Horizontal and Vertical Habits

Fogg Behavior Model

The statement is fairly simple. If motivation is low, you'll only succeed at an activity that is very easy. If motivation is very high, you can also carry out an activity that requires a high level of ability, meaning one that is very hard to do.
So far so good. Let's assume we want to train a habit that can be classified as elite, and take a closer look at the problems and solutions involved.

When we want to start a habit, consistency has the highest priority. But our motivation fluctuates daily, which is a problem if we always want to do an elite activity. We can partly compensate for this with willpower, but that is exhausting and we only have a limited amount of willpower.
We also always strive for freedom, and if we do the same thing every day, that can feel like a compulsion to many people. We want to still make decisions ourselves and have the feeling that we're in control.

Vertical Habits

The solution to these 2 problems is to divide the activity we want to do into three difficulty levels: Mini, Plus and Elite. The idea behind this is that you can now choose each day whether to do Mini, Plus or Elite. This gives us back a certain amount of freedom, because each day we have the choice between several options. That way, on a stressful day, we can for example choose the Mini habit and don't break the consistency.

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Mini	easy to carry out little motivation needed	seems worthless slow progress
Plus	moderately satisfying	not so easy to start not as satisfying as a big goal
Elite	motivating and satisfying	often frighteningly large demoralizing hard to do consistently

The Mini habit should be so small that you can still do it super easily even on the worst day of your life. As a rule of thumb: it should take about 2 min.
If, for example, we want to go running regularly, the Mini version of it could be: put on your running clothes and step out the door. Done. The job of the Mini habit is therefore to maintain consistency and thereby reinforce the habit. What's important here is that the Mini version is worth just as much as the Elite version. You're allowed to reward yourself for it just the same. We need the positive feeling or feedback so that it really reaches our subconscious.
The Elite habit is, as the name already says, for the elite. It should be so big that if you do it regularly, you belong to the elite. What's important here is not to set it so big that it's no longer realistic or imaginable. Afterwards you should feel really good and be proud of yourself that you did it.
The Plus habit is now exactly the middle ground between the Mini and the Elite version. It is neither completely satisfying like the Elite, but also not as small as the Mini. The golden middle way.
But another problem can still arise. Let's assume our goal is to move regularly. For that we want to do push-ups every day. We choose the versions as follows:

Mini	2 push-ups
Plus	20 push-ups
Elite	50 push-ups

Horizontal Habits

But what if we have an injury to our arm and therefore can no longer do push-ups? The solution for that would be to have alternatives for each difficulty level as well. So for Mini, for example: 2 push-ups, or a walk around the block, or dancing to a song. This gives us a horizontal and vertical habit layer that we can choose from each day.

Movement

	Alternative 1	Alternative 2	Alternative 3
Mini	walk once around the block	2 push-ups	dance to a song
Plus	walk around 6 blocks	20 push-ups	dance to 3 songs
Elite	walk around 20 blocks	50 push-ups	dance to 6 songs

Rules of the game

• You may always do more. (If you set out to do Mini and did it, but then still feel like it, you can do more.)
• A slip-up through forgetting is forgivable; twice in a row means you have failed and need to rethink the system.
• Our subconscious doesn't like too many alternatives. A maximum of 9 is acceptable. (If you like variety, then make sure you have 9 options ready. If you love routines, you can try to reduce it to 3.)
• Whether you managed Mini or Elite, both are great and contribute to the consistency and consolidation of the habit.
• Reflect and adjust the system in its vertical and horizontal orientation every 1-3 months.

Exercise to do yourself

Now it's your turn. You can use the image below as a template to develop and write down 3 habits for yourself.

If you're interested in more

Of course, this is only a small excerpt and glimpse into the topic of habits.
If you're more interested in changing your habits with a system, then feel free to write me a message, and we can then tailor it individually in a personal coaching session. For anyone with more interest in this topic, I can warmly recommend the following books:

• Elastic Habits - Stephen Guise
• Atomic Habits - James Clear
• The Four Tendencies - Gretchen Rubin

I would also welcome any kind of constructive feedback. Only that way can I keep developing and provide better information for you.

Written by Florian Fritz