Yup, it may be one of the best pieces of advice I can ever give you. And it does not have to do specifically with analytics.
Back in the early 2000’s I was lucky enough to attend a NN/g Conference (Nielsen Norman Group Usability Conference). The deal was – I could pick the conference I wanted to attend and the company I was working for at the time (LHWH Advertising) would pay for it.
The caveat was I would discuss the sessions I chose to attend with the owner, Andy. Very reasonable. Being that ‘I (thought I) was the smartest, most tech savvy person in the room’ back in the day, I had my list of sessions, highly technical and highly analytical, all drawn up to present to Andy. Certain that he would be impressed.
Expecting that the presentation of my itinerary would be a mere formality, I was surprised when Andy wanted to meet with me to rethink my proposal. With a perspective that I could not appreciate back then, Andy had quite a different idea of the sessions that would be more impactful.
Needless to say, his ideas for important sessions were quite different than mine. But it was his perspective on what should be important that has greatly transformed my thinking.
Rather than attending sessions on the more technical or analytical way of thinking about how people interacted with websites, he thought the ‘why’ people did things they did was much more important.
Long introduction to the Tuesday Tip. One of the sessions Andy recommended I attend was BJ Fogg’s session about Persuasive Technology. This isn’t the session transcript, but if you want to be fascinated by what the session entailed, and a bit of foreshadowing, read this.
Fast forward to 2020 -2021, I still follow BJ Fogg. But I have pivoted his message to be from company or corporate thinking to personal. Back in January I listened to a webinar about his – I say ‘life changing’ – not in an advertising, over the top, buzzword, way – but in an honest – yup, it changed MY life way.
So, when I said this was an important Tuesday Tip, I meant it. Having respected BJ Fogg professionally for almost two decades now, I appreciate him more for the personal impact he has made on my life with his Tiny Habits philosophy.
In January I got to attend the ‘Tiny Habits Academy’ where I learned how to take the Tiny Habits approach to achieving goals – my goal was to do 3 Sun Salutations each morning before I took Mikey out and write one idea for a blog before lunch.
Now, I workout every day for 40 – 60 minutes each morning and have been pretty relentless about blogging every day. I think this was possible because, if you watch to the Tiny Habits videos, you will see the commitment you make to yourself is doable (3 sun salutations – not driving to the gym and working out for an hour) and you insert it into your day (after I brush my teeth and before I take Mikey out on the weekdays).
With these micro-goals, inserted into a place into your daily routine, real, impactful changes do happen.
So after all this time, BJ – not only have you made me more insightful in my career about understanding people’s behavior on the web (and apps), but you have also made me a better, more healthy person. Thank you!
