How the Tiny Habits Methodology + Minimum Viable Habits Make My New Year’s Resolutions a Success

Building habits is not about willpower. The less pressure I apply, the more I feel like engaging in the practices I chose.

All illustrations by the author

This is the time of year when the excitement about New Year’s resolutions usually starts to fade away.

I recently wrote about why this year I am focusing on creating practices instead of setting goals: to avoid the pitfalls that make so many people quit.

One of my practices, the one I am focusing on for the first three months of the year, is to engage in daily activities that connect me to my body and to the present moment for a couple of hours.

I started really small: my first steps were to take ten conscious breaths and one sun salutation upon waking up every day. Since then, these have expanded into 45 minutes of meditation, a 15-minute strength and flexibility routine (often followed by a 20-minute run), daily dancing breaks, as well as regular walks, and yoga sessions.

Not only have I not quit, but I am making progress every day and well on my way to establishing a solid habit of being more present in my body.