The Formula for Creating a New Behavior

How many times have you begun a new year full of enthusiasm to achieve a goal? Get fit; eat healthy; start a meditation practice; save money; go to church on Sundays.

While many of our goals and aspirations are worthwhile, the problem is that we tend to focus on goals in term of *outcome* rather than the process it takes to get there. Goals mean very little without a detailed plan for accomplishing them. Two people can have the same goal but very different results because of the process they use. An effective and repeatable process leads to a successful outcome.

The easiest way to design a process that is realistic and sustainable is through habits. One of the most recognizable experts on the study of habits is James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. “These choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations,” Clear says. But how do you make sure those chosen habits or behaviors happen? “I already know I need to have good habits,” you might be saying to yourself, “I just need to get motivated!”

Scientist and author on the subject of human behavior, B.J. Fogg, says motivation is only one piece of the puzzle. In fact, when it comes starting a habit or behavior, motivation alone is not enough. Fogg says there are several problems with the unreliability of motivation. Motivation is complex because it stems from a variety of sources. Also, the emotion fluctuates and is not easy to cultivate on demand. Finally, motivation doesn’t necessarily guarantee action.

There are two other elements besides motivation that must be present for a behavior to happen: Ability and Prompt.

Fogg developed a formula to illustrate this concept:

BEHAVIOR = MOTIVATION + ABILITY + PROMPT (B=MAP)

Motivation is your desire to do the behavior.

Ability is your capacity to do the behavior

Prompt is your cue to do the behavior.

 If all these elements converge at the same moment, the behavior is highly likely to happen.

Here’s an example:

Your goal is to start working out so you can get in shape (behavior). You are highly invested in this goal because summer is coming up and you will be in a swimsuit a lot (motivation). You have a gym membership, a stationary bike at home and have hired a personal trainer (ability). You are already getting up two hours before work because your dog needs to go out (prompt). Because your motivation and ability to do the behavior (get in shape) are high, the prompt (getting up to feed the dog) is highly likely to trigger you to get dressed and go work out.

 Here's an example where the prompt doesn’t work:

Same scenario: the desired behavior is exercise. You are highly motivated due to swimsuit season coming up. But you gave up your gym membership, your stationary bike is broken, and you can’t afford a personal trainer. So, your ability to work out is difficult. Even though you have the same prompt (getting up to feed the dog) the behavior of exercising is less likely to happen since it is much more difficult to do.

Designing the formula that works for you is not always easy. It may require experimenting with different pieces of the puzzle. I.e. finding different sources of motivation, changing your environment to make it easier to do your desired behavior and/or trying different prompts.

 However it works for you, try applying this formula to every habit you want to create in the path towards achieving your goals.