Imagine you’re standing at the foot of a massive mountain, looking up at the peak. It’s where you want to be. It’s the dream. The thriving business, the stronger relationships, the personal growth you’ve always imagined. But standing there, looking up, the enormity of the climb is paralyzing. Where do you even start?

Now imagine this instead: someone hands you a small ladder and says, “Just focus on the next step”. Suddenly, the mountain doesn’t seem so overwhelming. It’s still huge, but now, it feels doable. This is the power of habits. Not the grand, sweeping gestures, but the small, deliberate steps you take every day.

I’ll be honest: even knowing this, I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking I needed to take massive action to succeed. During one particularly intense period of building my business, I’d stay up late plotting “game-changing” strategies. I’d map out big, audacious goals and then beat myself up when I couldn’t summon the energy to execute them all at once. Sound familiar?

The truth is, most of us overestimate what we can accomplish in a day and underestimate what we can achieve in a year of consistent effort. Enter James Clear’s Atomic Habits and BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits. These books don’t just talk about habits. They give you the psychological tools to understand why small changes work and how to make them stick.

Combined, they offer invaluable insights for entrepreneurs to optimize their personal habits, build high-performance teams, and create businesses that thrive on consistency and growth.

Let’s start with a counterintuitive truth: humans are wired to resist change, even when it’s good for us. Blame your brain. It loves efficiency and routine. Change, no matter how well-intentioned, feels like work. That’s why New Year’s resolutions fail and ambitious goals often fall flat.

The genius of Clear and Fogg is that they sidestep this resistance. They understand that the brain doesn’t revolt against tiny changes. Fogg calls it the “tiny habit” principle. Start so small it feels almost ridiculous. Want to exercise more? Start with one push-up. Want to write a book? Commit to jotting down a single sentence a day. Clear echoes this approach with his mantra: “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.” It’s not about intensity. It’s about consistency.

But why do small steps work so well? Here’s the psychology:

1. They Bypass Overwhelm: When a task feels too big, your brain activates its fear response. But a tiny step? That’s manageable. It feels safe, so you’re more likely to start.

2. They Build Momentum: The hardest part of any task is starting. Once you take that first step, your brain releases dopamine, creating a feel-good loop that makes you want to keep going.

3. They Create Identity Shifts: Every time you complete a small habit, you reinforce a belief about yourself. Do one push-up, and you’re no longer someone who avoids exercise. You’re someone who works out.

During a consultation with a client, I saw this principle in action. He was a startup founder with huge ambitions: disrupting the hospitality tech market. But he was stuck. His goals were too big, too vague. Every time he tried to tackle them, he felt overwhelmed and retreated to smaller, less impactful tasks.

After we unpacked his challenges, we zeroed in on one key goal: building a customer-focused culture within his team. Instead of drafting a 50-point strategy document or hosting a massive all-hands meeting, I suggested something tiny. Starting every team meeting by sharing one piece of customer feedback. That was it. No fanfare, no spreadsheets.

The result? Over time, those small moments snowballed. His team became hyper-aware of their customers’ needs. Their solutions reflected that. Revenue increased, not because of one grand strategy, but because of a thousand micro-decisions influenced by that tiny habit.

Both books provide actionable frameworks, and the overlap between them creates a powerful toolkit for anyone trying to make meaningful changes. Let’s break it down.

Clear’s Four Laws of Behavior Change

James Clear emphasizes the mechanics of habit formation with these four laws:

1. Make It Obvious: Create clear, visible cues for your habit. If you want to drink more water, leave a glass on your desk.
2. Make It Attractive: Tie your habit to something you enjoy. Pair your workout with your favorite playlist.
3. Make It Easy: Lower the barrier to entry. Want to meditate? Start with just one minute.
4. Make It Satisfying: Celebrate small wins to reinforce the behavior.

Fogg’s Tiny Habits Approach

BJ Fogg focuses on designing habits that fit seamlessly into your life:

1. Anchor New Habits to Existing Routines: Attach your habit to something you already do. For example, “After I brush my teeth, I’ll floss one tooth.”
2. Celebrate Immediately: Positive reinforcement is critical. Give yourself a mental high-five or smile after completing your habit.
3. Start Small, Grow Naturally: Let habits expand organically. One push-up becomes ten. One sentence becomes a paragraph.

How do these principles apply to your business and life? Let’s dig deeper.

