are underway, carving new pathways toward good, positive habits in our brains. The system is easy, “stupid, mini, easy,” for two such as us. We have the motivation and momentum of a lead ball rolling up hill, and not enough will power between us to fill a thimble! Mini habits makes such good sense, and like the book says, its harder to fail than not to! Get this simple little book for yourself and you’ll want to share it with everyone!

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  57. Tyler Mercier

    Mini HabitsThe book Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results by Stephen Guise is based on the story of how the author discovered that mini habits work better than traditional big habits. For ten years the author tried many different personal development systems, to build significant daily habits that would help him achieve his fitness and writing goals, and had no success. One night in desperation he decided upon a mini habits – just one push-up a day. To his surprise this mini habit empowered him to do more and more push-ups and to ultimately develop fitness habits that helped him achieve his goals.His surprising results with mini habits inspired him to research why they worked so well in achieving major results. The author’s personal experiences with a motivational approach to achievement was that to be motivated to work on a goal, it had to be big enough to be exciting, like running five miles a day or writing 2000 words a day. The daily tasks required to achieve the goals took so much willpower to start that he never had the energy to get started, much less start a new habit. Without “motivation” he could not get anything done.Researchers have discovered that to be motivated to achieve a goal, which requires habit formation, the goal has to be big enough to get people excited. For many people just coming up with a big “exciting” goal was enough of an accomplishment. Having the goal was a reward enough and they no longer felt the need to actually accomplish it. Those who tried to accomplish a big goal which required developing new habits that took a lot of energy and willpower had a very negative experience and feeling of failure when the goal was not achieved. The result was a huge resistance to developing new habits and a negative experience every time forming new habits was attempted yet not accomplished.Establishing a mini-habit, on the other hand, does not require a lot willpower to start and since it is easy to do, it creates a regular positive experience by doing it each day. Even though the mini-habit is ridiculously small, it provides a positive sense of accomplishment and encouragement. It is important not to increase the mini-habit goal so that it remains easy to do. The mini-habit doesn’t require much energy to start so there is more energy to do the work.The author suggests taking at least a month to see if mini-habits will work for you. I tried the mini-goal the author had, to write 50 words a day on a book I have been working for a year about what I have learned about cancer that I think everyone should know. The first few weeks the mini-goal seemed to help a little, but now that I have been doing it for 6 weeks it seems to be helping a lot. It not only helped with writing the book, but it contributed to me focusing the content and scope of the book. Instead of trying to explain the historical models of cancer and how recent discoveries are finding them to be wrong, I am focusing on the stunning new discoveries and the success of non-toxic cancer treatments. Last week I wrote more in a day than I have since high school.I feel using mini-goals is helping me achieve my goals. If you want to try a new way to accomplish things try out mini-goals. I highly recommend this book – Five Stars.

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  58. Fez Sabir

    Every once in a while(a few eons) comes a book that will stand the test of time,and this book will be standing right there after all of us are extinct and a whole new generation rises. Having this book in your library would be an understatement. I have struggled with certain objectives for a long time, (((there are times when you have heard of ideas but a)dont have the courage to start them b)give up too soon because you dont see results, c) add your own reasons here and let me know too.))) but it took Stephen to put it properly. The idea is not new, I first exposed to it in highschool when I noticed another student mark chapters in a book in 30 minute increments and I was like yea right, he doesnt know what he is talking about. This idea is also part of my faith. As muslims we are reminded of the saying of the Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) that any act done no matter how small done everyday is more dear in the sight of the Lord. We all have objectives and challenges, but I didnt realize that something like pushups could be reduced to just one pushup a day. Thank you Stephen for this eye opening book. This is the number 1 book of the year for me. I will read it again. Thank you soo much Stephen.

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  59. sr’s reviews

    How much is hope worth? If you’ve lost hope that you can ever get the weight off and keep it off, this book is for you. If you have recognized that diets don’t work, (not only for yourself but, quite obviously, for most people) yet you are still confused as to the why’s behind failed diets, this book is for you. If you’re sick and tired of counting calories, feeling deprived, feeling like a total failure because the weight you lose dieting always returns and usually comes back with some extra pounds as well, then this book is for you. I’ve been implementing the mini habits for weight loss plan for just under a month and have seen some progress on the scale. Just over a year ago, I got my sugars down, my cholesterol down, through counting calories, fat, and sugars. Then I got on that dr’s scale and found I had GAINED weight despite my other numbers going down! I had really given up on any kind of dieting and felt hopeless, doomed, and like an absolute failure. I now have hope again and hope is priceless!

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  60. B Watkins

    The principles in this book work and here’s why: this book teaches you how to work with your brain instead of against it. It’s just that simply. Mini Habits is written in a way that can not only help the reader, but also help the reader help others too. Doctors, therapists, parents, employers, in fact anyone that tries to get another individual moving in the right direction can appreciate the wisdom in these pages. Now you know why there are passages on why this strategy works, not just instructions on “do this”.

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  61. Amazon Customer

    I wasn’t expecting much when I chose this book; in a dump of other self improvememt books, including the power of habit.This book had a sinple straight forward purpose and methodology to apply and it really works. Contrasted to the power of habits where I felt it was just an information overload with no interpretation or unpacking. I expect that it would work for some, but I find Stephen Guise’s approach much more easy to grasp and even the most undisciplined of people should be able to achieve results.I find the carryover from making small habits to starting big tasks with the smallest step also highly effective and makes me smile each time that I start something with an ease that I would not have before.Great book!

