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"We tend to overestimate what we could do in a day, and underestimate what we could do in a lifetime."

The Japanese has a saying: "Sooner than later, the discipline will beat the intelligence"

"Make the goals so small that you cannot fail"

My grandmother used to say, “starting is half done." I think of this the same way. Thanks...

Momentum is a serious and underrated weapon.

The key comes in showing up, if you show up and just do a little, it's much more effective than doing nothing at all.

Ironically, I had this in my 'watch later' list for months

Consistency beats intensity. I live by the phrase, "doing something is better than doing nothing." 10 mins of exercise is better than 0 mins, 10 mins of studying is better than 0 mins and the list goes on.

Over 500 days of programming daily minimum 10 minutes later and I'm a freelance AI programmer. I just made over $4k last month thanks to mini habits.

A famous Arabic proverb: "If you can't have it all, don't leave it all."

This feels like the third Law of Behavioral change: #3. Make it easy (#1. Make it obvious #2. Make it attractive #3. Make it easy #4. Make it satisfying) This is what was concluded from reading “Atomic Habits” of James Clear

"The hardest part of jogging is putting on your shoes"

"The man who removed the mountain was the same one who started to carry away small stones."

I live by mini habits. Thank you for confirming that it's not being unproductive. I'm a writer and the hardest part is starting. That's why my daily goal is simple: just write one paragraph. Usually, more flows out, but all I need is one.

I've been doing these for over 3 years now and the results are priceless. I feel more calm and balanced, never been more healthy physically and mentally. At the meantime I also learned a language, play the piano again, can now do new amazing yoga poses, redecorated the apartment, ticked a lot items off my bucket list, and so on... whoever feels lost or overwhelmed, please remember: once you start something it will get better. You will get better. And you will enjoy it. 💞

I meditated for 30 seconds, did art for 30 seconds, read 30 words of a book, did 3 push-ups, 3 planks, 3 chin ups, cleaned for 3 seconds, helped an old lady across half a street 🤙🏻 I feel so successful and it’s still only 8am 😛👏🏻

Momentum is always harder to create than to sustain

I have used this method for studying, working out and meditating. It has been working greatly.

I once read on a sign: „A positive anything is better a negative nothing.“ This fits. Thank you for explaining. Sounds like it will work.

"Motivation to continue comes after starting"

I was severely depressed (could barely get out of bed) and started doing this. 3 months later, I am now starting a new business, and my life is thriving in all areas. I use an amazing app (Habits) to help me keep track of my habits; the widget is on my main page, so, it's the first thing I see when I unlock my phone. I have 10 mini habits (5 mins of yoga, 5 mins of cleaning per room, gratitude journal, etc.) You can honestly even do 1 minute or less (think one push up). The point is to keep the habit alive. The trick is to commit to doing it, No. Matter. What.

My Mini goal was to finish watching this video. I took me 5 weeks.

“Motivation will continue _after_ starting.” I am going to put that to the test this next week.

There is no "Before" and "After" There is just "Before" and "During"

I was locked up in depression for weeks . I could find no way out . I,m a painter and clay artist . I didn't want to make a painting that wasn,t a great work of art . That kept me paralyzed and unable to start . Out of desperation I finally began by lowering my expectations and only allowing myself to paint for 5 mins. a day . It sounds ridiculous but working on such a small goal has really helped me . I,ve been going now for almost 2 years and have accomplished hundreds of these small works of art . It is amazing how working on smaller goals can take all the pressure off . Thanks for the video . It reaffirms what I had to figure out the hard way .

Excellent video. That simple; that good! I’m 70 years old and wish I’d had this explanation earlier, but hey, it’s never too late to start anything. The feeling of accomplishment is actually quite satisfying.

This is biggest discovery in my life, after so many failures with seting GOALs that I was not able to achieve and get only frustration and anger out of it I use tiny goals and after just few days instead of fatigue and rising preasure that I won't be able to reach them I can feel that I'm having some fun and growing each single step that starts small but I almost always want to do more. Cool stuff, THANKS

The Japanese call this Kaizen - continuous small improvements. There is a book called One Small Step that discussed this. I think it’s a pretty powerful idea.

