Recently I’ve come across two trains of thought on achieving goals. The first came from a YouTube video by HealthyGamerGG, titled “Why Good Habits Rarely Stick”. In the video he discusses making big changes verses small habits.

The other train of though I have come across is in a book I am listening to called, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Which takes the complete opposite view point, in that we should make small 1% changes that will add up over time.

In today article I will be discussing the process and insights I have taken from both of these trains of thoughts and other resources I have study to come up with a plan that is working for me.

So grab a cup of coffee, snuggle in your favorite chair and enjoy our time together today.

Let’s Start with a Story

I used to have no habits of big shifts in my life. I would wake up at random times any where between 9 am and 12 pm check my phone go over to my computer and play video games for the rest of the day.

Now while this was entertaining it was not bring meaning into my life. I felt as though I was wasting my potential. Now that I have a goal to grow this blog into something that will one day support myself and give me the freedom I so fervently strive for.

I now wake up, shower, shave. I still head to my computer but now I work on either learning more for making content for this blog or writing blog post. This shift was accomplished with a combination of tiny habits and big shifts. In the following sections, I will discuss what tiny habits are and what big shifts are.

What is a Tiny Habit?

Tiny Habit’s are things that you do automatically that take little to no effort. These Tiny habits are not built over night but over a course of time and repeated actions.

Things like brushing your teeth every morning after you wake up. Taking medications before you go to bed.

Tiny Habit’s make life easier by giving you automatic actions as a result of a que.

A habits aren’t good or bad they are simple your response to an que. It is the results of the habit that have positive or negative results.

In order to change a habit you most first be come conscious of the habit itself and what caused you to preform it.

What is a Big Shift?

When I say Big Shift I am referring to something that takes a lot of energy. Wither that is brushing your teeth for the first time in a while or going for a ten minute walk.

A Big Shift can mean different things for different people. For me because I have ADHD a lot of the discissions I make through out the day take a big shift to get done. In the pervious section I talked about Tiny Habits being stuff that you do automatically. Big Shifts are the precursor to tiny habits.

For me some big shifts include waking up at a good time and going to bed at a decent hour. As well as making sure I take care of my body.

Big Shifts can be difficult but they make your future self’s life a bit easier. They can result in a net positive or net negative result.

Example of Net Positive

A good example of net positive result is doing the dishes as soon as they are dirty and not letting them pile up in the sink. I know that it may be difficult for some to get the energy to do the dishes and it may seem easier to let future you do them.

But I want to point out this. If you keep letting future you handle all the things you don’t want to do, the pile of dishes gets bigger. The pile of laundry overflows the hamper. Your room gets more and more cluttered.

So by doing them now you allow future you to have time to do other things and spend time doing things that will make his/her future self even better.

Example of Net Negative

A net negative result would be if you eat to much today you will result in a future you that is worse off. Though I know the food looks good future you will suffer with the negative act.

This negative result can be unnoticeable at first, smoking cigarettes may seem harmless at the time but can add up after time.

Combining Tiny Habits with Big Shifts: Making Change using Both

In James’s book he talks about 1% changes that can lead to huge results in the future and while I see the validity in this argument. I believe for curtain things big changes must be used in conjunction with tiny habits.

For example if you are a heavy drinker, cutting back to drinking less will not stop you from drinking. And while it may end up that way eventually. I believe it will take a big shift such as cutting drinking out cold turkey.

Let’s look at it another way.

In HealthyGamerGG’s video he discusses how the person you are tomorrow will benefit more from the actions taken today than the person you are now. I believe that it will take both big shifts such as cleaning your room immediately and than small habits such as building a system to keep your room clean.

How am I building Habits and using Big Shifts

I am building habits such as a morning routine to help me get a grip on life but I have had to take big shifts such as starting this blog in order to reach my goals for the future. But even building the tiny habits have taken big shifts to get started.

James speaks of the Que, Craving, Response, and Reward and the 4 laws of behavior change that come out of those four stages.

And while I am using them, I believe it also takes big shifts to trigger the habit the first couple of times. It take consistency to make a habit and big shifts to even start a habit.

I also believe that those of us that have ADHD or other mental health issues need to give ourselves more compassion. It will take us more big shifts to build the same tiny habits other people can build easily.

It takes me a lot of energy to do the basic things others can do with ease. And you know what, that’s alright. I just need to be aware of it and take the big shifts and improve the tiny habits I already have.

Why Does Any of this Matter

You maybe wondering why does it matter to have tiny habits or big shifts, well the short answer they make life more manageable.

Long Answer. Using a combination of Tiny Automatic Habits you can make routines and help achieve your goals a bit more manageable, while using Big shifts you can get started on meaningful change in your life.

I think having a combination of tiny habits and big shifts have made me into the person I am today, someone who strives to be better. Someone who has goals and has systems in place to achieve those goals.

Conclusion

In this post we have discussed what tiny habits and big shifts are. I want to leave you with a quote from James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, “We do not rise to the levels of our goals, we fall to the levels of our systems.” I think this shows that we need to build systems in life of making tiny habits, so that life can become more automatic and big shifts so that we can make the effort to achieve our goals.

Today’s Journal Prompt is:

What are the goals I have for life and what Habits do I have to achieve my goals?

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. Remember to drink water and take the breaks you need to keep your mind sharp and on target. I look forward to talking with you again next time.