Work With Your Physiology , Not Against It
What is a Micro-Yes ?
The Psychological Benefits of Micro- Yesses
Why bother doing something so small ?
Work With Your Physiology , Not Against It
You may think the goal of exercising 15 minutes a day is small and reasonable . You may think journaling one page a day should be easy to do . But remember — in a head-to-head battle between your logi‐ cal definition of small and your nervous system ’ s interpreta‐ tion of small , your nervous system will win . From a physiologi‐ cal point of view , “ small ” steps can be too big , and even baby steps can be too big ( unless you ’ re Bob Wiley ). If you ’ ve tried and failed to nail “ small ” goals , it ’ s time to harness the power of the micro-yes .
What is a Micro-Yes ?
Micro-yesses are the smallest possible things you can say “ yes ” to without triggering your nervous system ’ s survival re‐ sponses . Sometimes even the thought of “ tomorrow ” can overwhelm an already overwhelmed system . That ’ s why thoughts like , “ I ’ ll start it / stop it / listen to it / clean it / organize it tomorrow ...” often fall flat . Micro-yesses are designed to be done today . For example : Instead of : “ I ’ ll work out tomorrow .” A micro-yes could be : “ I ’ m going to get dressed today .” A micro-yes could be : “ I ’ m going to get dressed today .” Instead of : “ I ’ ll clean my space tomorrow .” A micro-yes could be : “ I ’ ll move the food from the counter to the trash today .
The Psychological Benefits of Micro- Yesses
Not only do micro-yesses keep you physiologically in neocortical ( logical and choice-based ) mode , but psychologically , when you keep your word to yourself , you can avoid cogni‐ tive dissonance . Cognitive dissonance " is a term for the state of discomfort felt when two or more modes of thought contra‐ dict each other . The clashing cognitions may include ideas , beliefs , or the knowledge that one has behaved in a certain way .”
Further , researchers at the University of Zurich found “ the pattern of brain activity suggests that breaking a promise trig‐ gers an emotional conflict in the promise breaker due to the suppression of an honest response .” Cognitive dissonance and promise-breaking use up the bandwidth needed for productivity and goal accomplishment .
Why bother doing something so small ?
I ’ ve heard people object , “ But how am I supposed to get any‐ thing done if I ’ m doing something that ’ s even smaller than a small step ?” The answer ? “ A lot faster than if you keep trying to take too-big steps and wind up in freeze .”