I’m a self-help junkie and I’m familiar with many of the goal and habit books out there. I had come to the conclusion that you can’t set goals and live “real” life, life is too organic and unpredictable. Then I read Stephen Guise’s book “Mini Habits” and loved its premise, which made a big difference. After that I couldn’t wait for this book to get out because for the first time I could see that Stephen was on to something big—something to give me the next step. I can say in all honesty that this book is going to force every other book about goals and habits to rethink their stance. Typical goals take a super-person to attain because they’re inflexible, this one operates in real life with fallible humans. At some point as you read this book you’ll have an “Aha!” moment when its truth sinks in, and you’ll see how, in its simplicity, it will work. Elastic habits will work for me daily, no matter what kind of day I’ve had (or have before me). I can see myself pursuing my goals through my habits the whole year, not just fizzling out come March. This is the most valuable book I’ve ever read on habits and goals, and I’ve read a lot! It deserves more than 5 stars.

Some quotes from the book that struck me:

“Having an elastic habit feels like a super power because of how effortlessly it pushes you forward. … This strategy works with you and for you, however you wish to be worked with!”

“Your path to success with elastic habits will be unique to you, because this isn’t an exact recipe you must follow; it’s a fun and flexible framework that adapts to your life.”

“Unlike the human body, in goal systems, it’s rigidity that costs us energy. Why? Rigidity (or stability) means that you must adapt to your goal, requiring more effort from you for success. Flexibility means that your goal adapts to you, requiring less effort from you for success.”

“When you’re forced to improvise with a static goal that is designed for predictability, disaster is inevitable. The whole framework falls apart, like a brittle material that reaches its elastic limit (e.g., glass shattering). There’s no easy way to make static goals work well, which is why they live and die like flies. Like most weak-but-unyielding things, they’re not built to survive for very long in your dynamic life, in this dynamic world.”

Stephen lays it out and gives examples of what it looks like, and it’s genius in its simplicity.

I owe a lot to Stephen - his book Mini habits was the first book that genuinely changed by habits for the better. After following that initially, I'm now going strong on 2-3 habits over the last couple of years and I don't think that I would have gotten there without mini habits.

As for this update, it was super hyped by Stephen in his mailing list - he's a bit salesly for my taste, but I must say that this is a fantastic update. The main weakness I've noticed in my mini habits is the compounding effect of growing multiple habits. Doing 3 habits at 5 minutes each is easy, but if each of them grows to a "required" 60 minutes per day, we're talking 3 hours a day of habits.

This book is about flexibility and I sorely need that. Mini habits are a great way to start, but I think this is the added piece that will help your habits stay sticky for as long as you want them to be!

A good little book. Makes you think about how we structure our days and lives. Shows you that the best options is to be flexible with yourself and if you want to have success, you need to have options and different paths to success.

Stephen Guise has just expanded mini-habits to a new level of success and habit formation. I responded well and have changed my life with Mini-Habits and Mini-Habits for Weight Loss. I am excited to report that Stephen has proposed a new way to get even more accomplished and excited about doing the things that mean the most to us. One would think that we'd want to establish the habits, make the steps, and achieve success with the motivation of our goals in mind . However, Guise explains how our natural tendencies will override this motivation quickly and then we're back at square one, a goal without a plan or consistent habits to see us through. With Elastic Habits, Guise takes into account our need for variety, levels of tasks depending on the day, and how to be develop our habits daily, even when life hits us in the face.

With Guise's guidance I have established consistent habits around reading, participating in something creative, and making healthy eating choices DAILY. Prior to finding Guise's books, I didn't know how to be consistent because my goals were so big that I'd get overwhelmed and shut down when I couldn't keep up with my lofty aspirations. I recommend all of Guise's books. I think if you started with Mini-Habits, you could establish a rhythm and confidence that would make Elastic Habits icing on the cake.

I’ve been a fan of Stephen Guise since I first read Mini-Habits a few years ago, and even more so after reading How to Be an Imperfectionist (one of the best self-help books I’ve ever read).

But while for me mini-habits offer an effective strategy in some areas, in others I found that—paradoxically—they’re so small that I find myself subconsciously resisting doing them! (What’s the point of doing one pushup? What’s the big deal if forget to do it today? Oh…I haven’t exercised for a week…).

Elastic Habits solves that problem! By having more “normal” sized goals to shoot for (“plus” and “elite”), while keeping the mini-habit as the basis for consistency, it should be possible to make better and more rapid progress.

Even more important is combining this concept with “lateral flexibility.” I realize that mini-habits did include this concept with “flex” habits, but in practice I was never going to drive to the gym and then turn around and leave. With “going to boot camp class” as one of my elite goal options in an “elastic habits” system, I believe it will be easier to make progress.