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  62. River Grow

    I LOVED this book. My only complaint with it was that it mentions weight loss and “obesity” multiple times so it’s clear that the author still subscribed to weight loss culture, but even still, it’s not shaming and mentions it more in passing or as an example. As a therapist, I highly recommend this book and think it’s a great recommendation, especially for folks who struggle with executive function!

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  63. Valmarie Navarro

    Simple message that hits home in the way it is delivered. I don’t exercise and the author uses this analogy a lot but I read it with my own goals in mind- now I want to reread it again for setting minihabits at work. It is one of those keep the idea fresh kinda of books you want to re-read parts. A simple book to recommend to friends and family. Get it. You won’t regret it.

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  64. kimberly falzone

    Do you struggle to juggle all your responsibilities as a mom? Is self-care neglected because you’re caring for other people constantly? I’m a mom of four. Two are in college, one has special needs, and the youngest is 9. I have always felt like I needed to be four different people, one person for each of my children because it requires so much of me to help them all. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK. You do not lack the will power. You do not lack the ability to achieve your goals. You CAN take care of yourself, your house, and your children every day. No matter what you think your MO is, you’re better than all your failures. Inside your brain are all the plans, all the dreams, all the habits you need, just waiting to be released. I’m 50 years old. Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Apart from the Bible, no other book has ever had this big of an impact on my life. Understanding how God created our brain to work is the KEY to success. I LOVE the success I am having each day in my “mini” ways and they have catapulted me to Much Bigger Results than I ever had before. Not only that, but all my kids are catching on. Even my youngest is being trained to change her life in mini ways. She is readily accepting and liking the success that she is having, like keeping her room clean!! I wish I had read this 20 years ago, when I first became a parent. But, better late than never. And, yes, you need to actually read the book. I just finished tonight and knew that I had to leave a review. Start living the life you always dreamed and be the person you always wanted to be. You can do it! God bless!!

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  65. ericawriter

    Today I did five pushups — four more than I planned. I ran 17 minutes,16:30 more than I had initially intended. And now, as I type this, I am marching my way toward a goal of 50 words for the day.These aren’t feats of valor in themselves, though the genius of these three micro-goals are the whisper-soft starts they offer. When all you have to do is drop and do one pushup, the horror of not completing your trifling goal for the day is far greater than doing what’s required to meet it.The techniques — and the even goals I chose for myself — come from Mini Habits, yet another book in the sprawling self-help weedpatch. What sets Mini Habits apart, however, is that its author, Stephen Guise, wastes no time laying out a credible and actionable path to transforming sloth to industry without the extra baggage and pseudoscience of other works in the genre.Instead, Guise opens with a treatise on the value of willpower over motivation (motivation is a feeling and feelings inevitably change) and then goes on to cite to good effect various studies in ego depletion, habit formation, and subconscious mechanics. According to those studies, there are five principle things that deplete willpower: hypoglycemia, negative affect, effort, perceived difficulty, and subjective fatigue. Building on the studies, Guise points out levers for those categories, most of which center on his mini habit concept. What makes Guise’s book an absolute gem, in fact, are the chapters he writes on getting down to business. Unlike 

    The Power of Habit

    , which though replete with well-reported long-form journalism, is light on actionable information, Mini Habits allows — or even demands — I put its information to concrete use (313 words so far — 263 more than I had required of myself). To minimize guesswork Guise’s recommendations are nearly black and white and he proscribes them with caveats to maximize success. For example, he says to start with one and certainly no more than four mini-habits, because 100 percent success will enhance your self-efficacy.Self-efficacy, Guise points out, is where the gold of mini-habits lies. By completing a goal — even one that seems crazy small — you get a little jolt of personal power that can spill over to other areas of your life. I’ve completed three today (including the one sun salutation this morning with a Warrior II and Triangle tacked on) and I have to say I feel pretty nifty. The 450 words I’ve written so far, too, stand as an apology for this book.I only sat down to write because two sentences were all I was on the hook for, and lo, we have this review! If my results are anything like the typical reader’s, mini habits are a solid tool for salting a few casual miracles into your routine. Guise’s book is an excellent guide.

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  66. Adbert C.

    Extremely great read! I’ve never reviewed a book before. EVER. After just finishing this book, I immediately want to pass it on to family members like it’s the recipe for a great life. I really hope this book takes off. It’s like the mental framework behind the book The Secret, but practical. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s an easy read. I had to read this book as a class assignment. I never read in detail, usually speed read or skim through and get general information, but it was “stupid easy” to read to just thumb through. I don’t want to set others expectations too high, but if you need a fresh perspective on how to start a lifestyle that you want, then this book is for you.

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  67. Manuel J. Pacheco

    Wow! This book has surpassed my expections. This is my second week working on 11 mini habits. My progress has been far more than I expected in only one week. As I was reading the book, I applied the concepts. To my surprise, this really works. I am covering: spiritual concepts, exercise, increased reading, archery, drones expertise, creating web site, knife throwing, lucid dreaming, meditaion, and basic drawing. If you have ever wanted to succeed in any area and have failed, this book is a good way to accomplish them.

