Inside: What if instead of setting big audacious goals, we focused on establishing a handful of tiny, positive habits for a year of actually sustainable change?
I hesitated at the Starbucks counter in our local grocery store, unable to bring myself to step up to the cashier.
Just to be clear, I NEVER hesitate when it comes to Starbucks. Why on the earth was I hesitating?!
After a minute of soul-searching, I realized the internal debate that was holding me back: was my weekly Starbucks ritual still bringing me joy, or had it just become a habit I could easily live without?
That day, I chose to buy the Starbucks. Because theoretically, this is what brings me joy.
And silly as it might seem, I worried I’d regret not buying it when, on the drive home, the kids started screaming in the background and I didn’t have my vanilla latte to sip on and remind me that yes, I will survive the screaming years, and I could be a calm and rational adult in the midst of it.
But weeks later, I’m still contemplating whether or not I do, in fact, want to break my seemingly innocent, but very entrenched Starbucks habit.
Because as my son so very bluntly put it, “You’re spending almost $7 a week on a DRINK, mom.”
And at close to $7 a drink, it had better be bringing me a whole lot of joy, or it was time to break the habit.
17 Tiny Habits for Slow and Steady Wins This Year
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The more I thought about giving up my weekly Starbucks, the more I knew I didn’t want to go cold turkey on this one – not for any length of time.
Could I give it up for a year? Probably. But the older I get, the more I gravitate away from hardcore challenges (like buying no new clothes in a year).
I’m honestly too tired for big radical changes. The five kids and homeschooling and working from home, etc., might have something to do with it.
And I suspect that given everything that’s happened in the past few years, I’m not the only one who feels this way.
The thought of making any big, difficult changes – even if we know they are healthy and good for us – can have a paralyzing effect and stop us from making ANY positive changes at all.
So what if we focused on adopting one tiny, good habit at a time, instead?
“Good habits build on themselves like compound interest just as bad habits pile up like credit card debt.”
Ryquist, Pathfinders
And I think you’ll find that adding in one good habit will have a far bigger impact than you know.
Related: 5 Reasons I Don’t Set Goals Anymore, and What I Do Instead
Before You Dive Into These Habits…
You can read Atomic Habits to learn how to make habits easier to adopt. I think it’s the perfect January read.
I would also recommend choosing just one habit to focus on at first. And if you choose a monthly habit, do it the first day or week of the month to make it easy to remember.
So if you decide to get rid of one piece of clothing or donate one book a month, do it on the first of every month, or first weekend of every month.
IF printable habit trackers are your thing, mine are just $1.99 right now with coupon code “NEWYEAR”. You can get them HERE.
1. Go for a five minute walk every day.
Adopting an exercise habit can feel so SO daunting.
But you know what’s pretty easy to do and hard to talk yourself out of? Going for a walk.
Even if it’s raining, you can bring an umbrella on a walk or wear a raincoat. If you own a treadmill, it’s even easier.
And if you don’t own a treadmill and the weather really is stopping you (hurricane season, anyone?), you could probably pace your house for five minutes, instead.
2. Get outside for five minutes a day.
Yes, I’ve written about why we don’t participate in the 1000 hours outside challenge, but that doesn’t mean getting outside isn’t good for you – both physically and mentally.
You could combine this habit with the walking habit for a double win!
3. Drink a glass of water first thing every morning.
Everyone starts their day relatively dehydrated. Drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning has so many benefits! And it’s much more effective than coffee.
To make adopting this habit even easier, get your glass of water ready at night and set it by your bed. It will be ready to go first thing in the morning.
4. Eat one piece of fruit or one vegetable a day.
Recently, I’ve started eating a piece of fruit for breakfast every day after coffee.
I’m much more likely to make good food choices earlier in the day, and I don’t need a lot of food in the morning. So a banana or an apple is perfect.
Deciding on what fruit or vegetable you’re going to eat every day can take the guesswork out of this habit. Make sure to decide on a back-up, too, just in case you run out before grocery day!
5. Swap your usual coffee or meal out with a less costly option once a month.
For my Starbucks habit, I’ve decided to swap out Starbucks with a $0.99 grocery store donut once a month minimum (ideally every other week). I’ll save around $6-12 a month and still get the same “treat yourself” feeling.
Maybe you swap a regular coffee for your usual fancier beverage. Or if you usually get a full meal, try ordering off the dollar/value menu, instead.
Either way, you’re saving money and finding out how much you miss (or don’t miss) the costlier option.
Related: What We Spend on Groceries Per Week for a Family of 7 (in 2024)
6. Do one push-up, one squat and one sit-up a day.
If you want to build muscle, start with the smallest possible routine that doesn’t require leaving your house to go to the gym OR buying expensive weights you might abandon later.
Like most habits, doing them first thing in the morning probably makes them more likely to happen.
7. Record one thing you’re thankful for a day.
Pretty much everyone knows that gratitude has major mental health benefits, but how many of us are actually intentionally practicing gratitude daily?
