How to Use This Workbook

This workbook is a complementary resource to The Habit Blueprint:

15 Simple Steps to Transform Your Life. I recommend you read
through the entire book once before using this workbook.

When you've done that, get a cup of coffee or tea, put on some great
music and start working your way through the steps outlined in the
pages to come.

When you're finished, you will have a powerful, research-backed

action plan for moving your habit from dream to reality.

From that point forward, your job is to trust the process and focus
on showing up every day. If you can do that, you'll be amazed at
the results you'll get.

If you have any questions at all along the way, shoot me a message and
I'll help you out.

Let's get to it!

 Step 1: Pick Your Habit

1. Reflect on your keystone habits. What behaviors have

'spilled over' and created positive ripple effects in all areas of your life
in the past? Write them down:

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

2. Pick just one habit. This is the habit you will be working on:

______________________________________________
 Step 2: Start Ridiculously Small

Make your habit so small that you can easily complete it every day
without having to rely on willpower. When I say small I mean really
small. Floss one tooth, do one minute of meditation, take a two-
minute walk — you get the idea.

If you keep going once you’ve completed your small habit on a given
day, by all means go ahead and do it. This is the beauty of the
Zeigarnik Effect.

But do not increase the difficulty of your habit when you're just getting
started. No matter what you want your habit to look like down the
line, focus on establishing the behavior itself first. If you just stick to
this process, your small habit will naturally expand into the bigger
behavior with time.

My tiny daily habit will be:

______________________________________________
 Step 3: Build a Chain

Start creating a chain. There are two ways you can do this:

1. Get a physical wall calendar. Hang it on a wall where you will

see it often and put a pen right next to it so you can easily track your
progress every day.

2. Download a habit tracker. If you prefer working digitally, you

can download an app that measures your progress. There are plenty of
habit tracking apps out there, but my favorite is Coach.me.

When you've got your chain in place, it’s important to immediately

add a new X to it each time you've successfully completed your habit.
It likely won’t be long before you find yourself pushing through even
on uninspired days, just to keep your chain going.

□ I have created a chain building system either by getting a wall

calendar or downloading a digital habit tracker.
 Step 4: Choose a Trigger

Choose a trigger for your habit using an implementation intention,

habit stacking or scheduling. Which one you choose depends on what
habit you're trying to create and what works best for you personally.

It’s time to put on your white coat and start experimenting. Make your
best guess as to which trigger would work best and then start trying it
out in the real world. If it works — great! If it doesn’t, you can always
change it later.

The trigger for my habit will be:

______________________________________________
 Step 5: Create a Reward

Put a reward in place to celebrate immediately after each successful

attempt of completing your habit. You know how often athletes
celebrate and how they do it immediately after they’ve made a great
effort? That’s what we’re looking for here!

Here are some of BJ Fogg’s suggestions:

• Do a physical movement signifying victory (pump your fist, clap

your hands, or give yourself a thumbs up)
• Yell something out loud ('Awesome job!', 'I rock!' 'Go me!')
• Vocalize your own fanfare (‘Do do do dooo!’)
• Imagine a roaring crowd rooting for you
• Mirror the facial expression of a happy person (smile or laugh)

Of course, these are just suggestions. If you want, you can combine
several of them or do something else entirely. If it doesn’t feel right to
you, keep trying new ways to celebrate until you’ve found a way that
works for you.

Each time I successfully complete my habit, I will celebrate

by:
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
 Step 6: Set Up a Token Economy

1. Get some kind of token to reward yourself with.

This could be gold stars, coins, poker chips or something else you
happen to have laying around the house. Each time you successfully
complete your habit, reward yourself with a set number of tokens.
Then start stacking your tokens where you can see them every day to
create an inspiring visual representation of your progress that you’ll
want to keep building every day.

2. Set up your backup reinforcers.

These are the rewards you get to exchange your tokens for. The key
here is to reward yourself with things that keep you moving toward,
and not away from, your long-term goal. In other words, don’t
celebrate a good week of running by eating chocolate cake, but rather
by getting a new piece of running equipment. Create a list of backup
reinforcers that allows you to progressively build the identity of the
person you want to become. For the running example this could be:

• Water bottle – 5 tokens

• Running socks – 10 tokens
• Portable music player – 15 tokens
• Pedometer – 20 tokens
• Running shoes – 100 tokens
• Entry to Marathon – 500 tokens

This is not a perfect token economy by any means, but I’m sure you
get the point. What’s important is that you create a list of rewards that
gives you an increasing sense of accomplishment and competence.
My token economy will look like this:

= tokens.
= tokens.
= tokens.
= tokens.
= tokens.
= tokens.
= tokens.
= tokens.
= tokens.
= tokens.
= tokens.
 Step 7: Schedule a Weekly Review

Schedule 10-15 minutes every week to examine the progress you're

making on your habit. Ideally, this would be the same time every
week. Your weekly review will consist of two simple steps:

1. Celebrate your wins, big or small, and exchange your tokens for
rewards.
2. Reflect on the days you missed and adjust your habit so you’ll be
likelier to succeed next week.

Make sure you plan it the same way you would do with anything
important. Because this is important, right?

□ I have scheduled a recurring weekly review in my

calendar.
 Step 8: Design Your Environment

Manipulate your environment in at least one way that decreases the

activation energy of your habit. Once you start experimenting with
this, you’ll probably find that even tiny changes in your surroundings
can make a huge difference in your behavior. Here are a couple of
examples of changes to make:

• If you want to read two pages, place the book right where you
usually sit.
• If you want to exercise for five minutes in the morning, put your
workout clothes next to your bed.
• If you want to meditate for two minutes in the morning, put your
meditation cushion in place the night before.
• If you want to eat less, get smaller plates.
• If you want to sleep better, make your bedroom slightly cool and
pitch black.