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  68. Cg

    The strategies and tips in this book have the potential to be life-changing, but only if you actually follow the steps.It’s easy to dismiss good information as useless when we don’t take the time to implement it in our lives. The real difference comes not when you finish a book but when you implement its knowledge and tips in your own life. This is what I’m aiming to do now.If you’re considering getting this book, please do! It’s a short read but it’s packed with good info that has the potential to change your life — but, like I said, it’s only if you actually try it.

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  69. S. Blank

    Excellent. Instead of relying on unreliable fuel like motivation and emotion, this book focuses on re-wiring how your brain develops habits. “Too small to fail” is a key phrase, and I have found this method of developing habits effectively combats the fixed mindset most of us have, and prevents us from doing what most Americans especially tend to do; set overwhelming and unrealistic goals. By making your mini-habits simple, you can easily over-achieve, but always have the safety net that you can always do the bare minimum. Excellent idea that consistent something is always better than consistent nothing. I’ve used the basic principals of this book in my middle school band classroom in our semesterly goal-writing and my students seemed genuinely refreshed to be writing goals that were so easy to accomplish, they’re easier to do than not to do.Excellent. Repetitive, but effectually so. Success isn’t some meta-physical mystery- we just need to re-wire our brains.

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  70. Alties

    I’m a chronic procrastinator. I’m consistently pinned to my chair, half laying in it and mumbling about not being able to do anything. If I even think about doing something I really want to do, I have a difficult time raising just my hand. I’m an expert at not doing anything, and wasting time. I always thought big, too big. Even other time wasters were difficult to do, like playing games or watching tv shows. In a way, life was a cage where all the fun stuff I want to do was just outside my hand’s reach.Mini habits gave me the key to unlock that cage.I started simple, 1 push up a day. 1 minute walking outside. Read 1 page a day. 24 days have passed since I’ve started (I read the blog first of all, that’s how I’ve learnt the concept). Everyday a success.My 1 push up is still growing, but I’ve consistently do bonus reps. My “read 1 page a day” has resulted in completing 7 books in roughly 3 weeks. My 1 minute walk outside changed into me conquering my fear of darkness which has been with me my entire life. I go out twice now for two walks, and I run back from them. Once when it’s still light and once in the dark. My fear of dark has completely gone, I feel like I’m a completely different person now. I’m proud of my self. And all this from just walking outside for 1 minute.Mini habits will teach you what you need to know to get along with your brain, and leverage the power of habits. It’ll tell you how to get there step by step. Understanding is key here, because it’s easy to make a blunder, like increasing your requirements when they should stay “stupid small”. The book has everything you need. It’ll give you the science, and help you along your first steps. Once you know what you’re doing, you’ll have no trouble growing on your own.Like they say: Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.This book will teach you how to fish.

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  71. Ashley M.

    I got a new job & my boss recommended this book. I was in a slump attempting to get out. I NEVER read, I finished the whole book and I have habits I carry on every day almost mindlessly. So helpful. Give it a shot. Really. Do it!

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  72. Brenda Cobb Murphy

    I’ve read quite a few habit books and this one is a winner. Not only did I come away excited about creating mini habits and having learned a lot but I’ve actually created two and stuck with them (time with God every day plus stretching every day). I’ve discovered that not only is it possible to now do what I’ve wanted to do but that being successful with it removes the guilt and frustration of not doing what’s important to me. It surprised me how much of a burden was lifted by just doing my two mini habits daily. I no longer beat myself up for not getting around to doing what I feel is important. All I require of myself is to sit down in my chair with Jesus and spend three minutes there, plus do one pose on my yoga mat. I often do more but the mere fact that I’ve done that much is satisfying. Thank you!

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  73. S.

    Before I bought this book I was telling a friend of mine how I wanted to get into the habit of exercising after work but was struggling and had developed the rule of “just show up” as a new goal instead of making sure I followed a detailed exercise plan. I have an exercise room in my home and my goal was to just change into my work out clothes and go into the room and walk 10 minutes on the treadmill. I can do “anything” for 10 minutes I said. I was still struggling just to accomplish this task and was complaining to my friend about it. I am just starting to read this book and I am definitely on the same wavelength with the author. I think this approach will help me. I am going to just change into work out clothes and walk into the exercise room to start with. Just changing into the right clothes to wear I think will get the momentum going. I can build from there.

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  74. Phillip Fritts

    This book should be taught at schools. Businesses. Everywhere.I’m almost never someone who will say that something as simple as a book has changed my life and the way I do things, but here I am.In just a few short months that I have read this, I have accomplished MANY goals that would probably have FOREVER been done “Some day.”If you want Someday to become real life and actually happen, Today, this is one of the best routes there!It makes you feel like you can do anything, just not in the way you thought it might happen.It is one of the best psychology mind tricks to bypass my holdups and excuses that I have ever come across.I’ve tried every form of motivation, and it’s great until it just wears off or gets sidetracked with life. This bypasses relying on motivation to start with.There is a newer book that improves on this one, but this is the fundamentals and a MUST!

