One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer Summary
Sometimes we sit alone in a corner and think When will my life change. We have big dreams, a better body, a new skill, and a calm mind. Or maybe just enough to wake up on time every morning. And then we decide that this time, I will change everything. A new year comes, a new diary, a new enthusiasm, a fitness plan is made. A timetable is prepared.
The first two days passed in enthusiasm. Then on the third day, we feel a little tired. On the fourth day, the excuse of doing it tomorrow comes. And on the fifth day everything comes back to where it started. Now you curse yourself. I can't even do this much. Maybe I will never be able to be consistent. But the truth is that it is not your fault.
The fault lies with the system that you choose every time. Yes, hello friends, welcome once again. Today I have brought for you Stephen Guice's book Mini Habits which shows you a new path.
A path where you don't have to fight with yourself. Where you don't have to beg for motivation. Small steps take you to a big destination. This book will teach you how just one push-up can change your life.
How 2 minutes of consistency is better than 2 hours of false motivation. And how to create a system that asks just a little from you every day. But gradually makes you what you always wanted to be. Mini habits are not a miracle. This is the slow revolution you were looking for for years.
So if you are tired of failing again and again, then don't change yourself this time. Change your way because changing is not difficult. Changing just means making it smaller. So the new year has come again.
You sit on your bed, sipping tea and think. This time, we have to do something big. You have a list of goals. Fitness, studies, money planning, learning a new skill, everything. You are serious this time. You have made up your mind. This time, no excuse will work. This year I will change myself. The beginning is explosive. The first week seems super productive.
It seems as if you have activated a new version of yourself. Then what happens? In the second week, you don't feel like getting up in the morning. By the third week, the page with your goals is folded and buried in a drawer somewhere and you think that I will not be able to do it. But to tell you the truth, it is not your fault.
It is the fault of the system that we adopt every time. We think that we have to reach 100 from zero. 30 minutes of exercise on the first day itself, 1 hour of study, meditation, healthy food, everything. And then all this becomes a burden.
We start getting tired and slowly give up. This is where Stephen Guice's Mini Habits helps us. Stephen was just like you and me. He too started his fitness journey many times but gave up in the middle every time. Every time it was the same old story - making a tough workout plan.
Follow it for two weeks and then finish. But one day when Stephen was completely tired of himself, when he had lost all motivation, when he started to feel that he would probably never be able to change himself.
He thought of a crazy idea. Let's do just one push up. Yes, just one. It might sound a little funny but Stephen did just that. He did just one push up. And then another. And then another. And and he did not even realize when he had worked out for 20 minutes without any force, without any drama.
This is where Mini Habits started. Small steps that your mind is not afraid of. Small steps that gradually eliminate the resistance within you. Because the truth is we are not scared of a 30 minute workout. We are scared of the long journey, the pressure, the expectation that I will have to do this all the time.
But when you take a small step like just one push up, reading just one paragraph or meditating for just one minute. You don't fight yourself. You give yourself a chance to win. This is the magic of mini habits. They are easy. They are less scary and seem most doable.
And the best part is when you do them every day, your confidence gradually starts increasing. You start feeling that I can do it. I am doing it and this is the change that transforms your life from within. Let's now move on to the chapter where the biggest misconception of life is exposed. Motivation vs Will Power. Let's imagine a scene.
You have a very important thing to do. Maybe you have to study, go to the gym, learn a skill. You think, if only you could get some motivation, then see what you can do. Then you open YouTube, put on a motivational video. There is loud music playing in the background. Someone is saying, you can do it.
No one can stop you. Your enthusiasm reaches the seventh sky. You think that now I will change everything. But after a few hours or the next morning that motivation evaporates and you are standing there again with the same confusion, laziness and guilt. Stephen Guy speaks a truth here which probably no motivational speaker will tell you. Motivation is not reliable. Why? Because motivation depends on mood and if the mood is good in the morning, then you are ready. If you are tired in the evening, then everything gets postponed.
If it rains, the plan for a walk is cancelled. If you are not in the mood, you cannot study. This means that motivation is such a friend that can disappear at any time. Now just think, should you wait for something every time? Does any athlete, any army soldier, any successful person think every time whether he is in the mood or not?
No. They have another thing which is much more powerful than motivation. Will power means the power to deal with oneself at the time of need. So what is will power? Stephen says that will power means that internal command which forces you to do that work which you do not feel like doing. Will power is not magic, it is a skill and the good thing is that it increases with practice.
