Change Your Life – One Tiny Step at a Time

Summary

This video, created by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell, explores the concept of personal change and how even small steps can lead to significant transformations over time. It discusses the gap between the person you currently are and who you want to be, diving into the intricacies of routines, habits, and how our brain operates like a jungle with trails that can be transformed into highways. By focusing on small, manageable actions and using triggers to establish new habits, individuals can make lasting changes. The video emphasizes the importance of making new habits enjoyable to ensure consistency and suggests using a habit journal as a tool for tracking progress.

Highlights

• Change doesn't require monumental effort; small, consistent steps can lead to big transformations. 🌟
• Our brain prefers known pathways, making change challenging, but not impossible. 🌿
• Establishing clear routines and using triggers can help form new habits. 🔄
• The 'wise planner' and 'impulsive toddler' analogy explains how our brain balances routine and habit. 🧒
• Making new habits fun and appealing increases the likelihood of success. 🎉

Key Takeaways

• Small changes can have a big impact over time if applied consistently. 🌱
• Understanding the way our brain forms habits can help make change easier. 🧠
• Routines are strategic and planned, while habits are more automatic. ⚙️
• Using pleasurable triggers can help establish new habits successfully. 🎯
• A habit journal can be a helpful tool in tracking and maintaining progress. 📚

Overview

Change can seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. The video explores how even tiny steps can lead to significant life changes. By understanding the way our brains form habits, we can learn to navigate our mental jungle and create paths that lead to desirable behaviors. It's all about building pathways, starting with small, tangible actions, and using triggers to help them become automatic.

Our brains are set up to favor familiar paths, which is why changing our behavior is often harder than it seems. The video uses the analogy of a jungle to explain how established routines can become highways in our minds. By focusing on small actions that are easy to repeat, we can lay down new trails and eventually pave new roads.