This is such common sense stuff...but I’ve had to learn this the hard way. At least I can say I’m getting things done. The hardest part I think isn’t even doing something for 2min, it’s learning to ACCEPT that 2min activity as GOOD ENOUGH. Being a perfectionist and having an all-or-nothing attitude will honestly rot your soul and rob you of the joy of living.

Thanks. I needed this. I have been prodcastinating my studies for the past two months. Instead of 1 topic per day , I start with 1 page only. My interest on the subject grew everyday. Now I have completed my revision and totally prepared for my exams !

Mini Habits by Stephen Guise is one of the life changing books I ever read. I learned an easy way to accomplish tasks and create habits from tasks i dreaded to start and procrastinated on for years such us filing, tidying & decluttering. Best part is that I started gardening using mini habits and now i not only get a good workout from it (i dig and plough myself), I am truly enjoying gardening and planning to start a side hustle with this new hobby. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone struggling to do something they know is important to them but keep procrastinating on.

I am a music teacher and I talk to all of my students about this. I remember being a young musician and setting high expectations for myself.. then when I failed over and over again, it hurt my self confidence until I grew a guilty conscience and felt I was inadequate as a musician. On top of that, it became difficult to enjoy playing music in the first place. I think we need to be teaching more kids how to use tools like this to become more resilient and productive without increasing their anxiety; I know I could have used this advice so much back when I was in middle school and high school.

“Object in motion stays in motion” Thats why after an hour its easy to focus on studies... Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It was helpful. 👍🏼

I find "mini-tasking" for cognitive tasks also gives your brain some time to "digest" information in the background and so when you come back to it, it seems easier and you feel more creative...especially after a mini-nap

This is exactly what I needed. Im in IT and have several certifications I want to achieve. But after working all day and dealing with family duties, I lose most of my motivation to study. I am going to try to start off with commiting to 20 minutes of study per day minimum. Thanks!

My best shape ever came about because of this. I asked myself how many sit ups I could easily do every day, and then I did half. After a week I added a little more, and then some more. After a while I took two walks and did thre sets of situps and one pushup, every day... And then I got a cold and everything fell apart. I didnt allow myself to fall back on the small habbit.

I’m on 260 straight days of doing push-ups thanks to mini habits, and I also got a long streak of sit-ups and stretching as well :) this stuff definitely works!

i have been working out everyday for 10 months now. if i dont feel like it, i workout 5 minutes only. really works ❤️❤️❤️

I have been doing this for reading, since february :) I need to read two pages a day, and sometimes I do more. I'm not a big fan of reading, but I am getting better at it every day. Yesterday I read 12 pages, and I finished my first book about a week ago. One might say that 2 months is way too long to finish one book. But if I had higher expectations I probably wouldn't have finished it.

This is so me! I usually set too long and too many goals and then fail almost immediately. At the start of January this year I set myself a very small goal - to have a cold shower every morning for 1 minute. Just 1 minute and it is now February 9th and I have not missed a day. Some days it is harder than others especially as I brush my teeth first so I then know how cold the incoming cold water is. But as it is only 1 minute, I know I can bear it. When I feel that I have embedded this as a habit (I am giving myself 90 days though it might take up to 120 days) then I hope to increase the time under the water but if I don’t it won’t matter as I know I will still do my 1 minute. By the way I feel amazing after each shower and it sets me up for the day - if I can do that i can do anything!

For those of you that are unsure if this works, it does, I have had to learn this the hard way as I have had an illness for 15 years that has taken most of my energy so I have to do small amounts when I can and I achieve a lot by not setting any deadline as I have no energy to set a deadline, so I get it done when I get it done and I succeed. I have been thinking about starting a youtube channel to show people how I do what I do because if I can achieve tasks anybody can.

This philosophy is absolutely spot on!!! I have been doing it for years. If I plan a walk (for exercise) but then feel lazy, I just trick myself by saying "I'll just walk as far as Smith Cove". Invariably when I get to that spot (which is only half a mile away), I will in fact walk further. After my walk, I always feel good and tremendously pleased that I did more.

