Information alone does not change behaviour This is a common mistake in both individual and organisational change. Taking a financial wellness course does not resolve your financial challenges. Knowledge on the effects of climate change does not make us behave differently. It is wrong to believe giving people information by itself will lead to change. How to apply this lesson Step back and review your assumption about information and change.

Habits are wired by emotions We change when we feel good. When you feel good, you get the motivation and energy to take action. Your commitment to sticking with a change is in direct proportion to the feeling of satisfaction you experience. How to apply this lesson Whenever you remember to do your new habit, learn to celebrate. A small dance or a pleasant affirmation can suffice as a celebration. Quote

We change best by feeling good. — The reason why people fail to stick to their habits is more of a design problem rather than an individual problem says BJ Fogg his Tiny habits book. It all boils down to the approach you take in order to design for habits. The secret is to design for success. …

Being nice to yourself is probably the best advice you will ever hear today. — We can get caught in a vicious loop of unfavorable feelings if we experience self-criticism, especially when we fail to maintain our routines. Kristen Neff in her book Self Compassion states it succinctly: Compassion is the way of emotionally recharging our batteries. To constantly filling up is the key. Negative…

To succeed in anything, make it insanely easy to do. — We resist change because it is disruptive. Our brain prefers the familiar over the new. This is because familiarity is safe, and less risky. Anything outside the walls of normal triggers fear, and anxiety or the fight, or flight response. Change involves embracing the new. Without change, we stop growing…

Celebrate your small victories and don’t rob yourself of the feeling of accomplishment that comes with them - Sharon Pearson — You are more likely to repeat an action if you experience a positive emotion. That is the secret of habit change. Our brain has neural pathways, like interconnected networks. Every time you perform an action, a network is formed. Repeating the action strengthens the network.

Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tiptoe if you must, but take a step — Naeem Callaway. — Inertia and hesitation are what stops us from making progress. The constant and overwhelming feeling of dread stops us from starting. We believe we do not have what it takes to change or to adopt good behaviors. The truth is, Rome was not built in one day and so are…

It’s time to go small to go big — There is nothing as too small when it comes to habit change. Each step no matter how tiny grows, and compounds. And if the steps are in the right direction then success is guaranteed. Tiny means making your habit so small such that when you run into a setback, you…

The first step toward change is awareness. — Life is made up of habits. The tragedy is that most of us are blind to our habits. In an Harvard University experiment, students were told to count the number of times a ball was being passed by a team in a white shirt. As they counted, a gorilla walked…