Books Like
Tiny Habits

If you liked Tiny Habits, the closest books are One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer, Mini Habits by Stephen Guise, Good Habits, Bad Habits by Wendy Wood, You Are Capable of More by Chris Sund, Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin, How to Change by Katy Milkman, Switch by Chip and Dan Heath, and The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Maurer is the natural next read, because he reaches for tiny steps for the same kind and patient reasons Fogg does.

What readers loved about Tiny Habits

BJ Fogg founded the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford, and in Tiny Habits, published at the very end of 2019, he gave ordinary people a way to change that does not depend on willpower or on waking up inspired. His model is simple enough to remember on a hard day: a behavior happens when motivation, ability and a prompt come together, so instead of trying to feel more motivated, you make the new behavior so small it is almost silly and attach it to something you already do, like flossing one tooth after you brush.

What most readers remember, though, is the warmth. Fogg asks you to celebrate the moment you do the tiny thing, because he believes people change best by feeling good rather than by feeling bad, and for a lot of us that was the first habit book that did not feel like a lecture. The books below were chosen to keep that same kindness while adding something Fogg covers lightly, whether that is research, personality, or the deeper question of why we hold back. Each one earns its place differently.

One

One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer (2004)

Maurer is a psychologist who teaches at UCLA, and his short book applies the Japanese idea of kaizen, continuous improvement through very small steps, to personal change, arguing that steps small enough to slip past our fear response are what make change feel possible again. It is a lovely fit for anyone who found Tiny Habits comforting and wants something even shorter to keep on the nightstand. Where it falls short is depth, because it leans on stories more than evidence and you may feel you have the whole idea within the first few chapters.

Two

Mini Habits by Stephen Guise (2013)

Guise built his approach around a single push-up a day, a goal so small you cannot talk yourself out of it, and the book explains why a “stupidly small” daily minimum often leads to doing far more than you planned. It suits people who liked Fogg’s method but want an even plainer rule to follow without any model to remember. It is self-published and lighter on research than Fogg, and it says little about the feelings that make habits stick, which is the part many readers loved most in Tiny Habits.

Three

Good Habits, Bad Habits by Wendy Wood (2019)

Wood is a psychologist at the University of Southern California who has studied habits for decades, and her book explains, with real data behind it, how much of daily life runs on autopilot and why changing your surroundings and adding a little friction often works better than trying harder. It is the right pick for readers who finished Fogg wanting to know more about the science underneath his method. It reads more like a careful tour of research than a step-by-step guide, so if you want hand-holding you may find it slower going.

Five

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin (2015)

Rubin’s starting point is that people are different, so the habit strategy that works beautifully for one person can quietly fail another, and she offers her Four Tendencies, along with ideas like abstaining versus moderating, to help you find the approach that fits how you are wired. It is wonderful for readers who tried Fogg’s method, felt it did not quite fit, and blamed themselves. Her framework comes mostly from her own observation rather than formal research, and the book draws heavily on her own life, which some readers love and others find a little narrow.

Six

How to Change by Katy Milkman (2021)

Milkman is a behavioral scientist at Wharton, and rather than offering one system, she shows how to match the fix to the obstacle in front of you, with research-backed ideas like the fresh start effect and temptation bundling. It is a strong next step for readers who want to understand why they in particular get stuck, not just how habits work in general. It is less of a daily guide than Tiny Habits, so you will need to do a little more of the work of turning ideas into practice yourself.

Seven

Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (2010)

The Heath brothers picture change as a rider on an elephant walking down a path: the rider is our reasoning, the elephant is our emotion, and the path is our surroundings, and one of their best pieces of advice, to shrink the change, fits neatly beside Fogg. It is a good read for anyone trying to change something at work or with a team as well as in their own life. Because so many of its stories are about organizations, readers looking only for personal habit help may find parts of it beside the point.

Eight

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (2012)

Duhigg is a reporter, and his book made the habit loop of cue, routine and reward familiar to millions of readers through vivid stories about people, companies and even whole communities. It suits readers who enjoy learning through narrative and want the bigger picture of how habits shape our lives. It explains far more than it instructs, so if you loved Fogg because he told you exactly what to do next, you may miss that here.

Which one to pick

If you want just one, start with One Small Step Can Change Your Life, because it keeps the gentleness you liked and adds a kind way of thinking about fear. If you have already read it and your habits still slip away after a few weeks, it may be time to look past the habits themselves, and that is where the later books on this list earn their place.

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