_5 minutes closer to your goal is better than 0 minuttes closer to your goal._ This message has been greeting me every time I log on to my computer for some time now. I came up with it myself for exactly the same reasons you describe in this video :)

"Make the goal so small that you cannot fail" - What a concept.

Good video. As I often say: “The secret to happiness is low expectations.” I say that somewhat in jest, but I know, and this video confirms, that there’s an important kernel of truth in it.

At 2:46 when you start listing off activities, I *DID* think, "wow, you aren't accomplishing anything." Then I thought, well, even a few push-ups is more exercise than I usually get in. And playing the piano for 3 minutes a day, is more time in a week or month than I play an instrument. Awesome video! Great content!👍

This is the best life hack I've ever picked up! I started implementing it about 3-4 months ago and it really works! Amazing tool. I highly suggest reading Atomic Habits, it talks more in-depth about the logic behind mini habits.

I watched many videos like this on the internet and this one makes the most sense to me. It doesn't use some worn out arguments and methods that you can hear in every video and it tells you really simple what you need to do. Thanks dude

This is how I got out of my depression.

Every time I don't feel like doing something, I just tell myself "I'll do it for 5 minutes, then do something else." A few hours later, job done! I think it's normal to get discouraged, because the conscious part of our brain can usually focus on one thing at a time. When we think about a project that takes hours, days, months, we take into account hundreds of things that need to be done to accomplish that goal. And that's just too much. Brain says "Naaah, that's too much work, too complicated, too hard! Let's do something easy." So, do the right thing: focus on the first step and only on the first step. Tell yourself you'll just do that. Need to write a book? Tell yourself you'll write a page. Still too hard? Tell yourself you'll write a sentence.

My mini habits include- 5-10 minutes morning meditation. 10 min walk. 20 minutes studying (increased from 10 min), 1 minute morning stretch when I get out of bed. Walk 7,500 steps (increased from 5,000). Once I am able to do it consistently for a week or two, I slowly increase it. As you can imagine, I am exercising and walking more each day. My meditations have increased to 15 minutes. I find myself studying for 30 min or more. Keep at it!

Producer: "Thanks for watching " Me: THANKS FOR BLESSING ME WITH THIS CHANNEL. IT MOTIVATES ME MORE THAN THOSE "MOTIVATIONAL LECTURES"

I'm a much older infirm lady but I still run my property on my own. I combine tasks or fit one task inside or beside another larger task. So that's a little bit like this mini habits. I've never had a problem being a self starter or having the enthusiasm to get on and get things done. But with age has come this infirmaty with pain. So enthusiasm had become an issue plus things now take four times as long to achieve. However, the list of to-do tasks and chores never gets any shorter! For example, at horse feeding time in the afternoon, there is a 5min period after the horses have first been given their feeds where I need to just oversee them and not but in. I sometimes sit and plan tomorrow or I can do a small task like weeding the area of the paddock where we are standing. There are lots more weeds than I can pull out in that 5mins but its a start. Doing this every day for a week or so, sees the area cleared of weeds. Then I can extend the area I clear which I did over this last month. Now it looks nice and tidy so I'm glad I put in that small effort. I can also clean the horse's water trough but sometimes thats a chore that takes more than 5 mins since the tap is 50m away uphill through the vegie garden. But what if I broke it down into two different tasks over two days? So I did the scrubbing one day, then pulled the plug to empty it while running to the tap the next day and the trough got done and refilled. There are a multitude of small tasks I can do on the way to, or while waiting for other things to happen. So by the end of the day I have crossed off most things on my extensive list. I actually don't like leaving a task half done by committing Xminutes to it then walking away to do something else. I often have to use tools which I need to carry to the site of the task then put away. So only doing half the task means double handling the tools which wastes time. Or walking some distance twice to a task location if it's not done in one go. But by the addition of one tool to my trolley, I can do an extra task on the way. So sometimes it pays and sometimes it doesn't. However, if you always have good intentions and are a genuine honest self starter, you WILL get everything done every day. If for some reason you gave it your genuine best effort but didn't achieve the goal, don't beat yourself up because there is always tomorrow. 👍

OMG... this can work. After leaving this comment, I'm going to pick up my guitar and practice just four chords for 1 minute. Thank you 🎸🎼😄

I think it was Terry Brooks (of those awesome Old Spice commercials & Brooklyn99) said that on days when a workout was just not happening, he would still pack his gum bag, get dressed, go to the gym, and if he still wasn’t feeling it he would just read a magazine in the locker room. He felt like even on days when he couldn’t bring himself to work out, he wanted to maintain his habit of going to the gym. I thought it was very interesting, and comforting knowing that even a well accomplished body builder has off days like this.