The only qualifier I would put on any of this is that the book just came out, so I haven’t had a chance to fully implement the approach. However, I am hopeful and looking forward to it making a difference.

I enjoyed the book and the discussion around choosing freedom vs giving it up with other habit systems.

The book just got a little too specific in ways the author tried it out in their own life while admitting it's not a one size fits all system. I do plan on trying it out. Just seems like there were more words than were necessary.

A couple of weeks ago, I probably would have gone for a run today, but it's unlikely I would have done anything else. It's 4PM and I've gone for a run, done laundry and dishes, showered, written a journal entry, read an entire book, and spent two hours working on a self-paced class I signed up for but haven't been doing. And I feel like I just had a lazy do-nothing day. I had already spent a weekend reading books before I read "Elastic Habits" which is how I found out about the system, but I don't think I'd be doing nearly as much if I hadn't started using this system. In fact, the reason I read the book was because I was looking for a way to add more things that make me feel good and are good for me into my day. I've been in a rut for months during which I've wanted to do all of these things, but I wasn't doing any of it. Now I do these things every day. I decided to try this because I wasn't doing much more than browsing the internet, but if you have some goal that you're having trouble starting or making progress on, I highly recommend this system. There are days when I will probably only meet the minimum requirement, but the whole point is to have just a tiny minimum requirement so that you're working on your goal every day. So far, I've been really motivated to get them done early which means I have more time to spend on each area which means I'm accomplishing so much more in each area. I am waiting to see if I maintain the motivation to do a lot of everything, but the whole idea is to make them habits so that you're no longer relying on willpower or motivation to do the things you want to do. You just do them because it's become a regular part of your day.

I think this is a well thought out concept which I am going to apply to my habit tracking. I do think the author goes a little overboard with the various systems and tools he proposed in the later half of the book. It seems to be a plug for some of the products he wants to sell.

Elastic Habits suggests a different approach to Habit forming - we've all been told the importance of habits, and the main thing that's been ingrained is the importance of discipline when forming habits - you've got to persist, regardless of how you're feeling, what surprises develop during the day or regardless of that meteor that's meant to hit earth in a few hours. I've usually found this rigidity to be very of putting, making habit formation a burden rather than the joy it's meant to be.

The book instead suggests that our habits should be slightly elastic to deal with whatever is going on in the day, and there should always be a condition where we can "win (maintain our habit) regardless of how busy the day is. This win condition is what he describes as a "Mini habit."

For example, if you're trying to increase fitness, you can increase the diversity of things you can do (e.g. swimming, running, press-ups) and give yourself three different levels you can do this at: mini (e.g. 1 Press-up a day, Plus - 20 press-ups a day, Elite - 50 press-ups a day).

The mini option gives you the ability to continue the habit forming process, regardless of what's going on, since it's so easy and achievable. The consistency formed makes the process more fun and gamefies it, encouraging you to keep at the habit.

A very interesting concept and read!

Seriously, if you have to read one habit book, this is "the one" It takes all the negatives of other habit systems, corrects them, and designs the perfect system that can be used to achieve any goal. You get the flexibility of getting a win everyday not matter what or how small, the "mini" as Stephen outlines in his previous book Mini habits, with the options of stepping it up to "Plus" and Elite" level depending on your mood and drive on any given day. There lots of options to adjust the system to whatever you personally feel is most effective for you, a truly 'flexible' approach with little tricks that can push you to reach the next level, even if you originally only felt like a 'mini' that day. Sneaky stuff!

He has developed alot of unique habit tracking stuff you can find on his website too, its pretty cool

I've read most of the popular habit books, but this one takes everything to the 'Elite' level. I actually started to get a little pumped up just with the anticipation of using the system.

I highly recommend that before reading other habit books, or you can't decide, try this one first, you'll save alot of time for getting more wins and keeping your forward momentum going no matter what.

Give it a shot, you won't regret it!

The book takes a very interesting and original approach to the art of creating habits. I find this book very practical and useful. I highly recommend it.

I read and was a big fan of Stephen's Mini Habits book, and have read all the other major habit books from author authors like James Clear, BJ Fogg, Charles Duhigg and others.

Elastic Habits is probably my favourite of the bunch, and really shows a deep understanding and experience in actually trying to live with habit and behaviour design. Not to give things away, but Stephen addresses one of the major problems with habits: when you get bored of doing tiny things. Incorporating Elasticity in multiple directions helps keep the behaviours rewarding and actually gives you the option to congratulate yourself and feel bigger wins towards your goals.

I highly recommend this book, and Mini Habits as well for a primer in habits.

Elastic habits is an interesting approach to develop ourselves. I'll try and follow the author advises. We'll see in a year what changes