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  75. P. McCormack

    I chose 5 stars because the premise of this book gives me hope that I can change my lazy, procrastinating ways and seriously improve my life, one teeny tiny minihabit at a time!I purchased this book on January 4, 2014 and already have three minihabits in place. The book was written in a way that made it easy to comprehend and I finished in a day or two. Now I meet my minihabit requirement every day (1 push up, 5 strokes brushing my dog, read 2 pages of a book), but I usually surpass the requirements because they’re so ridiculously simple, I’m doing more without even thinking about it, BUT I DON’T HAVE TO! That’s the key! The habit of “taking that required action” every day is getting established. And it gets easier and easier as my mind is being “trained” in this direction. I’m also discovering that I’m more likely to do a “non scheduled” chore by suggesting to myself that I only have to do it for one minute.. and sure enough, I’m up and at it and usually end up completing the whole thing because I didn’t go into it feeling the pressure I HAD to finish. I’m excited to see my life changing right before my eyes.I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve the quality of his/her life. Great job Stephen!

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  76. Suzanne Pearman

    This book has a considerable number of typos and grammar mistakes, which bothered me a little and took away from the professionalism of the book. However, I urge anyone bothered by this to keep reading. The content is worth five stars.I actually started implementing a micro-habit strategy over the summer, when I was studying for a huge test. For years, I have struggled with focus, motivation and follow-through. I am full of ideas, but when I think about the work required to achieve my goals, I tend to get easily overwhelmed and give up before I’ve started.Then, last summer, I discovered that if I set timers for small amounts of time and repeated that process throughout the day, I could overcome paralysis and begin to take significant action. I now do the same thing with house cleaning; I frequently set a timer for just two minutes to get a little cleaning done. When I repeat this throughout the day, I can easily get in twenty total minutes of cleaning, while I would probably do nothing if I set the intention to do twenty minutes at a time.This book helped me understand why this strategy works so well for me and inspired me to incorporate mini habits into other areas of my life, especially exercise and writing. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to start a blog this year, and after sitting on the URL for weeks, I finally wrote my first blog post today after setting a mini goal to write just fifty words (which I exceeded significantly).This book is a “must read” for anyone looking to improve his or her life.

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  77. Book Lovin’ Gal

    I love this book. After being let down by “motivational” books FOR YEARS, I’ve developed a personal philosophy of chalking up “wins” of any sizes as the secret to success. This book not only suites my philosophy, it contains actionable steps and shares potential pitfalls on where your Mini Habit plan can go wrong. I dig that. Normally, I don’t like a book that has a basic concept and then talks about it at length, but this book is an exception. I found I began to enact the steps to building my habits after reading a chapter or two and have enjoyed the reinforcement of reading more on the topic. I think it helps that I bought the audio book and have been using it to listen to the book intermittently along with reading. I highly recommend do this. I’m developing the mini habit exercising, and it’s fun to listen to the book while I do my mini-workout. I’m only 14 days in, but I’m feeling really positive about this. I hope to update my review in six months or so and let other readers know if it worked.

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  78. Shum

    Masterpiece – simple and profoundly counterintuitive.If you need to befriend your mind and let your doing transform your thinking this book is for you. Every moment mini-action leads to the momentum – his new book – you never imagined.Thank you, Stephen

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  79. Crys

    Awesome book! I’m really grateful that Stephen Guise included information on ways the brain works in creating habits. I have severe OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). It’s so bad I have a hard time even taking care of myself anymore. I panic over the smallest things. Yet, I can’t seem to stop doing the OCD rituals and routines that aren’t even rational. His book explained why. It also explained why I turn even more to these habits when feeling tired or overwhelmed. It’s so awesome to have an understanding as to why it’s so hard to overcome bad habits.Now I’m excited and ready to try the mini-habits. I really feel that by creating “stupid small” goals I will actually be able to do some good, healthy things, without panicking and scaring myself back to my OCD rituals. I’m starting my very first new goal today and it doesn’t seem very scary or overwhelming. I really may be able to start conquering my fears! Thank you Stephen Guise!

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  80. zenkrak

    Mini Habits Mini Review:Get it.Read it.Do it.Reap the benefits.A Little Longer Review:We’ve all read the blogs and books about forming habits. We all know what we need to do. We’ve all tried and we’ve all failed. Repeatedly.Stephen knows this because he is one of us as well.What he has come up with is “stupid small” steps. Many of us, me included, are experts at making our habit change plans in detail and know long it should take to achieve our results. Then intimidation of what needs to happen can overwhelm us. The utter brilliance of stupid small steps are daily goals that you can do easily with out having to devote much precious willpower to complete. You will have a victory each day to work from. Not doing it is tantamount to trying to drive with out starting your car….stupid small steps.As for myself, I want to write. But I can hardly ever get myself to sit down and move the pen or put fingers to the keyboard. The review for this book has already gotten me way past my new goal of writing 50 words a day. A nice red victory checkmark will go on my wall calendar!Buy this book and read it. It’s short and packs a punch. You probably spend more time in a week reading habit /personal development blogs than it would to read through this book and implement it.My new motto is Stupid Small…Thanks Stephen!

