Tiny Habits & Spiritual Formation

 In a recent episode of the "Coaching for Leaders" podcast, Dave Stachowiak interviewed BJ Fogg, the author of Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything.  While there are many good things in it, I was particularly intrigued by what Dr. Fogg called the "ABC Process" - to make behavioral changes, big or small, requires (A) an anchor point, (B) a tiny behavior, and (C) an instant celebration.  The "anchor moment" is something that you are already doing, whether brushing your teeth, driving to work, or tucking into a meal.  It is the "anchor" upon which you'll hang your "tiny behavior," some small, manageable change to how you act (doing one pushup, flossing one tooth, meditating for one minute, etc.).  The key to making this behavior change into a habit, though, isn't through willpower or self-force; rather, it is the third part, the "instant celebration."  By recognizing that you accomplished the goal, no matter how small or (to others) seemingly insignificant, you create the emotional net necessary to continue with that behavior.

How might this pattern work in spiritual formation?

First, what's the problem with spiritual formation?  The problem is that for me, and I think for many others, it just doesn't happen.  We want to grow closer to Christ, to be "conformed to His image" (Rom 8:29), to participate in His life now as we awake the Resurrection - but we struggle to find the time or energy or will to read the Scriptures regularly, or to pray for more than a few sporadic seconds at random times, or to fast (at all), and so on.  We can hear sermons about how important it is, even how it is a barometer as to whether you've "believed in vain" (I Cor 15:2), but we still find our core behaviors haven't budged.

[Quick side note: there are all sorts of problems with the theology of the preceding paragraph, I know; I'm trying to illustrate the pressure/anxiety many of us feel about spiritual formation and some of the awful spiritual leadership that produces and maintains that anxiety.  At some point, I'll write something about the real whys of spiritual formation - today is just not that day.]

Second, what behavior do we want to change?  This isn't about "earning" or "meriting" our salvation, or even about "maintaining" our salvation - rather it is about living Christ's life, His resurrection life, in the here and now (Rom 6:4).  As we "walk by the Spirit" (Gal 5:16), we will find that there are habits, attitudes, and actions that do not fit anymore - but that we will find a hard time dislodging them (this is the negative side of spirituality).  At the same time, there are habits, attitudes, and actions that we don't currently practice that we will want to cultivate (this is the positive side).  Often, these things are related on a creational level; that is, they are expressions of human behavior that can either be oriented towards God or away from Him.  For example, as my children asked me about the other day, "stubbornness" and "persistence" are basically the same, except that one is oriented towards the self and the other is oriented towards others or towards God (sometimes both).  One shouldn't abandon stubbornness for a supposed virtue of "giving up easily," but rather abandon the attitude of pigheadedness for that of persistent fortitude - same action, different ends.  Thinking about the virtues this way helps us to figure out what the behavioral/attitudinal changes we want to make are.

Let's use an example: I want to read the Psalms more.  This gets at a negative (I don't read Scripture all that much) and a positive (regular encounters with the Scriptures are beneficial to my mind and soul).

What's my anchor point?  It could be a lot of things: when I wake up, when I have a meal, when I get home from work.  For me, the first and last aren't good choices: I have too many distractions at both.  However, I could say that when I take lunch, after I finish my food, would be a good time: it happens daily, I normally am sitting down and quiet, and I've got a space of time that's free from the demands of work (of course, during the weekends this will be different - one step at a time, though; I'm going to start with weekdays here and figure out how to include my family on the weekends).

What's my tiny behavior?  To say that I want to read the Psalms more is good, but terribly vague.  Do I want to read a whole Psalm everyday?  More than one?  This might seem pretty daunting - especially if I have to have a rushed lunch (or a lunch meeting, grr).  So, I'll choose a smaller set: I want to read one verse of a Psalm at every lunch.  That's eminently doable and as long as I keep going in order (instead of jumping to random verses), I'll have at least some sense of context to keep me grounded.

One of the things mentioned in the interview was that, if you like, you can do more than you budget - but you keep your baseline the same.  So, I read Psalm 1:1 and decide that I need to know why that man is blessed, and what makes someone not blessed - so I read the whole Psalm in one sitting.  No problem!  But that doesn't change the "tiny behavior" from one verse to one whole Psalm.  Instead, I have freedom within the constraints of the goal.

What about the "instant celebration"?  Wouldn't it be easy to start thinking how good I am at being spiritual because I've done this one small thing?  Sure - but the "instant celebration" doesn't need to be ego-centric.  Instead, I can pray gratefully: "Lord, thank You for the nourishment of Your Word.  May it grow in my heart and yield spiritual fruit."  It is a celebration of what God does through these small behaviors, rightly contextualizing them and setting me up for further success - as well as motivate me, if I want that spiritual fruit, these are the actions that create the conditions for growth, actions that God Himself has invited me to.

At some point, I'll pick the book up and give it a fuller review (the author/publisher is, of course, welcome to send a comp copy!).