Coaching practices for Gamification of Habits When Starting Out

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Gamification of Habits When Starting Out, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• This habit gives me nothing in the moment, so I never do it
• I only ever do this for the points and rewards now, and I’ve noticed the day they’d stop is the day I’d quit
• My new habits only survive on the good days when I’m rested and motivated, then the first hard, exhausting day comes and they collapse
• What keeps me going at anything is the feeling of getting visibly better and unlocking the next stage
• I keep meaning to start a good new habit

Practices that may help

1. Gamification of Habits
   Gamification adds points, levels, and quests to make a behavior more immediately rewarding and engaging, which can boost a habit in the short term. The serious caveat is the overjustification effect: when external rewards take over a behavior you already valued, they can crowd out the intrinsic motivation and leave you less interested once the points stop.
2. Points and reward systems
   Award yourself points for completing the habit, redeemable for real rewards.
   Gamification of Habits
3. Fade the mechanics toward intrinsic motivation
   Use game mechanics to start, then deliberately wean off them as the behavior becomes its own reward.
   Gamification of Habits
4. Shrink the behavior until it’s tiny
   Scale the habit down to something you can do even on your worst, busiest day.
   Tiny Habits, Made Practical
5. Levels and progression
   Structure the habit into ascending levels so each stage feels like advancement.
   Gamification of Habits
6. Engineer cues for habits you want
   Place obvious, consistent triggers in your environment to start a desired routine.
   The Power of Habit, Made Practical
7. Celebrate immediately to wire it in
   Generate a genuine flash of positive emotion the instant you do the tiny behavior.
   Tiny Habits, Made Practical
8. Don't break the chain
   Mark each day you do the habit and aim never to break the unbroken run of marks.
   Habit Tracking
9. Build the capture habit before anything else
   Install one habit at a time — start with ubiquitous capture — before adding other ZTD practices.
   Zen To Done (ZTD), Made Practical
10. Apply PDSA to a behavior you want to build or break
    Treat habit formation as a series of small experiments rather than a commitment you either keep or blow.
    Plan–Do–Study–Act: Deming’s Loop for Personal Improvement

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