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  81. Read

    I read the book in the height of holiday season. I also bought the Audible, which was only $1.99 extra when I bought the kindly edition, I downloaded the app, “habit streak plan” and the “to do Log” he recommends. AND I am taking the course on “Udemy”. I have ADHD so completing things or goal setting has been an issue my entire life. (I’m 56) This has been something I could maintain, so far out of the 3 priority goals, I managed one of those 11 out of 18 days, one 6 out of 18, and the last 5 out of 18. Doesn’t sound like much does it, but just the visual digital track record of my goals and the comprehendable information from the book/audio, is a huge positive. I am learning to come back every day and try again instead of giving up and forgetting or pushing them so far down the priority list that they’re buried only to be resurrected time and time again when I’m fed up with myself for not ever accomplishing/ achieving anything. THe “habit streak plan” app is FANTASTIC. The “to do log” app is complicated, and the “help” is of no help. The UDEMY course $19 @ http://www.udemy.com is also FANTASTC!!!

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  82. Ben Marlin

    Mini Habits work. Here’s my proof:For many years, I was a regular exerciser. My zeal for exercising ebbed and flowed, but I always did something on a regular basis to get my heart pumping. At my best, I walked to the gym in 25-degree weather – in shorts, because I’m not smart – and I ran several miles on the treadmill. I exercised even more when I had a gym in my apartment building. I felt great, and I never once questioned whether exercising was a worthwhile practice. It so obviously improved every facet of my life.Then, a few years ago, I stopped. Maybe it was moving out of the building with the gym. Maybe work got busier. Maybe it was having a kid. Whatever the reason, my exercising habit dwindled and eventually disappeared outright. I could not find the time or – more importantly – the motivation to fit in a half-hour of exercise into my days.As is true of all habits, not exercising became easier and more ingrained each day I did it. Not only was it easier physically to lay in bed rather than run on a treadmill, my brain became better and better at justifying my lack of exercise:”I have no time – not in the morning, the afternoon, the evening, weekends, weekdays. It’s too cold out. It’s too cold in. My gym is too far away [my gym was a block away; I could see my apartment building from the treadmills]. I would definitely exercise at Equinox, but I can’t afford to join. If I had a treadmill at home, I would run every day. I can’t do exercise DVDs because it would annoy the people living below us. Exercising would take away time I could be spending with my wife and our new baby. What if my son ended up in therapy because daddy was too busy exercising to play with him? I can’t risk it.”Even more insidiously, my lazy brain began implanting deeper ideas that would prevent me from exercising today, or tomorrow, or any day: “Does exercise really matter? I’m a cerebral guy – who cares what my body looks or feels like? Sure, exercise is great for Michael Phelps, but I don’t need it. My life is just fine without it.”But it affected me. While I maintained a healthy weight through dieting, and I walked several miles each day as part of a normal life in New York City, I could still feel the lack of regular cardio exercise, the kind that really gets my heart pumping. I felt the lack of exercise in my chest. My body dragged. I was in lousy shape. Climbing a flight of stairs caused me to lose my breath. While singing songs to my baby son, I had to pause for breath between each verse. I even confessed to a friend that “I get winded while whistling.”In the back of my mind, I had the nagging notion that I was hurting myself by not exercising. But it was dwarfed by the impeccable, inarguable logic behind a sedentary lifestyle.To the tiny extent that I did want to exercise, the idea of running a few miles seemed like torture. But of course, I couldn’t do any less than that. I was going to exercise perfectly, or not at all.I waited in vain for my old motivation to suddenly return, for the day when I’d wake up, realize how vital exercise was, jump out of bed, and run five miles with a smile on my face. But it never came.A few months ago, I read Mini Habits; and everything Stephen said about willpower and motivation lined up with my own experience. He understood every dirty trick my brain had pulled to keep me from disrupting my lazy, comfortable, and deeply unhealthy equilibrium.I decided to build the Mini Habit of exercising for 5 minutes per day. My Mini Habit would, at least initially, consist of running in place in our backyard if the weather was good, or in our laundry room if it wasn’t. It felt absurd, like it would accomplish nothing, but it was an exercise commitment that flew under the radar of every excuse that my brain could come up with. My brain simply said, “Sure, whatever, Carl Lewis. Have fun with your ‘exercise’. Maybe you’ll qualify for the New York City Marathon over in the laundry room.”That night, I laced up my sneakers and headed to the laundry room. My brain didn’t try to stop me. I huffed and puffed in place for five minutes. When my timer went off, I wheezed, “Oh, thank you, thank you” and, coursing with relief, I threw off my sneakers.That was 85 nights ago, and I haven’t missed a night of exercise since then. A few weeks ago, I felt comfortable enough to bump up my Mini Habit to ten minutes of exercise per night. A few days ago, I added 2 1/2 minutes of crunches after I run in place.If any of this becomes too onerous, I’ll shift back to five minutes per night until I’m comfortable exercising again. For now, though, it feels right; and every night of exercise makes the next night easier to accomplish, physically and mentally.Eventually I hope to build back up to a half-hour of running, and not just running in place. But I know I’ll get there; and I know that it will only happen if I continue to do something – however small – instead of nothing.Even with only 5-10 minutes of cardio every night, I feel so much better. I breathe easier. I walk faster. I sing – and even whistle – without any detrimental effects.Perhaps most importantly, and fully in line with the book’s philosophy on exercise and willpower, exercising has slowly brought back my motivation to exercise. I’m remembering how good I feel when I’m a regular exerciser, the joy of resting, covered in sweat, after I’ve pushed myself to accomplish something physically difficult. I get excited picturing how my body will eventually look. I’m realizing – once again – how important regular exercise is to my physical, mental, and emotional health.After 85 nights, I’m excited about this. Slowly, over several months, exercising has once again become a part of my identity. None of it happened magically overnight. It happened in sweaty five- and ten-minute mini-increments.Mini Habits helped me improve a vital area of my life when nothing else worked. Thank you to Stephen for inventing such a fantastic concept. I hope that anyone who wants to make a similar change will give Mini Habits a try.