Grab a simple notebook – or your notes app on your phone – and write one thing a day that you’re thankful for!
8. Meditate for five minutes a day.
With our attention being pulled in a million different directions every day, meditation could calm the mental chaos, if only for five minutes a day.
Here is a beginner’s guide to mediation to get your started.
9. Unsubscribe from one store email list a month.
Probably because it’s the holidays, it feels like my email inbox is chock full of store emails.
Just today, I unsubscribed from a store I don’t regularly shop at, but for some strange reason never unsubscribed from, only kept deleting the almost daily emails.
It might feel scary at first to unsubscribe – what if you miss a sale?! – but tell yourself that you can always resubscribe if you miss the emails. And you know right where to find that store should you need or want to buy something.
10. Read one page a day.
If you’ve vowed for years to become a reader, and it’s never stuck, try reading just one page a day.
I bet you’ll end up reading more than that overall. But even if you don’t, you’re still building a reading habit, and that’s still a win!
(The only downside to this habit is you’ll probably need to buy the book, instead of borrowing it.)
11. Give up social media one day a month.
I’m not anti-social media, necessarily. But just like money or the internet or any other tool, social media has its benefits and its drawbacks.
Personally, I set foot on social media, and in five minutes, I’m angry and anxious about something. I’ve tried resetting my feed – it doesn’t seem to help.
No matter how you feel about social media, I’m pretty sure one day off a month can be a good thing for almost anyone.
12. Save (or invest) $20 a month.
Most Americans cannot handle an unexpected expense of $400.
Now is $20 a lot? No. Does it add up over time? …mmmm, kind of? $240 at the end of the year won’t do much for the unexpected expenses that inevitably come up over twelve months.
But saving $20 a month is more about building a savings HABIT than anything else.
You might find you don’t miss the $20 at all, and over time, you might decide to save more. But you have to start somewhere.
If you’re already good at saving money, commit to investing! Retirement will be here sooner than you think, and you can’t get back the time and compound interest you’ll lose.
See THIS book for super easy investing advice.
(Why not $10 a month? Because unfortunately, $20 seems to be the new $10. Boo.)
Related: 17 Life-Changing Non-Fiction Books to Read This Year
13. Donate or throw away one item a month.
If decluttering has been on your “to-do” list for forever, try focusing on just one item, once a month.
Maybe just building the monthly habit of removing something you no longer need or use from your home – knowing you can do it and still be ok – could be the breakthrough you need.
And I bet you’ll find a few more items to pass along or throw away while you’re at it.
(Bonus Tip: Start with THIS room. Most people have several items they can easily let go of in that room!)
14. Clear one surface in your home and “reset” it at the end of the day.
I used to obsess over a clean house – or rather, a tidy house. Today, I am far chill about the fact that I cohabitate with five growing children.
(Case in point: the playroom has been covered with colorful pom-poms since last night, and I don’t plan to clean them up anytime soon.)
What keeps me sane is focusing on just 1-2 areas of the house. I keep those tidy, and I don’t stress about the rest.
15. Write one sentence a day.
Maybe you’ve been wanting to start a blog, or write a book, but you don’t know where to start.
Tell yourself you only need to write one sentence a day. See where it leads you!
Even if you have no ambitions to be a writer, personal journaling has a lot of mental health benefits.
16. Put your phone away ten minutes before bed.
Most experts will tell you to put your phone away 1-2 hours before bed. But what if you started with ten minutes?
If you used to get into your pajamas and lay in bed with your phone, try putting the phone away and then changing, brushing your teeth, etc.
You might find yourself replacing the “before bed” phone habit with reading or mediating or listening to music or something else.
17. Floss one tooth a day.
I’m a bit embarrassed to say that flossing has never been a habit of mine. I pick it up for a few nights and then forget (it may or may not have something to do with parenting five humans).
So when I heard about this tiny habit from Leo Barbuta, author of Zen Habits, I instantly loved it!
Because if you tell yourself you just need to floss one, you probably won’t stop there. But if you do stop after just one? Well, it’s better than nothing.
Who Knows Where These Tiny Habits Will Lead?
Is swapping Starbucks with a donut once a month going to change my life? Probably not.
Is going for a five minute walk a day revolutionary? Not in and of itself, no. Saving $20 a month isn’t either.
But who knows what other positive changes you’ll be inspired to make because of this one.tiny.habit? Tiny habits add up, plain and simple (there are entire books built on this premise), or they inspire bigger changes over time.
This list is by no means exhaustive, so feel free to come up with your own tiny habit! Pick a habit to adopt and see what happens.
It just might change your life.
P.S. Just a reminder that if you need printable habit trackers, you can get mine HERE for just $1.99 with coupon code “NEWYEAR”.
Read Next: 21 Minimalist Habits for a Clutter-Free Home
Also love ur grocery budget tips and wardrobes. They are very helpful for living on a budget
Thanks Nic! So glad you found them helpful!
Love this. Walks and gratitude are my favorites. Happy and healthy new year!