Now think, if your target is to study for 1 hour daily and you are not able to study due to laziness, then what will the mini habit say. Let's study for just 2 minutes. Your mind will not register on seeing such a small task. And when you start studying for 2 minutes, many times you study for 10-15 minutes because now you are immersed in that work.
In this chapter, Stephen shares an experiment of a psychologist Ray Baumeister which completely exposes the truth of will power. It was a simple test. There was a room in which the fragrance of chocolate cookies was spread. Some people were told that you can eat these cookies and the other group was given radish to eat. Just imagine radish in front of chocolate.
The people who got radish were smelling the chocolate, staring at it. They were getting irritated in their mind. Then both the groups were asked to solve a tough puzzle. Those who had eaten cookies were able to focus. They remained engaged for a longer time. And those who were forced to do it, gave up quickly. Why? Because their will power was already spent by eating radish. Will power is also a limited resource and if we use it every time in heavy tasks, then we will get tired.
That's why mini habits are a game changer because they don't waste your willpower but teach you to use it properly. Smaller tasks equal to less resistance equal to less energy use equal to more consistency.
Now just think, if the starting point of every big goal is so small that you can't postpone it, then where can you reach? Mini habits are that path, slow but sure. Now let's know the secret strategy that makes mini habits different and more effective than all other self-help methods.
So now you have understood that motivation will not support you every time and willpower is like a limited battery which gets exhausted if used excessively. Now the question is how to work? How to do it continuously? Stephen's answer is simple and clear.
Don't stop thinking big but start small. Mini habits say that whatever habit you want to form, make such a small version of it that your mind cannot refuse it. If you want a big body, start with just one push up. If you want to write a book, write just 50 words every day. If you want to study, just read for 2 minutes.
Now you will think what is the use of doing so little? So brother, this is the trick. Stephen says that mini habits are small but their impact is very big. Why? Because when you do a small thing, it starts easily. Often you do more than that and the most important thing is that you do not fail. Now let's talk about your comfort zone.
Your comfort zone is a circular area where you feel safe. Lying down, scrolling, watching videos is not a risk. But getting out of that zone is getting up early in the morning, going for a run, learning a new skill or getting serious about your life.
This is what you need. But all this also seems scary and this is where mini habits work. It does not force you out of that zone. It helps you to gradually expand that zone with small smart steps. Imagine when you start doing just one push up every day, then gradually your mind believes that this is easy.
Then one day you do five instead of one. Then sometimes 10 and one day you do not even realize that you have worked out for 30 minutes. The struggle that happens in the mind, yaar I don't feel like doing it today. It gradually disappears because you deceived it with small steps. What is the real power of mini habits? It saves your will power.
It removes your resistance and starts changing you at the identity level. Every day when you keep a small promise made to yourself, your mind starts considering you as a person who does what he says.
And this is what creates a strong self image. So now think, if you can fill yourself with consistency, discipline and confidence by taking just a 2-minute step, then isn't this deal worth it? Mini habits are not magic. It is a very simple but powerful system that is made for every person who wants to pick himself up again.
A little bit every day. Now let's reach the part where the real difference is seen. By now you must have read many habit books or watched videos. Some say a habit is formed in 21 days. Some say wake up at 5:00 in the morning. Some say work hard for an hour every day and we try a new method every time. Everything goes well for two weeks.
Then life comes in between and everything ends there. This is what Stephen Guice explains why Mini Habits is different from the rest. Mini Habits says that habit formation is a journey. There is no time bound challenge. Other systems teach you to do it for 21 days and everything will change. But research says that on average it takes 66 days to form a new habit.
Now tell me, how will consistency be maintained when the beginning itself is unrealistic? The real power of Mini Habits, easy start, strong belief. Mini Habits tells you that every goal should start from the beginner's level. But what do we do? We compare ourselves with those who are experts in that field. And then when we are unable to perform like that, we curse ourselves.
Mini Habits breaks this comparison culture. It says that you start from where you are. And do only as much as you can today. Little but every day. Stephen says that mini habits gradually change your self-judgment into self-belief.
Every day when you take a small step, your mind says that you are really doing it. Your confidence increases. You start taking yourself seriously and this is what makes consistency sustainable. Stephen mentions a research.
