Build habits that stick with the Excelerated Habits™ practice: tiny steps, identity-based routines, and smart design that makes success automatic. It’s how you build better habits.
[Title Photo by Letícia Alvares]
When Willpower Wasn’t Enough
Years ago, I tried to develop a new morning routine. I had a vision of myself sipping coffee, journaling, stretching, and greeting the day with quiet intention. Instead, I found myself hitting “snooze,” grabbing my phone, and scrolling the news before I’d even sat up in bed.
I wasn’t lazy. And I wasn’t unmotivated. I was sincere. I wanted change. But every morning, the same old routine won. It finally dawned on me: This wasn’t a willpower problem. It was a habit problem. Or put another way, it was a design problem.
When I discovered the work of behavioral scientists like Wendy Wood and BJ Fogg, something clicked. They weren’t talking about being “stronger” or “trying harder.” They were talking about shaping environments, shrinking behaviors, creating prompts, and using emotion to wire new habits into the brain.
This insight changed everything. And it became the foundation of Excelerated Habits™, the practice of intentionally designing small behaviors that carry you toward the life you want, automatically.
Why Habits Matter More Than Willpower
Most of us think we’re steering our lives through conscious choice. But research says nearly 40% of our daily actions are done on autopilot, i.e., without conscious decision.
Habits are the invisible architecture of our days. They determine whether we drift or grow. Whether we stagnate or flourish. And whether our goals stay on paper or become a lived reality.
The Truth We Don’t Like Admitting
You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your habits. And the habits you repeat — especially the tiny ones — quietly guide who you’re becoming.
Why Trying Harder Doesn’t Work
Willpower is unreliable. It disappears when you’re tired, stressed, distracted, or overwhelmed, which is to say, on most days ending in “y.”
Habits, however, don’t ask whether you feel like showing up. They’re automatic. And that’s why habits can pull you toward your goals even when your motivation is missing.
And the good news? Habits are learned, not inherited. They’re shaped, not summoned. And once you know how they work, you can build them intentionally.
How Habits Really Work
Wendy Wood is a researcher, author, and the Provost Professor Emerita of Psychology and Business at University of Southern California. Dr. Wood’s research shows that habits form when we:
- Repeat a behavior
- In a stable context (same place, same time, same trigger)
- That gives us some kind of reward
Do that long enough, and your brain stores the behavior as a shortcut — the “default” action when that context appears.
No drama, no effort. Just automatic.
BJ Fogg founded the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University. There, Dr. Fogg defined the Fogg Behavior Model: B = MAP (Behavior = Motivation + Ability + Prompt)
Fogg’s model explains why habits either happen or don’t:
- Motivation: Do you want to do it?
- Ability: Is it easy enough to do, even when you don’t feel great?
- Prompt: What reminds you to do it?
If any one of the three is missing, the habit stalls.
Fogg’s famous conclusion:
“Make the habit tiny enough, and it becomes easier to do than not do.”
Tiny Habits Wire Faster
If you can shrink a behavior down to the tiniest version — and then celebrate it — the brain begins to form the association immediately.
BJ Fogg recommends habits like:
- Floss one tooth
- Do two push-ups
- Write one sentence
- Meditate for 20 seconds
It sounds laughable — until it works.
The emotional “aha” or tiny celebration (“Good job!” “That’s like me!”) reinforces the behavior, making it stick.
The Excelerated Habits™ Framework
This is where we bring science and purpose together. Excelerated Habits™ align your behavior with your identity, values, and goals. They help you live your Excelerated Life™ not just in intention, but in action.
Let’s walk through the seven principles.
Principle 1: Decide Who You’re Becoming (Identity First)
Habits aren’t really about what you do — they’re about who you’re becoming.
- “I’m a person who moves daily.”
- “I’m a person who nurtures relationships.”
- “I’m a person who grows spiritually.”
- “I’m a person who lives an Excelerated Life!”
Identity makes habits more meaningful. Once you choose who you are becoming, your habits become expressions of that identity.
Reflection Question:
What identity am I strengthening, one small repeated action at a time?
Principle 2: Design the Habit Loop (Cue → Routine → Reward)
A habit doesn’t appear from nowhere. It needs a loop.
- Cue: The trigger. Time of day, location, a preceding action.
- Routine: The behavior itself (preferably tiny and simple).