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  83. Rhonda Ferber

    This is a great little book with rock solid ideas about how to establish productive behavior patterns in your everyday life. If you desperately want to improve certain areas of your life, but have trouble finding the motivation to move ahead with your goals, this book is for you.Stephen Guise’s system is based on the reality of how our brains really work in everyday life, and what we need to do to overcome the internal resistance and inertia that so often derail our best intentions. Instead of waiting to feel motivated, we can trick our brains into positive action by setting ridiculously tiny goals each day. These tiny goals get us moving in the right direction with little or no internal resistance. Daily repetition and repeated success reinforce the new behavior pattern, which over time moves us closer to achieving our goals.This book is fun to read and the concepts make so much sense that I wanted to set up my own mini-habits right away. After only a couple weeks, I am seeing real progress towards the goals I set–very exciting for a chronic procrastinator like myself! I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to achieve real and lasting improvement in one or more areas of their life.

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  84. jennifer baudro

    Ingenious! Mini habits is a great way to institute lasting change in our lives. Many aspirations or goals fail due to a delcine in motivation or will power, which just kills the confidence and continues the cycle. With mini habits, you are guided to set very small goals for things you want to become habits, such as working out. Guise proposes that if the goal is so small it is silly NOT to accomplish it each day, you will do it. If we set a goal that is too lofty, often our dread of the longterm commitment gets in our way, we end up discouraged and not following through. With mini habits, that can not happen. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am planning to give it as gifts to friends and family who have habitually struggled with maintaining focus and dedication to their goals. Guise presents a deliciously easy way to achieve the goals, feel like a winner, and spur yourself on to building on these new habits. Amazing body of work, I highly recommend it!

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  85. B. Boothe

    I started reading Stephen’s blog earlier this summer. His writing always came across as friendly and poignant. He was the same when I happened to write him an email asking about his thoughts on a particular topic related to a post. I genuinely felt that he truly cared to try and help others. Because of that background (and the insights in his lengthy reply), I was intrigued by his statements of using will power rather than motivation. All too often, self-help gurus (and anyone else with “advice”) will tell you that it’s all about getting motivated to do something – and motivation hadn’t helped me for years, leaving me constantly disappointed with myself for not meeting certain goals.Mini Habits swims against the stream and focuses on using stupidly small habits to accomplish your goals. And not only does he talk about HOW to do this, he backs up his statements with information from the fields of neurology and psychology. Yet it doesn’t feel like a text book at all. He talks about the prefrontal cortex vs. the basal ganglia in a way that draws the reader in rather than make their eyes glaze over.I’m roughly 1/3 of the way through Mini Habits and looking forward for some free time to delve back in. I’m confident that the rest of the book will be as easy to read as the first. And since I’m actually understanding more why I feel the way that I do about goals and habits in ways that books like Getting Things Done never did, I’ll call that a success. I hope that you’ll try the book out and feel as good about it as I have.

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  86. Stacy

    Mini Habits was just the book I needed to read and am so glad that my business coach recommended it to me.It’s been a little over 2 weeks and I have only failed to complete my mini habits on one of those days.Last night I knew I had to get my 1 push-up in to complete one of my mini habits and ended up doing 50. I didn’t even feel like doing any and wasn’t even enthuse about doing one but once I got going it was easy.In fact, I’ve done 140 push-ups over the last 6 days.I’ve also read an entire book in just 2 weeks which is a record for me, especially since I am a slow reader. Mini Habits is what I credit for my success.

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  87. Courtney Weimer

    This book has helped me follow through better on my goals that I’ve set. They are small goals so I can’t not do them but they have helped me gain confidence! With my Coaching clients I called them Stupidly Simple Goals, it makes them laugh which is what we want. “If the goal doesn’t make you laugh, it’s not small enough” My clients have also noticed a confidence boost in their goals, they are able to tackle things in a more positive mind.

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  88. Alien Life Form

    I can’t say yet if the system will work for me, but it sounds amazingly simple and the implementation of this philosophy seems almost joyful compared to the hardcore motivation-out-of-nowhere systems or plans out there. I love the way the book is written as the author does his best to be relatable to the reader, accomplishing in creating a sense that “this guy is just like me and has been there as well!”. Great book for the price and I can already tell it’ll be a great system for me and the addition of new, positive habits into my low motivation life.

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  89. Lamb’s Dove

    About halfway through this book, I started a SMALL exercise program. I never would have started something so small, if I hadn’t read this book, because I would’ve believed such a small program to be ineffective. Now, 3 weeks later, my arms, abs, and legs are firmer and I have better posture. I didn’t change my diet, or anything else, and I still have weight to lose, but just by doing a small number of repetitions each day with weights, I’ve noticed a difference.I highly recommend this book – for anything you want to change in life. The author throws aside conventional advice, and he will turn your thinking completely upside down – which will change your life.