The journey to change involves both the 'wise planner,' who strategizes, and the 'impulsive toddler,' who acts out of habit. By engaging both parts, we can achieve consistency in building new habits. Add a dash of fun by aligning these actions with pleasurable activities, making them more rewarding and increasing the chances of success. Lastly, tools like habit journals can help track and encourage progress.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: The Gap Between Who You Are and Who You Wish to Be This chapter discusses the common gap between who people currently are and who they wish to become. It points out the challenges individuals face in attempting to bridge this gap, including the desire to adopt healthier habits, learn new skills, and pursue personal goals. The chapter highlights that achieving these aspirations often feels like one must become a different person, characterized by consistency, effort, discipline, and willpower.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Challenges in Maintaining Change The chapter titled 'Challenges in Maintaining Change' delves into the personal experience of trying to adopt new habits or alter behaviors, only to revert to old patterns despite initial success. It explores the emotional toll of repeated failures, including feelings of frustration and self-annoyance. The narrative challenges the often simplistic and blaming perspective promoted by some success gurus, which posits that failures in maintaining change are solely due to a lack of desire or effort.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Understanding Change Through the Jungle Metaphor The chapter 'Understanding Change Through the Jungle Metaphor' uses the metaphor of a jungle to explain how the brain processes change. The jungle represents the complexity and effort required to navigate decisions and actions. Just as moving through a real jungle is challenging and energy-consuming, so too is making decisions and enacting change in the mind. The chapter suggests that understanding this concept helps to ease the difficulty of processing change.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Paths and Highways in the Brain The chapter "Paths and Highways in the Brain" discusses how our actions and behaviors create mental paths in our brain, akin to trails in a jungle. Initially, these paths are rough and improvised, but repeated actions make them more pronounced. Over time, these trails become well-trodden paths, and with further repetition, they transform into streets, signifying ingrained behaviors or habits. The chapter highlights the importance of repetition in forming these mental pathways.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Explaining Routines and Habits The chapter explains the concept of routines and habits, likening them to highways in the brain. It describes how these highways, or well-established neural pathways, make certain actions and behaviors effortless and familiar, leading to their repeated use. This repetition reinforces the highways, making change difficult, especially for adults whose mental pathways are well-established. The chapter aims to provide insight into how these neural highways are constructed and maintained.
• 02:30 - 03:00: The Role of the Wise Planner Routines and habits are discussed as actions performed consistently due to positive outcomes. An example provided is preparing a favorite dish with the same ingredients and method for desirable taste and setting an alarm for a preferred wake-up time.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Habits and Triggers The chapter discusses how routines established by a 'wise planner'—a metaphor for the part of the brain involved in strategic thinking—are deliberate and analytical. This 'planner' considers future outcomes and selects actions that may be uncomfortable but are necessary, such as taking a shower early in the morning. Over time, these routines can become habits, making them easier to perform.
• 03:30 - 04:00: The Toddler in Your Brain The chapter 'The Toddler in Your Brain' discusses the concept of habits and how they are formed. It explains that habits are sequences of actions carried out without much thought, often because they are rewarding and provide a suitable response to a situation. Habits make us feel like we are operating on autopilot as they do not require conscious convincing to perform. The chapter emphasizes the importance of triggers, or context cues, which can be individual elements or entire situations, in initiating these habitual actions.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Constructive Role of the Wise Planner and the Toddler The chapter discusses the concept of triggers and their impact on behavior, suggesting that daily actions are often prompted by immediate surroundings and habitual responses. It highlights how habits are akin to an impulsive toddler, driven by immediate desires without long-term consideration. Examples include the automatic reflexes of unlocking a phone screen, buckling a seatbelt, or purchasing a cookie along with morning coffee.
• 04:30 - 05:00: Using Energy Saving Mechanisms for Change The chapter "Using Energy Saving Mechanisms for Change" discusses the concept of how the brain is wired to seek out the path of least resistance. This is explained through the metaphor of 'the future doesn’t exist and it hates hard work,' indicating that the brain naturally gravitates toward habits that provide familiar and rewarding outcomes. Examples include routines like having coffee alongside a cookie or developing habits such as consuming chocolate or browsing Reddit due to the instant gratification they provide. The chapter emphasizes the inherent challenge in breaking bad habits, as they are rooted in the brain's preference for rewarding experiences despite potentially negative long-term effects.
• 05:00 - 05:30: How to Build a Habit The chapter explains how habits are formed, particularly focusing on the role of rewarding feelings associated with certain actions which lead to the repetition of those actions and the formation of habits. It introduces two concepts: the 'toddler', which might seem to encourage bad habits, and the 'wise planner', essential for critical thinking and complex tasks. Despite seeming like a sabotage mechanism, the toddler is crucial and often collaborates with the wise planner. The wise planner is necessary for tackling significant challenges like strategic thinking and detailed tasks such as parallel parking and managing taxes. However, relying solely on the wise planner would be energy-intensive, hence the need to outsource routine tasks.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Establishing Workout Habits The chapter titled 'Establishing Workout Habits' discusses how turning repetitive tasks into habits can simplify daily life. It highlights that by utilizing these energy-saving mechanisms, one can introduce new behaviors or changes more easily. The focus should be on small, incremental improvements rather than aiming for massive overhauls, as these smaller changes are more manageable and sustainable.
• 06:00 - 06:30: Simplifying the Decision to Exercise The chapter discusses the significance of making small changes over time, highlighting their impact over months and years. It suggests that instead of relying on willpower to effect change, one should focus on convincing the brain that the change is minor. This can be achieved by creating new routines and turning them into habits. The chapter metaphorically describes using a 'wise planner' to establish new pathways and employing the 'toddler' part of the brain to initiate actions effortlessly.
• 06:30 - 07:00: Making Actions Enjoyable The chapter titled 'Making Actions Enjoyable' focuses on how to set and achieve objectives such as improving fitness. It emphasizes the importance of breaking down broad goals into clear, manageable actions that are easy to execute and do not require significant thought. An example provided is the simple task of 'doing ten squats' every morning as a way to create a routine. This approach seeks to lower the difficulty threshold of actions, making them more enjoyable and attainable.
• 07:00 - 07:30: Timeline for Establishing New Habits The chapter 'Timeline for Establishing New Habits' discusses the importance of setting clear triggers to help establish new habits. It explains that triggers are signals associated with specific actions. Examples include visual cues like a training outfit, specific times of day, or designated places such as a park. The chapter emphasizes starting actions in specific contexts to reinforce these triggers as automatic prompts for the desired actions.
• 07:30 - 08:00: The Continuous Nature of Change The chapter focuses on the concept of creating lasting habits, using a home workout as an example. It emphasizes the importance of consistency by performing a simple exercise, like ten squats, at the same time and place each day to establish a routine. Over time, this routine can transition into a habit, similar to how a trail becomes a highway. The chapter notes that while the routine transforms into a habit, the activity will still require energy to perform.
• 08:00 - 08:30: Introduction to the Habit Journal The chapter discusses the challenge of forming new habits, highlighting that while the process seems simple, it is not necessarily easy. People often find it hard to form habits because new actions might not provide immediate gratification like other activities, such as browsing Reddit. To make habit formation more feasible, the chapter suggests finding ways to make the new habit more enjoyable intrinsically, rather than relying on external rewards. By implementing pleasure into the habit itself, it becomes more likely that the 'toddler' part of our brain will accept it as a regular part of daily routine.
• 08:30 - 09:00: Features of the Habit Journal This chapter explores the concept of the habit journal, emphasizing its simplicity in helping individuals identify personal strategies that work for them. It draws parallels between everyday activities such as listening to podcasts while working out, or engaging in activities like doing taxes while waiting, with the establishment of habits. The chapter highlights that forming habits can vary significantly from person to person and tends to be a gradual process akin to a toddler learning and establishing new behaviors.
• 09:00 - 09:30: Supporting Kurzgesagt through Purchases The chapter titled 'Supporting Kurzgesagt through Purchases' dives into the science of habit formation and how to sustain new behaviors over time. It discusses the variability in the time it takes for a new habit to become automatic, ranging between 15 to 250 days, and emphasizes that this is a highly individual process. The chapter warns that initiating a habit is relatively straightforward, particularly in the initial weeks, but maintaining consistency daily is challenging. The text underscores that while there is no instant solution to changing behaviors, understanding the science behind habit formation can aid in the process.