About a year ago I got really fed up with not exercising so I decided to start but never actually got much done in the long run. Around 5 months ago I found this video and I actually thought your idea was great so I applied it to myself and it really helped I now exercise everyday with a goal of 30 mins, but I actually end up exercising for around 1 and a half hours on a day where I have time, I want to really thank you for this video because it 100% works and has made my life so much better

"set the goal so low, you cant fail" **proceedes to "clean my room"** **touches my computer mice** *DONE*

I suffer from depression and anxiety, I don't accomplish anything I start doing, so I'm going to start doing those mini habits, thank you so much. Edit: your voice is soothing kind of relaxing and the animation is quite nice (:

I used to do this when I didn't feel like loading or unloading dishes, and it worked liked a charm. Have sort of applied it to other areas but you've convinced me to apply it to several. Love this. Very timely too. Just started classes which makes time mgmt even more important. Thanks.

it is so true. Exactly 89 days ago, I decided to take Duolingo seriously and started learning Spanish. I decided I didn't have to study 1 hour every day, instead I decided I wanted to study every single day at least 1 minute. Of almost 100 days, I missed only 4. Now, it is part of my routine. I don't even think about it, I just study and it feels good. Maybe I'm not running fast, but I can assume I didn't stop my running. And I don't pretend to, not until I achieve my goal. I'm taking one step every day. There are days I study less than 5 minutes. But still, I didn't give up my goal. I've noticed the more I want to do, the less I actually do. Also, don't worry about your final goal, but about your daily mission. When I have to get done my Duolingo lessons, I think about it more like a daily mission than a lifetime quest.

As someone who struggles with procrastination and being unmotivated I feel like this could really help me. I haven’t been to the gym in weeks because I set too high of an expectation. Thanks for the advice

Besides the motion-analogy, I also like the analogy from chemistry: If you set up the activation energy, then the rest of the reaction takes place easily.

I have this on a playlist and when I need help/motivation/reminders I rewatch this video. Just wanted to say thank you for the great content.

One other thing I appreciate is a little at a time. I definitely need to be okay with it taking a very long time to accomplish my goal. "Objects in motion stay in motion. Motivation to continue will come after starting." Excellent advice. Thank you. Just what I've been looking for. 👍🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

This is a great method. I've used it with my novel-writing process. Some writers would aim for 1000 words a day. I tried before, and I just couldn't be consistent with it, so I dialed it down to 250 words which is much more manageable. With this mini habit, I was able to sustain a schedule of 1 chapter update each week.

That’s how I started my exercise routine. In the beginning it was hard, now I feel most comfortable at my gym while exercising and feel sad if I have to miss a day.

This is, in my opinion, your best advice. I’ve been using low expectations to help do things despite my depression for a while now. Getting dressed, doing laundry, even my usual hobbies. I try to do at least two minutes. Sometimes it’s even less. But even committing to the most minimal step helps. Even if it’s just pulling off my blanket when I don’t want to get out of bed. Anything is better than not moving at all. Thank you for your channel and all you do!

I stumbled ( I do believe everything happens for a reason) across this video and previous one on SMART goal plan after watching numerous videos on motivation and goal setting only to feel overwhelmed. I lost my first born 3 years ago and spiraled into depression as well becoming isolated and not accomplishing or following thru with anything. This series is so clear cut and simplistic! I believe for this 2020 year I will be able to start and accomplish my goals. Love your wisdom and simplistic yet attainable ways to set goals. Thank you!!

This is amazing..and so true..big things came from little thing we do everyday..disiplin and consistency is key to mastery in EVERYTHING. Persevere and you can achieve anything. The momentum will be yours to exploit..