- Reward: A small win, pleasant feeling, or personal “good job!” moment that reinforces the loop.
Example:
- Cue: Pouring morning coffee
- Routine: Read one verse of Scripture
- Reward: A moment of quiet clarity and gratitude
Over time, the cue becomes automatic, the behavior becomes default, and the reward becomes reinforcing.
Principle 3: Shrink the Behavior (The Art of Tiny)
This is the heart of Excelerated Habits™: make the behavior so easy you can do it even on your worst day.
Want to walk daily? Start with walking to the mailbox.
Want to journal? Write one sentence.
Want to meditate? Close your eyes for 20 seconds.
Smallness is not weakness — it’s the secret to consistency.
“If it feels too easy to count, you’re probably finally starting at the right size.”
Principle 4: Shape the Environment (Environment > Willpower)
Your environment determines your habits more than your intentions do.
Make good habits on-path:
- Put fruit at eye level
- Keep your Bible or journal on the table
- Lay out workout clothes the night before
- Keep musical instruments visible and ready
Make bad habits off-path:
- Turn off notifications
- Remove apps from the home screen
- Put the TV remote in another room
- Keep sweets out of sight
Small friction makes a big difference.
Reflection Question:
If a stranger walked into my home, what habits would they predict based on what they see?
Principle 5: Use Implementation Intentions (If/Then Scripts)
These simple statements automate decision-making:
- “If it’s 7:00 a.m., then I start my movement practice.”
- “If I sit at my desk, then I write one sentence before opening email.”
- “If I finish dinner, then I take a 5-minute walk.”
Implementation intentions turn your day into a series of pre-decided choices.
Principle 6: Make Success a Habit (Not an Event)
Success doesn’t come from one big moment. It comes from small repeated steps that compound over time.
“We do not decide our future. We decide our habits, and our habits decide our future.”
Excelerated Habits™ build the daily structure where success becomes the natural outcome of consistent behavior — not a heroic effort.
This is where Stepladders can support:
Dream → Goal → Steps → Habits that sustain those steps.
Habits keep you on the path long enough for success to take root.
Principle 7: Review & Tweak (Don’t Try Harder — Adjust Smarter)
When a habit isn’t sticking, you don’t need more willpower. You need a better design.
Ask:
- Motivation: Do I truly want this?
- Ability: Is the habit small enough?
- Prompt: Am I being reminded at the right moment?
If one is missing, adjust the behavior or environment — not your character.
Reflection Question:
For my most stubborn habit, what’s missing — motivation, ability, or prompt?
Build Your First Excelerated Habit
Here’s a simple plan you can start today.
Step 1: Choose One Identity-Based Habit
Pick something that reflects who you want to become.
Step 2: Make It Tiny
Shrink it until it’s doable on your worst day.
Step 3: Anchor It to a Routine
Attach it to something you already do every day (coffee, brushing teeth, meal).
Step 4: Shape Your Environment
Make the habit obvious and easy; add friction to competing behaviors.
Step 5: Celebrate Immediately
Reinforce the emotion — the brain learns through positive feeling.
Step 6: Review Weekly
Adjust the design, not the dream.
Bringing It All Together
You don’t need a different personality. You need different defaults. Excelerated Habits™ help you design them.**
Habits aren’t moral judgments. They’re tools — and powerful ones. They’re how you take the Excelerated Life™ from something you believe in to something you live. By working with your brain (not against it), you build a life that quietly supports who you’re becoming — step by tiny step. That’s how you embrace your Excelerated Life™!
What’s one tiny habit you’d like to start this week — and what will you anchor it to?
Where have you been relying on willpower when a small environmental change might work better?
Share your comments by leaving a post below.
Excelerated Habits™ — automating your best behaviors — is one practice for creating your Excelerated Life™, a life of flourishing and well-being, and a life of meaning, purpose, and service.
Read more about the Excelerated Life™.
Resources:
Fogg, Ph.D., BJ. Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2020.
Guise, Stephen. Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results. CreateSpace Publishing. 2013.
Wood, Wendy. Good Habits, Bad Habits. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019.
Young, Sean D. Stick With It. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2017.
This blog post includes research information provided by ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI. The content was generated with AI assistance and is intended to provide information and guidance. Please note that the suggestions are not official statements from OpenAI. To learn more about ChatGPT and its capabilities, you can visit the OpenAI website.