1 Building a Productive Team Culture

Want to instill a culture of accountability? Start by sharing one success story in your weekly team meeting. Over time, this habit can shift how your team communicates and collaborates.

2 Mastering Personal Productivity

Struggling with focus? Start with just five minutes of deep work before checking emails. That small block of uninterrupted time can eventually grow into hours of peak productivity.

3 Encouraging Innovation

To foster creativity, implement a “tiny habit” like ending every meeting by asking, “What’s one wild idea we haven’t explored yet?” This low-pressure prompt encourages big thinking without fear of judgment.

4 Strengthening Relationships

This isn’t just about business. The same principles apply to your personal life. Want a better relationship with your partner? Start by expressing one specific appreciation every day.

Habits aren’t just routines. They’re survival tools, especially when life feels like it’s spinning out of control. When uncertainty looms, whether it’s a pandemic, an economic downturn, or just a bad quarter – habits act as anchors. They provide structure, predictability, and a sense of control in a world that seems bent on chaos. And that’s not just me talking. Research backs it up. A study published in Health Psychology found that during periods of high stress, people who maintained strong habits were more likely to stick to their goals, whether it was exercising, eating well, or staying productive at work. Habits, it turns out, are like a mental autopilot. They carry you forward when willpower and motivation fail.

I saw this firsthand during the pandemic. At a time when even going outside felt like a gamble, I leaned on two deceptively simple habit: a daily 20-minute workout and five-minute reflection. Every morning, after my workout I’d grab a notebook and jot down three things I was grateful for and one priority for the day. Was it life-changing? Not really. But it gave me something solid to hold onto when everything else felt uncertain. Gratitude, as psychologist Robert Emmons has shown, isn’t just fluff. It’s a mental reset button that helps reduce stress, improve focus, and build resilience.

For teams, habits can be an organizational lifeline. When everything feels uncertain, rituals like a daily stand-up meeting can keep people grounded and connected. Researchers call this “behavioral regularity,” and it’s been shown to enhance team cohesion and performance, even in high-pressure environments. Think about it: a quick check-in not only ensures alignment but also creates a sense of shared purpose. When the storm hits, it’s these small, steady habits that help. Everyone keeps rowing in the same direction.

Every small action reinforces a narrative you tell yourself about yourself. Let’s say you decide to meditate for five minutes every morning. After a week, you’re no longer just someone who wants to meditate. You’re a person who values mindfulness. This is the psychological concept of identity-based habits, as outlined by Clear. Each time you follow through on a small action, you’re casting a vote for the person you want to become. And the more votes you cast, the more deeply ingrained that identity becomes.

Psychologists have long studied this phenomenon. In the 1970s, Edward Deci and Richard Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory showed that internal motivation: doing something because it aligns with your values and sense of self is far more sustainable than external motivation, like rewards or punishments. Habits tap into this by creating a feedback loop: small wins build confidence, which reinforces your identity, which then makes the habit even easier to stick to.

For entrepreneurs, this shift is everything. You’re not just building a business anymore. You’re building the habits and mindset of a leader. When you consistently act in ways that align with your goals: sending that follow-up email, delegating effectively, or even taking a moment to reflect – you’re telling yourself, “I’m someone who takes action.” Over time, that belief hardens into your identity.

As your identity shifts, so does your capacity for bigger challenges. The founder who starts with a habit of jotting down one customer insight every morning eventually becomes the leader who builds a customer-obsessed culture. The manager who begins by running a ten-minute daily stand-up turns into the executive who leads a team of hundreds with clarity and purpose.

The biggest takeaway? You don’t have to wait until you feel ready to be the person you aspire to be. Start small, act consistently, and let your habits reshape your identity. One deliberate step at a time.

Big dreams aren’t built in a day. They’re the result of small, consistent actions compounded over time. The next time you feel overwhelmed, remember: it’s not about scaling the mountain top in one leap. It’s about taking the next step, then the next. And before you know it, you’ll look back and realize how far you’ve come.

Takeaways

• Start Tiny: Begin with habits so small they feel effortless.
• Anchor New Habits: Tie them to existing routines for easier integration.
• Focus on Keystone Habits: Identify behaviors that trigger positive ripple effects.
• Celebrate Small Wins: Reinforce habits with immediate rewards.
• Build Momentum: Trust in the compounding power of consistency.