Make Your Life Better by Creating New Habits in Just 2 Minutes a Day

The following is adapted from a new book, The Habit Mechanic, by Dr. Jon Finn.

I’ve been working in the fields of resilience, performance, and leadership psychology for over 20 years. Through my work I know that many people try to be their best, but they fail. 

However, I also know something else: this failure is not their fault. It is the advice they are given that is faulty, and sometimes dangerous. That’s why I have committed to making it easier for people from every background to consistently feel better, do better, and (if they want to) lead better.

The best part is that learning to do all these things doesn’t have to be difficult. For example, take what I call the “Daily TEA (Tiny Empowering Action) Plan.” It is based on cutting-edge science but is simple to use. It only takes two minutes to complete, and it will help you build new habits and do a little bit better every day.

Rate Yourself

First, ask yourself this question: How well did you do your best to be your best and achieve your goals yesterday (or so far today, if yesterday feels like too long ago to remember)?

You could say you did great, or you failed. But I’d like you to be a bit more accurate because this will be more helpful for you. 

So, please rate yourself from 1 (you failed) to 10 (perfect). You are probably somewhere in between. Don’t worry if you are not 100 percent sure about your score; just go with your best guess or gut feeling.

This is what I call an intelligent “Self-Watching” exercise. When I think about how well I did my best to be my best, I consider things like how well I managed my sleep, diet, exercise, stress, and productivity, and how helpful I was to others. You might judge yourself against a different set of criteria.

Create a Tiny Empowering Action

After you have given yourself a score, I want you to write down a Tiny Empowering Action (TEA) that will make your life easier over the next 24 hours. Here are some examples I use as my TEAs:

• Only check the news once today.
• Go for a five-minute walk at lunchtime.
• Eat a piece of fruit for breakfast.
• Write down a positive reflection at the end of the day.

Now, write down your Tiny Empowering Action (remember, only write down one thing).

Explain Why

Finally, I want you to consider why doing this one thing will help you be your best. Here are some examples I use:

• Only check the news once today because it will be less distracting, I will get more done, and I will feel better about myself.
• Go for a five-minute walk at lunchtime because it will make it easier to have a productive afternoon.
• Eat a piece of fruit for breakfast because it is a healthy way to start the day and will trigger other healthy behaviors.
• Write down a positive reflection at the end of the day because it will help me finish the day well, switch off, and sleep better.

Your turn again! Write down why doing this (your TEA) will help you be your best.

Take More Control Over Your Day

Congratulations! You just completed your first Daily TEA Plan!

This is a quick and practical way to take more control over your day and boost your resilience, wellbeing, and performance. It might look simple, but it is based on complex and cutting-edge insights from neuroscience, behavioral science, and psychology. 

It has been deliberately designed to give you the maximum positive impact on your day for the minimum amount of time taken to complete it. Completing a Daily TEA Plan on a regular basis will literally change your brain via a process called neuroplasticity. These changes will strengthen your ability to think constructively about yourself and to successfully plan to be your best.

Practice What You Want to Get Good At

What makes the Daily TEA Plan so powerful is that, despite what you may have been told, habits are complex. For example, what you think is one habit might be several interconnected habits. Some habits you want to develop might be easier to build than others. 

This is because elements of a new habit you want to build might already be embedded in habits you have already developed. Another new habit you want to build might have to be started from scratch. 

When you want to build a new habit, the simplest rule to apply is that you get good at what you practice. For example, if you practice writing down a positive reflection at the end of the day for the next 30 days, you will start to develop the habit. 

But if for the subsequent 30 days you check your social media instead of writing down your end-of-day positive reflection, you will develop better social-media-checking habits and unravel the work you’ve done on developing your end-of-day-reflection habit. 

Mental conditioning is just like physical conditioning. If you stop training, you lose the gains you have made through practice. As they say, “Use it or lose it!” So, make sure you “use it:” put the Daily TEA Plan exercise into practice, and adapt it so that the process works well for you.

For more advice on how to develop better habits and a better life, you can find The Habit Mechanic on Amazon.

Dr. Jon Finn founded the award-winning Tougher Minds consultancy and has three psychology-related degrees, including a PhD. He has worked in performance psychology, resilience, and leadership science for over 20 years. Tougher Minds uses cutting-edge insights from psychology, behavioral science, neuroscience, and world champions to help organizations develop “Habit Mechanics” and Chief Habit Mechanics”—resilient people, outstanding leaders, and world-class teams. Having trained and coached over 10,000 people, Dr. Finn, and his colleagues, work with global businesses, high-growth startups, individuals, elite athletes, coaches and teams, leading educational institutes, families, the UK government, and think tanks. For podcast episodes and free resources, visit: tougherminds.co.uk.