Small Move, Big Change

Small Move, Big Change: Using Microresolutions to Transform Your Life Permanently 

by Caroline L. Arnold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The premise of this book is that resolving to "lose weight" or "keep the house neat" is never going to work because those things are too big and too vague to ever succeed at if you don't get more specific. "Make the bed every morning before you leave the bedroom." is a resolution that a person could actually succeed at and become an ingrained habit. One of her suggestions is that you should work on 1 or 2 resolutions at a time (no more) and that it will take 6-8 weeks for each to become ingrained so you shouldn't try to rush this process because that is a big part of what will make it a life-long change rather than a crash-diet. 

Arnold walks through why this works, how to frame your resolutions to make them most effective, and offers numerous specific examples in various areas (like losing weight, getting organized, improving relationships, and managing money) that people are often trying to improve in. She also talks about how some microresolutions may overflow into other habits. Hanging up her coat as soon as she comes in the house is one of the things Arnold worked on and that habit led her to hang up her clothes generally. 

This book reminded me of The Power of Habit, but was less science-background and more hands-on practice. If there are habits you are trying to build or changes you want to make in yourself her techniques seem really useful.