Change Your Life – One Tiny Step at a Time Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 If you are like most people, there is a gap  between the person you are and the person you   wish to be. There are little things you think you  should do and big things you ought to achieve. From working out regularly, eating healthily,  learning a language, working on your novel,   reading more or simply actually doing  your hobby instead of browsing reddit. But it sometimes seems that to achieve  your goals, you have to become a different   person. Someone who is consistent, puts in  more effort, has discipline and willpower.
• 00:30 - 01:00 Maybe you have tried your hardest to be like  that. And it worked! For a while. Until you   find yourself slipping back into your old  ways. In the end, you always seem to fail.   And with every failed attempt, you become more  and more frustrated and annoyed with yourself. If you believe “success and hustle”  internet, it is all your own fault:   if you don't succeed, you just didn’t want it  enough and the failure is all you. But change
• 01:00 - 01:30 is actually hard. And as with most things in  life, understanding why makes things easier. The Jungle Imagine your brain as a lush and  dense jungle. Moving through it,   say to make a decision to do something,  is like moving through an *actual* jungle:   It is hard and it costs energy.  Your brain hates expending energy,
• 01:30 - 02:00 so it came up with a trick: All your actions and  behaviors leave paths in the jungle of your brain. As you start doing something, you trample down  some plants and make rough, improvised trails   through the undergrowth. The more often you do  the thing, the more pronounced the trail becomes.   Over time it turns into a path that is  easier to tread, so you take it more often   and it turns into a street. As you repeat  doing the thing, over and over for years,
• 02:00 - 02:30 the street turns into a highway. Traversing it  becomes effortless, familiar and comfortable. The more pronounced your brain highways,  the more you get used to their comfort.   So we continue to use them, which means  we tend to do what we have always done.   This is why change is hard, especially as an adult   when your jungle is criss-crossed by  lots of established streets and highways. To understand how those highways are built  we need to distinguish between two things:
• 02:30 - 03:00 Routines and habits. The Things You Do: Routines and Habits A routine is a sequence of actions that you carry  out the same way every time because they’ve worked   out well for you. For example, you get the  same ingredients for your favorite dish and   cook them in a certain order, because you like  the taste of the result. Or before going to bed   you set an alarm at 6:30 because  this is when you want to get up.
• 03:00 - 03:30 Imagine routines executed by a wise planner. It is  slow and analytical, responsible for strategizing   and mental calculations. The planner is  aware of the future and carefully considers   what kind of result you want. Based on that, it  chooses actions to achieve specific outcomes,   even if they are uncomfortable, like  taking a shower after getting up. Routines can eventually turn into  habits, which feel much easier
• 03:30 - 04:00 because they are basically a sequence of  actions carried out without thinking about them.   You have done them so often before that  your brain considers them rewarding   and a great response to a situation. So a  habit can feel like you’re on autopilot.   You don’t have to convince yourself to do  something that’s a habit - you just do it. The important thing about habits is  that they are set in motion by triggers,   context cues that can be single  things or entire situations,
• 04:00 - 04:30 that give your brain the signal  to start the behavior or action. You already have a lot of triggers in  your life: like when you see your phone,   you almost always unlock the screen. Or you reach  for the seat belt when you sit in a car. Or when   you buy your coffee before work, you also get a  cookie, even though you aren’t actually hungry. Habits are executed by an impulsive toddler.  It responds to your immediate desires, based   on what is around you. Without considering  any longer-term goals. For the toddler,
• 04:30 - 05:00 the future doesn’t exist and it hates hard work.  So when it notices a trigger, it steers you to   take this easy road inside your brain that leads  to a familiar rewarding result. If you get coffee,   the toddler also wants the cookie, just  because that’s what you do every morning. ​This rewarding feeling is also how most of  your bad habits started: chocolate is tasty,   browsing reddit is occasionally  mildly entertaining.
• 05:00 - 05:30 This is why you repeat these actions,  even if they are bad for you.   Rewarding feelings associated with an action  demand to be repeated and so a bad habit is born. While the toddler sounds like  a built-in sabotage mechanism,   it is as important as the wise planner and  actually they work together most of the time! You need your wise planner for thinking big  thoughts and parallel parking and doing your   taxes. But letting your wise planner do everything  would cost too much energy. Outsourcing mundane
