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Motivation Waves

Motivation rises and falls on its own. Use the peaks to make hard things easy later, and ask only for tiny things in the troughs.

Help people succeed on the most desirable behavior that matches their current motivation.

From BJ Fogg’s 2012 talk at Stanford, The Motivation Wave.
Motivation over time
Behavior = Motivation × Ability × Prompt
Ten ways to exercise, hardest first
  1. Run five miles before work
  2. Lift weights at the gym for an hour
  3. Go to a spin class after a long day
  4. Jog for twenty minutes
  5. Walk for half an hour after dinner
  6. Take the stairs instead of the elevator
  7. Walk around the block
  8. Do two push-ups
  9. Put on your walking shoes
  10. Stand up and stretch
Motivation is low, so only the easiest behaviors will happen when prompted.

On a peak

Do hard things that make the behavior easy later.

  1. Structure it Lock in something that runs without you and is awkward to undo. Hire a trainer, prepay twelve sessions, and have them show up at 7 a.m. three days a week.
  2. Remove barriers Spend the energy on the tedious part now. Wash and chop the vegetables on Sunday and put them at eye level in clear containers.
  3. Build a skill Learn the thing that is hard only the first time. Spend two hours mastering one five-ingredient stir-fry.

Don't spend a peak on a glass of water or a two-minute walk. You can do those in any trough.

In a trough

Ask only for things that are easy enough to do anyway.

  1. Let the structure run The prepaid session, the calendar invite, and the default carry the behavior.
  2. Do a tiny habit Anchor a very small action to a routine that already exists. After you brush, floss one tooth.
  3. Take a baby step Do the first step of the sequence and nothing else. Put on your walking shoes. You don't have to go outside.

Most of the time, for most health behaviors, people are in a trough. Design for that.

What to ask for

Pick the most desirable behavior from one of these five kinds.

  1. Environment changesChange the surroundings so the healthy choice is the easy one. This is the fastest route to lasting change.
  2. Structured behaviorsDefaults, preset rules, appointments, prepayment, and commitments.
  3. Behaviors that fit the momentVitamins make sense at 8 a.m. and not at 3 a.m.
  4. Behaviors matched to the personA compulsive triathlete needs help resting, not a push to train more.
  5. Next steps in a processThe step that moves someone along a longer path.

Why hard asks backfire

Failure is not neutral. Each failed attempt leaves the person less able to succeed next time.

  1. A hard ask arrives in a trough
  2. The person fails
  3. They feel bad about it
  4. Their confidence drops
  5. They decide they can't get healthy

Success works the same way in the other direction. A tiny win feels good, and people who feel successful take on more.

Five rules for designers

  1. Harness the motivation that existsMatch the ask to the person's state right now. Don't rely on points, badges, or guilt to manufacture it.
  2. Guide people into structureMost people don't know how to set up defaults and commitments. Build them into onboarding and the moments people are most engaged.
  3. Change through baby stepsBig leaps almost always fail. Lasting change comes from a redesigned environment or from many small steps.
  4. Trust tiny habits to growA habit has to exist before it can expand. People who succeed at three tiny habits for a week start making other changes unprompted.
  5. Say facilitate, not motivateMake the desired behavior the path of least resistance.