You should read ‘Tiny Habits.’

In this book, Stanford psychologist B.J. Fogg introduces and applies his model of human behavior. The model, B=MAP, stands for Behavior = Motivation + Ability + Prompt. Building on this foundation, Fogg walks the reader through processes for defining goals, determining the behaviors that will lead to accomplishment of these goals, and manipulating the variables in his equation to facilitate the desired behaviors. Fogg’s process not only makes intuitive sense; it’s backed by hard data.

Depending on the reader’s life experience, this information will either reinforce preexisting behaviors or create an “A-ha!” moment. Either way, it’s a win.

If I have a quibble with this book, it’s that it’s written in a style I think of as “HBR Modern.” Many Harvard Business Review articles, and many books in the business / leadership personal development genre, use this style. It’s loaded with examples such as, “Mira was a successful software entrepreneur and mother of three, but she couldn’t find time for yoga. Using my system, …”. These examples seem universally aspirational; it’s never, “Becky worked two shifts at the Gas & Sip and did a little babysitting to support her family. Using my system, …” The ready who peruses one or two of these kinds of books per year may never notice, but the heavy reader may begin to suspect that these sorts of books are written with a certain type of person in mind while unintentionally freezing out the majority of people on the planet.

Regardless, ‘Tiny Habits’ is a powerful book that’s worthy of your time. You owe it to yourself to give it a shot.