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  90. Lori HollinsLori Hollins

    141 days ago my BFF recommended that I read Mini Habits. We are both self-help book junkies, and call each other saying “Girl this book will change your life.” But it never does until Mini Habits. I picked 5 mini habits: meditate for 20 minutes daily, one yoga pose per day, draw one line per day, write 50 words, swim 400 meters and read 2 pages per day. I have alway wanted to be an artist and writer. I understood that it takes practice. Now, after 141 days I have the integrity to call myself an artist, visual storyteller and writer. I’ve also kept up with the other mini habits too. Mini habits allow you to gradually become the person you want to be and to back your passion with everyday discipline. This book CHANGED MY LIFE. I wrote a blog post on my blog hollinscreativesolutions. Read the book, take silly, tiny steps and CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

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  91. Kristen

    This book popped up as recommended reading on Amazon many times over the past year as I’ve searched and read and searched some more for the book that finally resonated with me as I navigate the tricky road of goal setting and following through. Just find The One Thing! (Keller & Papasan) Why can’t I defeat Resistance and Do The Work! (The War of Art by Pressfield) For goodness sake, why am I not Getting Things Done?? (Allen) I’m sure all I need is The Power of Habit (Duhigg).I can’t think of anymore off the top of my head, but you get the idea. Don’t get me wrong–these are all FANTASTIC books and I enjoyed reading them AND gained value from them AND I recommend them (seriously, read them all). But I’d find myself searching Amazon again for the one that would finally solve the problem for me and get me started on the path. And keep me on it.So why did I keep passing this one by? Something about the cover didn’t speak to me (I know, I know…don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but alas I did). But then I saw it as recommended reading by Mike Matthews on his MuscleForLife.com website. I respect him and his opinion so I decided to give it a shot. I’m so glad I did. Normally I download my books for free through our local library’s OverDrive option. This book wasn’t available through them, so I bought it. Worth every penny.”Stupid small” goals are working wonders in my life in just a few weeks. This time it feels different. I’ve set enough goals and began this enough times in my 40+ years to know when it’s different. Will it last? Can’t answer that yet. But I am pretty good about updating my reviews, especially when I’m blown away by a product. I’m hopeful. And I’ve stopped the Amazon searching for the next goal fixer, which I think indicates something. I’m spending that time I used to spend reading & searching actually working toward my goals. And it feels great!***Just a note about the other books–I really think they provided a nice base of knowledge. I do recommend reading them. And David Allen’s Getting Things Done book was a game changer as well for me. I set it all up after reading that book and it works, but now I’m transferring all that to Trello (I love Trello!) and using Allen’s ideas from the book with the software.

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  92. T.J. Favor

    Anyone my age knows for sure that time marches on, the world changes and it does not ask my permission. I made a sales call on a business years ago and noticed the receptionist did not have a typewriter on her desk. I said, “Where is your typewriter?” She pointed at her keyboard. I said “Where does the paper go?” At one point I knew I could not continue living as I was. I tried to change and failed, then I got help and succeeded. In retrospect the recommendations of this book are what I actually did and they worked for me. They still work for me. It is not easy to change your fundamental lifestyle but it is possible and often necessary. One Day At A Time. Small steps.

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  93. charan

    Effective approach to change habits by doing small everyday.I’ve always relied on motivation to do things and I didn’t know that it was the biggest mistake I was commiting on a daily basis. It had devastating effect on me to learn or do things consistently and I had some behavioural issues like chronic procrastination which took confidence out of me, to be precise I had no control over myself which means I had no control over my thoughts and actions. I was looking for help desperately until I came across this book which changed my behaviour resulting in more confidence and faith over myself. Now I am learning and doing things consistently, I took control over my actions which implies I am no longer a slave of my emotions.

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  94. Chris

    Excellent book. Well written and a quick read.Mini habits is not a new concept (and could be summarized in a few sentences), but the book does a great job of explaining the science behind why it works and how the brain works. The science was explained in an easy-to-understand way and did not go into unnecessary detail. I enjoyed learning about the why and how. While it’s incredibly simple, I do believe it can be a powerful tool for self-improvement. One of those things you can call a “Life Hack”.The book is easy to digest. The author’s humor is funny and well-executed where it doesn’t distract from the book. Ironically, he talks a lot about his daily writing habit which he used to write the book, and it’s apparent that his practice pays off with his ability to write in a clear way. The book is very short, but I appreciate that he didn’t try to fluff it up just to make it longer (any longer and it probably would’ve started getting repetitive since the concept is simple).

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  95. Nancy Fobare

    I thought this book might help me get more focus and motivation. For a few bucks what was the harm and I figured it was another tool in my mental arsenal. I now have three mini habits that I am working on every day. One is of course exercise. I have the Body Gym that has like 20 different exercises and my habit is to do one a day. In reality it’s more like 10-20 done most days but I did get out of bed last week after I almost forgot and did one exercise in my pajamas that takes about a minute. Even then I did extra by adding a few stretches before going back to bed. I admit the other two mini habits are not as engrained yet but I have faith they will be in the days to come. What REALLY got me excited that I had picked the right book / philosophy for me was at the very end. The author discusses another book by a different author call The Easy Way to Stop Smoking and how well it works. THIS IS THE BOOK that I used (and the audio book for my wife) to stop smoking after 25 years! My next mini habit is to lose weight so my next purchase will be his other book. I highly recommend this book (and the stop smoking book if you can find it). It’s never too late to start new mini habits!