This might actually the best advice I have ever received.

Great video. Committing to just 10 minutes a day to important activities will change your life. How to you do this? 1. Time block a set time every day for this activity. 2. Use the Pomodoro technique to insure you spend the require time focused. 3. Pay a tutor, employee or some professional to engage in the activity with you. 4. Gamify your daily productivity on a point basis. This requires that your review/score each day with points. 5. Make a commitment to someone about getting the activity completed. 6. Give yourself a gift or reward if you complete the activity. 7. Give yourself a punishment if you don't compete the activity. 8. Eliminate activities to get this project done. Take a day off work, exercise at home, etc. Figure out ways to get time back. 9. Listen to KZfaq videos about your activity. 10. Complete the activity in the early morning to insure it gets done.

I watched this video last year and it has changed my life. I have at least 15 mini habits now that seem very natural and require no effort - I've been doing them for months. This video is the answer to why anyone struggles with creating habits. 100% recommended.

My uncle often says: “When I feel like doing something, I sit down and wait for it to go away.” Now I can’t un-know it!

Any spare minute you have during your day, such as while waiting for someone can be used to move closer to your goals. If not minutes, there are at least seconds. Life is too short to not use any spare window of time, and it builds momentum

Wow I have been actually doing this even before watching this video. I am someone who tends to take on multiple hobbies at a time: reading, building model kits, video games, and going on daily walks/run. My main thought then was I just want to be able to do a lot of different things to avoid getting bored with one thing. And since I don't commit too much time to one thing, I am able to spread these mini habits across my day. Wake up early and read a book. In between breaks at work, I tinker on my model kits to get rid of boredom and recharge myself. After work, I take my kid and go on a walk. Then before going to sleep, play a quick 30-min game. What I noticed was when I did this, I often feel I have accomplished multiple things in a day. And since I only got to do a small portion of it the day before, I tend to start them more eagerly the next day. The cliffhanger on the last chapter of the book I was reading? Can't wait to read what happens next. I've already completed the hand on my model kit. Looking forward to finishing the rest of the body. And so on. I',m so glad I bumped into your channel. I also just watched the video on laziness yesterday and it got me interested on your other vids. I believe your videos will really help me on a daily basis. Thanks!

This is especially effective for depression and anxiety, that causes you to become overwhelmed more easily, stealing motivation, leading to procrastination. I'm rarely productive if I make a plan for doing an entire project. I accomplish most without a conscious decision. Switching over a load of laundry will lead to folding a prior load, loading the dishwasher leads to cleaning the kitchen, wiping up something sticky on hard flooring leads to doing the whole floor, cleaning one toilet leads to cleaning my other toilets, etc. Often times it becomes difficult to stop the momentum... to go to bed, to make it somewhere on time, etc. The only issue is the effort to start.

This is so true, guys. Thanks to mini habits, I'm able to do eye exercises, Qigong, voice exercises, yoga, strength exercises, bellydance, and meditate...every day. Thanks to this, I can keep my voice fit and strong for teaching, improve my vision (and maybe, over the next years, get rid of my glasses or at least prevent my eyes from getting even worse), I'm very flexible and fit and live free of headaches or back pain (which I started getting very strongly in my early twenties - but mini-Yoga, mini-Qigong and mini-strength-exercises keep all that at bay). My mini habits ground me and keep me healthy. Mini habits WILL give you a solid foundation for daily life. And if you're a relatively young adult like I am, imagine the power of these habits over the next 50 years. Imagine how much easier aging will be when we keep our bodies and minds fit and healthy, preventing a whole slew of problems that are seen as "normal" for aging.

This is a form of baby steps, walking.... no... crawling before you walk, and then run, it makes so much sense in more ways than one. We often do in fact struggle to start, and sadly if I can't get in my 1 hour of studying/exercise or whatever else I am trying to do, I often wont even bother to start if I know I won't be able to reach that goal, and that disappoints me when I can't reach that goal, so setting smaller far more achievable goals, really is key, the more we accomplish the better we feel/the more productive that we feel. Thus I really should set much smaller goals, instead of lofty ones, and make sure I follow through with the small ones first on a regular to daily basis and work my way up. Yea, it may not sound glamorous if you tell someone oh yea! I practice/exercised for 2 minutes a day! Think of it as long term gain, not short term, sticking with something despite set backs shows volumes to the right person.