In 2012, 400 American and Canadian employees were asked if they were happy with their jobs? 65% people said no. Why? Because they did not have autonomy. That is, the freedom to control their work. When you are repeatedly told to do this, do it like this, then gradually your will power and creativity ends.
Now think, if you are implementing forced plans in your own life, then for how long will you remain motivated? Mini habits do not control you. Rather, they give you back the control of your own mind. There is no force here.
There is no pressure to do something or else you will fail. Here is small work, daily work and work of the mind. So when you adopt mini habits, you don't just change a habit. You change your mindset, identity and direction. Now we have come to the heart of the mini habit system.
Those eight golden rules that make it not just an idea but a lifestyle. Mini habits are as powerful as they sound easy. But sometimes small things turn into big obstacles. When we do not have discipline or clarity.
Stephen says, to make mini habits successful, you just have to follow eight simple rules. And these rules do not force you. They support you. Rule number one is never cheat the small goal. Meaning if you have decided to write just 50 words every day, then consider that 50 as the minimum and not think that you have to do it on an average.
It is possible that you write 500 words one day, but make 50 the base for the next time as well, otherwise your mind will again get caught in the trap of old planning. Set small but do it honestly. Rule number two is celebrate small wins.
Do one push up, be happy. Write 50 words, thank yourself. Why? Because when you celebrate small victories, the brain considers that activity rewarding and the brain repeats only those things again and again which are fun. Rule number three reward yourself. Stephen says make mini habits fun before they start getting boring.
Like after doing one push up, watch your favorite YouTube video. After writing 50 words, take a sip of coffee. After reading for 2 minutes, enjoy some music. The reward may be small but the impact will be big. Rule number four focus on the big picture but act small. This does not mean that you should be happy with just one push up. Your dream is to have a fit body, write a book, get freedom.
But the path starts from where you get the happiness of continuing without getting tired. Stephen says every winner is a beginner who does not get bored. Rule five make it so easy. It feels silly. If your mind is avoiding doing any work, then understand that the work is still big.
Make it smaller. So small that the mind says what stupidity is this. I can do this much even while sleeping. This is the moment from where consistency starts. Rule number six: Remind yourself how small the task is. Sometimes your mind will say, let's leave it today.
Stop at that time and remember. This is just a push-up. This is just 50 words. This is just 2 minutes. The beginning of your dreams is so small that it is a sin to postpone it. Rule number seven: Trust the system. Many times you will feel that what is the use of doing something so small? This is a waste of time.
But if you do not believe in this system, then you will again get stuck in the same old way. Where there is a lot of planning and zero action. Stephen says that mini habits are not stupid. They reprogram your brain in a sensible way.
Rule at: Focus on sleeping up, not the result. Your job is to follow the habit. The result will gradually appear on its own. If you feel like it, then do more than the set target. But don't do it under pressure. The real magic of mini habits is seen when you give more importance to doing core results.
So these were the eight rules that take you forward slowly but surely. Now when you have this system, the only thing left is the beginning. And now comes the turn of conclusion. Where we will understand that mini habits are not just a book but a way of living life.
How many times have you set goals in your life? how many times have you thought that this time you have to change yourself? How many times have you started and given up after a few days. Every time you failed, you blamed yourself. You thought that maybe there is something lacking in me.
I can never be consistent. But Stephen says that sometimes the problem is not in our ability but in our way. We make big plans. We have big expectations and then force ourselves to fulfill them.
Then when we get tired, we think that maybe all this is beyond our capacity. Mini habits remind us that to change life, you need consistency and not revolution. One small step every day, without huge expectations, without burning yourself out, without all or nothing thinking, just get up every day and complete your micro task. So easy that you cannot refuse. So small that even your lazy mind says, at least this much is enough.
This mini habit system by Stephen Guice is for you. If you are tired of failing again and again. You are broken with yourself. You are looking for something true and lasting without drama, without excuses. So what next? Now you know that motivation cannot be trusted. Will power has to be saved and used in the right place and the biggest victory is achieved by small, consistent steps. So just do one thing.
Start a mini habit from today itself. Just one push up, 2 minutes of study, writing 50 words or just taking three deep breaths, do it small but do it daily because remember consistency is such an engine that can take you to any destination.
No matter how long the path is, mini habits are the beginning of that slow but guaranteed revolution in your life where one day you will look back and say that just this one small step changed my whole life. So, when are you starting your mini habits?
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