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  96. Arturo Blanco Coto

    Ideally short and well written book. Totally practical. What it says is plug and play. In my own words, its most basic principle is to define the “atomic” part of any project, and to try to accomplish it at least, every day. When you do every day the atomic part of every project, he inertia of laziness to start a project goes away.I tried to contact the author for applying its principles into music, but have not been successful for the moment. So I used my intuition on this. Maybe some final notes on topics like these could also help.

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  97. YoPedro

    A pleasant read, well written and definitely worth the time to read. It’s main message is quite palatable and was for me, an encouraging look at what may be possible in my own life. Following the authors advice is so obvious that I’m a little embarrassed that it took me so long to come around to what should have always been the way of creating habits. A fine edition to my self help library.

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  98. Kristen

    This book popped up as recommended reading on Amazon many times over the past year as I’ve searched and read and searched some more for the book that finally resonated with me as I navigate the tricky road of goal setting and following through. Just find The One Thing! (Keller & Papasan) Why can’t I defeat Resistance and Do The Work! (The War of Art by Pressfield) For goodness sake, why am I not Getting Things Done?? (Allen) I’m sure all I need is The Power of Habit (Duhigg).I can’t think of anymore off the top of my head, but you get the idea. Don’t get me wrong–these are all FANTASTIC books and I enjoyed reading them AND gained value from them AND I recommend them (seriously, read them all). But I’d find myself searching Amazon again for the one that would finally solve the problem for me and get me started on the path. And keep me on it.So why did I keep passing this one by? Something about the cover didn’t speak to me (I know, I know…don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but alas I did). But then I saw it as recommended reading by Mike Matthews on his MuscleForLife.com website. I respect him and his opinion so I decided to give it a shot. I’m so glad I did. Normally I download my books for free through our local library’s OverDrive option. This book wasn’t available through them, so I bought it. Worth every penny.”Stupid small” goals are working wonders in my life in just a few weeks. This time it feels different. I’ve set enough goals and began this enough times in my 40+ years to know when it’s different. Will it last? Can’t answer that yet. But I am pretty good about updating my reviews, especially when I’m blown away by a product. I’m hopeful. And I’ve stopped the Amazon searching for the next goal fixer, which I think indicates something. I’m spending that time I used to spend reading & searching actually working toward my goals. And it feels great!***Just a note about the other books–I really think they provided a nice base of knowledge. I do recommend reading them. And David Allen’s Getting Things Done book was a game changer as well for me. I set it all up after reading that book and it works, but now I’m transferring all that to Trello (I love Trello!) and using Allen’s ideas from the book with the software.

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  99. MikeM

    This is my own opinion so do bear with me. I, personally, have found it difficult to start projects and life changing goals because of the total amount of effort and energy I thought was required to keep myself going until complete. I looked at most projects as being overwhelming and impossible from the start. I then found Stephen’s book and found out I was trying to do too much, expect too much, and finding the motivation always waning. As he states (and I summarize), we are programmed with the thinking that we are expected to push ourselves to over accomplish with our goals in order to feel proud of ourselves. This of course leads to burnout and depression when our mentality convinces is to quit. His strategy of starting small and keeping the expectations small allows us to feel accomplished everyday because we almost always exceed the small goals. We do more without the burnout and can truly claim ownership of our accomplishments. I felt accomplished by starting and continuing a daily and weekly workout regiment and have been doing multiple sets of calisthenics and weight workout for three months without burnout. I am also not a big reader but felt great just by finishing the book and will be reading a few of his other books next. Definitely a must read for people like me with motivational and enthusiasm issues!

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  100. Violet Stasia

    I picked up this book after I saw it on a list of recommended books to read for self improvement or development in a Tony Robbin’s private group page. I cannot express enough how much I highly recommend this book for people wanting to make changes, struggling to make changes or those who are overwhelmed, burn-out or just looking for a new perspective or edge.For most of my life, I have been a real go-getter, that was highly motivated, successful and an avid learner. In the past few years, I had reached a point where I was really struggling to get myself to do anything. I was burned out. I had many things that I wanted to do, but found that all my old ways of getting myself to do things just wasn’t working.I am excited to say that this book has changed all that!I learned SO much from this book. One of the biggest insights about myself and why I was “stuck”, was that as I accomplished things, I would set the bar or goal higher and higher for myself. I reached a point where I had made the “must”, and all the “have to’s” and goals so big in my life, I had total resistance and did NOT want to do them. It was requiring more and more motivation to do anything, and my motivation tank had run out! The book explains more about this, but, it was a light bulb moment for me!I’m one of those people that thinks big and USED to believe If it was too small it wasn’t worth doing. However, if you aren’t able to get going, or you can’t even start, or you do and cannot sustain it, then it doesn’t really matter what size your goal is.Since reading this book, I have begun to exercise consistently, I do a little organization every day and I have completed one book, by reading every day. All that by implementing what he teaches. I feel good about myself and what I am accomplishing. I have set myself up to win. Some of what is recommend may sound too simple or too easy. Trust the process and just do it.This book really does make it easy.

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    Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results
    Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results

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