Brilliant! This makes me feel like I can actually do all of those things I’ve been wanting to do for awhile: read all the books on my nightstand, get my daily yoga habit back, lift weights again, etc.

I really like this channel. I have ADHD and really struggle forming good habits, but this is a totally fail safe approach. It's so much better than advice that just offers an optimal time structure as if that is sustainable for everyone and if it does work it's a personal failing.

This is great advice! I've been reading one page for years now and completed several books as a result. I've just started exercising again after getting 4 colds this year. But I kept skipping days for whatever reason. Now I know how I can succeed and get started with the piano again!

"Meditation to continue will come after starting." I like that.

This reminded me of "Atomic Habits" book. A great resource if you want to continue exploring this topic and get techniques to stick to them

This video came along at just the right time for me. I have 5 mini habits and have done them for 70 straight days now. I keep my house work up to date and have lost 30 lbs and I can manage my meals much better now. I read a least 2 pages a day and have read 3 books since September. I exercise (in my case dance) for 2 minutes a day. I enjoy it most days (especially listening to oldies) and have danced up to 25 minutes at a time. I wash my dishes every day and it takes no more than 5 minutes and the dishes never pile up like they used to do with used to depress me greatly. I do one household chore every day. This is the easiest because laundry and grocery shopping count. I file three bills per day as I was behind. I hadn't done this chore for years and am still catching up but the pile is getting smaller all the time and my files are at a state where I can see my position much better. Bottom line is that I feel good every day because I accomplished something. I highly recommend this method for New Year's Resolutions. Cheers all and good luck with your goals!!

The cleaning thing, I did that yesterday. I just wanted to organize my desk and books and ended organizing & cleaning entire room. 👌 good video!

Now I know how it's called! I've been doing this for the damn inbox. I tried to set one day a week to tackle the inbox to keep it low, but it was too daunting. Then I thought "Ok just 2 minutes of inbox cleaning and if I don't feel like doing more than that, that's fine". Clean inbox for a decade now!

Omg, you’ve improved my life that much!I’ve spend such a long time reading books and watching videos about Time management and procrastination, but it still did not worked out as I hoped it would. It got better, but time passed and I still got problems over and over again, so I got frustrated about myself😔 I‘ve never heard something simple and excellent like that. That’s a real value. Thank you a thousand times🙏 May you achieve all of your goals and live a long, happy life🙏❤️ God bless you.

Habit stacking + 2 minute rule = mini habits. Most excellent.

This is a great idea! Every time I go to the gym I always tell myself, "It's not about losing weight, being healthy, looking fit, feeling good. It's about building the habit." Consistency is the hardest thing to build.

I just found your channel and gotta say its one of the best ones on KZfaq. You are concise and dont beat around the bush, your advice are always practical and easy to remember. Thank you!

Nice! This concept works in lots of areas in my life, not just habits, but also in finance and even relationships. “Doing a little…a whole lot…can make all the difference!”

This was by far the most helpful video on KZfaq I’ve seen in a LONG time!

Objects in motion stay in motion” a good one , thanks for this wonderful idea

Thanks bro I didn't find a better practical version for establishment of new habits. Thanks a lot. I struggled a lot in consistently pushing myself everyday as a young cricketer while I had to do cardio+workout+working on batting skills+even studying+not using much of mobile. I'll surely plan it in mini habit version and will definitely edit this comment after one month.

Holy moly, I also figured out this Newton's First Law of Motion for mind recently and today I see it here too..... ♥️♥️

This channel is underrated. Needs more subscribers and views. This is really effective like the opposite of addictions like foods etc.

Thank you for the work, love and pasion you put on every video. Have the best day ever !!!

It definitely works.. I intend to watch Netflix for 5 mins a day but it turns into a giant binge fest until 3am in the morning

My mini Practice it to show LOVE more! Hahah... so let me say how much I love all the people commenting on your video! I wish I could hug you all!