How every business owner can succeed with micro-habits today
By Michelle Post
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
— Lao Tzu
In a world of “enough is never enough,” it is easy to forget meetings, birthdays, anniversaries and deadlines. However, there is hope to improve one’s daily focus and productivity and decrease stress. The word for the 21st century is “micro:” micro-habits, micro-influencers, micro-learning and/or micro-investing. So, what is a micro-habit? Quartz Media, LLC defines micro-habit as, “Tiny habits that require little effort but drive energy, focus, and health.”
Why are micro-habits important to business owners? In his book, “Mini-Habits,” Stephen Guise stated, “Doing a little bit every day has a greater impact than doing a lot on one day. How much greater? Profoundly so, because a little bit every day is enough to grow into a lifelong foundational habit, and those are a big deal.” Completing a micro-habit builds a repeatable and sustainable tiny feeling of accomplishment that creates moments of euphoria in the brain. Each completed micro-habit creates a repeatable desire to do it again and again.
Nick Loper of SideHustleNation.com notes that a micro-habit must contain three components. Loper believes a micro-habit must be (1) related to something you care about; (2) something you can do in less than one minute; and (3) too small to fail. For example, a micro-habit can be to make the bed upon rising, drink a glass of water when waking up, write the top three priorities for the day, meditate for five minutes, don’t over commit and express gratitude over complaining. The list is endless! What are some of your micro-habits?