• 05:30 - 06:00 and repetitive tasks to habits, managed by  the toddler, allows your brain to easily   manage your daily life, while dealing with more  complex mental challenges at the same time. So if we want to change and introduce  a new behavior into our lives,   we can actually use these energy  saving mechanisms to make it easier. We will focus on small things, not big ones.   Improving your life a little is  so much better than aiming high
• 06:00 - 06:30 and changing nothing. Especially because small  changes can do a lot over months and years. How To Build a Habit If you want to make change easier,  the best way may not be to force   it with willpower but to convince your  brain that it’s not that big of a deal.   By creating new routines and then turning  them into habits. You want your wise planner   to construct that first trail and then use your  toddler to help initiate the action effortlessly.
• 06:30 - 07:00 Let us say, you want to work out  to be fitter, a very common goal.   The first thing to do is to break down this  pretty vague goal into clear, separate actions,   because the idea is to make the action  itself as easy a threshold as possible:   so small it is manageable and so specific  that you don’t have to think about it a lot. For example, a tangible,  controllable action might be   “doing ten squats” every morning. So you  can start by trying to create a routine
• 07:00 - 07:30 but already include clear triggers  that the toddler can pick up later on. Remember, a trigger is nothing more than a  signal that you always associate with the action.   They can be visual pointers like seeing  a particular object, like your training   outfit. Or a certain time of day, or a designated  place like a nearby park – or even better, all of   these things combined. The important thing is that  you always start doing your action in a specific   context. This trigger is the start button that  will eventually set off the action automatically.
• 07:30 - 08:00 So to establish a home workout habit with ten  squats to begin with, you could make sure to   always do them with your exercise gear on, at the  same place and time, like in your living room at   8am. Once you have your trigger and action,  all you need to do is repeat them regularly,   ideally every day. If you keep going, they  will change from a routine to a habit,   from a trail to a highway. Don’t get this wrong,  the squats will still take you energy to do – but
• 08:00 - 08:30 the decision to do them will feel much less like  a chore and more like a regular part of your day. While this is simple, it is not easy. Many things you want to turn into habits don’t  offer as much instant gratification as wasting   time on reddit. To make your new action easier  to repeat and more likely to be picked up by   the toddler, try to make it pleasurable.  Not necessarily by rewarding yourself   after you did it, but by making the action  or behavior itself more enjoyable. Like only
• 08:30 - 09:00 listening to your favorite podcast while  working out, or chipping away at your taxes   while you wait for civilization to load the next  round. You need to figure out what works for you. In principle, that's it. Frustratingly simple, like most things you can  do to make your life better. How long it takes   for your toddler to take over and establish a  habit varies widely. It depends on the behavior
• 09:00 - 09:30 you are trying to get used to, what kind of person  you are, your stress levels and many more things.   It takes anything between 15 and 250  days until a new habit is kicked off   automatically by its trigger. You won't  know how long it will take for you. Starting is the easy part,  especially in the first week or two.   Continuing to do it every day is the hard  part. But it does get easier as you keep going. There are no silver bullets for  change. But the science of habits
• 09:30 - 10:00 is a reminder that it is possible,  no matter how old or young you are.   Even if you only end up doing a little more good  stuff or a few new things, that’s still a success.   Being a little bit more healthy or knowledgable  is a million times better than being unhappy about   a thing and changing nothing. In the end,  change is a direction, not a destination. So now that we hopefully gave you a bit  of insight and motivation, this is the
• 10:00 - 10:30 moment to sell you a thing! But please know, you  do not need to buy anything to work on yourself. Having said that, we struggle with  change as much as anyone else,   so we created our own habit journal, as much for  ourselves as for you. Before we printed anything,   we tested it on ourselves and got  feedback from the Kurzgesagt team. The idea is for you to track your habit  progress for your desired behavior.
• 10:30 - 11:00 There is a tutorial part which guides you through  the hardest part of the process step by step.   You’ll get helpful pointers, reflect on your  progress and how you could make things easier for   yourself. Once you get through the tutorial part  the habit journaling starts, regularly interwoven   by examples, science Breaks and reflections that  will hopefully keep the journey interesting. Like our Gratitude Journal it is cloth-bound,  with an embossed hardcover and printed on   high-quality paper. Nice to the touch and  with lots of beautiful illustrations this
• 11:00 - 11:30 book is compangion on your personal change  journey, however small or big it may be. Getting things from our shop is  the best way to support Kurzgesagt   and what we try to do here on the  channel. Thank you for watching.