I have manipulated my environment to decrease the

activation energy of my habit in the following ways:

1: _____________________________________________

2: _____________________________________________

3: _____________________________________________

4: _____________________________________________

5: _____________________________________________
 Step 9: Make Procrastination Difficult

Manipulate your environment in at least one way that increases the

activation energy of unwanted behaviors that are competing with your
habit. Here are a couple of examples of changes to make:

• If snoozing is causing you to miss your morning exercise, put the

alarm clock in the next room.
• If social media is interrupting your meditation practice, turn off
the notifications on your phone.
• If TV is stopping you from reading your book, put the remote
control in another room (or put the TV in the garage).

I have manipulated my environment to increase the

activation energy of unwanted behaviors in the following
ways:

1: _____________________________________________

2: _____________________________________________

3: _____________________________________________

4: _____________________________________________

5: _____________________________________________
 Step 10: Surround Yourself With Role Models

Write down the names of 1-5 people you know you should be spending
more time with. If you can’t think of anyone, list out the places, events
or online communities (like the Selfication Facebook Group) where
you can connect with inspiring people. Then take the first step by
immediately reaching out to at least one person.

I will contact the following people:

1: _____________________________________________

2: _____________________________________________

3: _____________________________________________

4: _____________________________________________

5: _____________________________________________

I will visit the following places to find role models:

1: _____________________________________________

2: _____________________________________________

3: _____________________________________________

4: _____________________________________________

5: _____________________________________________

□ I have reached out to at least one person.

 Step 11: Turn Accomplices Into Supporters

Write down a list of 1-5 people that currently aren’t as supportive as

you’d like. Then take the first step immediately by reaching out to the
first person on your list and ask them to support you in the way you
need. If someone isn’t willing or able to support you, limit the time
you spend with that person as much as you can.

The 1-5 people that aren't currently supporting me as I

would like:

1: _____________________________________________

2: _____________________________________________

3: _____________________________________________

4: _____________________________________________

5: _____________________________________________

□ I have reached out and talked to at least one person on

my list about the change I'm trying to make and how I
would like him or her to support me.
 Step 12: Create a Commitment Contract

Your contract should consist of three parts:

1. Your goal - The habit you want to create. This is where you
commit to the tiny daily habit you’ve decided on earlier in this
book.
2. Something at stake - Cold hard cash or your reputation. Or a
combination of both.
3. A referee - The person that will hold you accountable to your
goal. Choose someone who you know will be strict but fair.

Here's an example:

Commitment Contract

I commit to _____. For example: Do one minute of meditation

every day.

If I don’t do this, I will _____. For example: Send a friend 50

dollars and/or let my social network know that I failed.

My referee will be _____. For example: A friend who won’t

have any problems holding me accountable.

□ I have created my own commitment contract, either by

using the template on the next page or by using a service like
StickK.com.

□ I have printed out and put my contract somewhere I can

see it every day.
 My Commitment Contract

I commit to __________________until the date__________.

If I don't do this, I will ______________________________.

My referee will be _________________________________.

Date and signature,

___________________________.
 Step 13: Get Accountability
In the last step, you created a commitment contract. Now is the time
to get it into the hands of at least one other person to hold you
accountable. Here are some ideas for how to do this:

• Print it out and give it to your friends.

• Find an accountability partner or group and share it with them.
• Join an online community related to your habit and post it in the
forums.
• Send it to a mentor.
• Get a coach.
• Post it on social media.
• Start a blog and give the URL to a group of supporters.

Don’t go at it alone. Make sure you have at least one person who is
continually following up on your progress and making sure you’re
sticking to your plan.

The following people will hold me accountable:

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
 Step 14: Prevent Mental Loopholes
Create specific ’If → Then Mini Actions’ to protect your habit from
mental loopholes. For example:

• If my brain tries to talk me into staying in bed when the alarm

goes off → Then I will get up and stay up for 10 minutes before
deciding whether or not to sleep in.
• If my brain tries to convince me to skip my daily run → Then I will
put on my shoes and go outside before deciding.
• If my brain tells me I deserve a glass of wine after a stressful day
→ Then I will meditate for 10 minutes first.

Pre-committing in this way can be very helpful because it gives

cravings some extra time to pass while directing you to healthier and
more productive behaviors by default. It can also help you to just get
started on the habit, which is usually the hardest part.

My ’If → Then Mini Actions’ will be:

If _____________________________________________, →
Then, I will_____________________________________.

If _____________________________________________, →
Then, I will_____________________________________.

If _____________________________________________, →
Then, I will_____________________________________.

If _____________________________________________, →
Then, I will_____________________________________.

If _____________________________________________, →
Then, I will_____________________________________.
 Step 15: Plan for Failure
Decide right now that when you’ve missed an attempt to complete
your daily tiny habit, you will focus on the total number of days you’ve
successfully completed rather than the fact that you’ve broken your
chain. Celebrate what went well, forgive yourself for what didn’t and
then get right back into the action.

□ I pledge to focus on my successes rather than my

failures!
 What's Next
If you've completed the entire workbook, congratulations on a job well
done!

From this point forward it's all about falling in love with the process
and trusting that it will take you where you want to go. If you keep
showing up every day, tracking your progress and readjusting your
approach every week, the results will inevitably come.

Now, before you get to work on your habit, I'd like to ask you a small
favor. Take a moment to think of three other people who could also
benefit from resources just like this one, and send them the link below
so they can join my newsletter:

http://www.selfication.com/about/

I want to reach as many people as possible and I can only do that if

awesome people such as yourself help me spread the word. :)

If you take the time to do this, please let me know so I can thank you
personally.

Here's to your success! :)

Stay awesome,