BJ Fogg on How Tiny Habits Can Spark Big Life Changes

12 snips

Dec 31, 2019

BJ Fogg, a behavioral scientist and director of the Stanford Behavior Design Lab, shares insights from his book, Tiny Habits. He discusses the power of small, consistent changes to transform lives and recounts how personal setbacks, like overcoming a popcorn addiction, shaped his understanding of resilience. Fogg reflects on the societal shift regarding technology, suggesting that future trends may see disconnection as a marker of social status. He emphasizes the importance of celebrating small wins and offers strategies to cultivate positive habits.

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INSIGHT

Early Persuasive Technology Vision

BJ Fogg predicted in 1996 that computers would be designed to influence human behavior.
His dissertation explored this idea, but it was met with skepticism and low grades.

ANECDOTE

Dismissed Vision

BJ Fogg's professor gave him a C- on a paper about computers in marketing, saying it would never happen.
Fogg revised the paper, but his professor remained unconvinced.

INSIGHT

Prescient Mobile Prediction

BJ Fogg accurately predicted that mobile phones would become the primary platform for behavior change.
His book, Mobile Persuasion, predates the iPhone and foresaw a "persuasion revolution."

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BJ Fogg is a behavioral scientist with deep experience in innovation and teaching. At Stanford University he runs the Behavior Design Lab and also teaches his models and methods in graduate seminars. On the industry side, he trains innovators to use his work so they can create solutions that influence behavior. The focus areas include health, financial wellbeing, learning, productivity, and more.

BJ has a new book, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything, which came out today, on December 31st, 2019.

To learn more about Tiny Habits, visit tinyhabits.com.

In this episode BJ and I discuss:

How Greek philosophy inspired BJ to study persuasive technology
Why BJ’s early theories on the future of technology earned him poor grades and puzzled looks
What common modern practice will be seen as low-status behavior in the near future
How people can adopt new behaviors even when they lack the motivation to change
The three strategies that add up to BJ’s Tiny Habits behavioral change method
How BJ learned to get over failure and keep trying new things
How overcoming compulsive snacking taught BJ empathy toward others
How you can the tiny Habits to untangle your own unwanted behaviors

Resources mentioned

Rhetoric by Aristotle

Mobile Persuasion: 20 Perspectives on the Future of Behavior Change, edited by BJ Fogg and Dean Eckles

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