A funny thing happens when you’ve spent two decades studying human transformation: You realize that most people think they need a life overhaul… When what they really need is a 2-degree shift.
A tiny habit.
A micro-adjustment.
A new pattern so small it almost feels insignificant.
But these tiny shifts?
They don’t stay tiny.
They cascade.
They compound.
They quietly reroute your destiny.
This is an article about my strange kitchen habits. But for many of you, it might lead to a life-changing shift.
This is the great secret behind the Six Phase Meditation, Habit of Ferocity, and every Quest inside Mindvalley.
Your life doesn’t transform through force.
It transforms through micro-systems—small actions that repeat until your future becomes inevitable.
And recently, my body reminded me of this truth in a very real way.
The wake-up call in my waistline
In April this year, I spent seven beautiful weeks traveling between Malaysia and the United States.
Time with family.
Amazing conversations.
New experiences.
And, of course… extraordinary food.
But while my spirit was expanding, something else was expanding too.
After two weeks in Malaysia and five weeks in the U.S., I had added…
seven centimeters to my waistline.
Seven centimeters.
On a 49-year-old man who uses tech, meditation, biohacking, and longevity science to stay optimized.
By the time I returned to Europe in June, half my pants were negotiating early retirement packages.
My conclusion?
“It must be American food.
And Malaysian food.
And maybe my relationship with curry laksa.”
And so—being the AI geek that I am—I decided to test a theory:
If my body changed this fast, maybe I was missing something my brain couldn’t see…
But an AI could.
So I built an AI for myself.
A private little food-logging companion that analyzed everything I ate.
Every meal is photographed.
Every nutrient tracked.
Every pattern is analyzed.
And on Day 5, the AI said something unexpected:
“I’m noticing that you are severely deficient in fiber.”
It explained that 95% of men don’t get enough fiber.
That fiber affects everything: gut health, weight loss, emotional stability, blood sugar, immunity, skin, sleep, and even brain performance.
And that both Malaysian and American cuisines are notoriously low in fiber.
Then it suggested a tiny change:
“Add yogurt with blueberries, banana, chia seeds, and psyllium husk to your breakfast.”
Just once a day. Just one habit.
I was skeptical.
I eat low-carb.
A banana? Yogurt? Wasn’t that going to blow up my macros?
But I tried it anyway.
And then something shocking happened:
I started losing one centimeter of waistline per week.
In six weeks, my waist was back to where it was before my trip.
My pants forgave me.
I forgave America.
The benefits didn’t stop there:
- My skin looked better
- My hair got healthier
- My energy and mood lifted
- My focus sharpened
- My workouts improved
- My sleep deepened
From one tiny habit. One three-minute change. One micro-shift that changed everything.
As proof, this is my waistline chart from my Apple Health kit. Notice the big spike? Then the big drop? The drop occurred when I started this habit.
Notice the spike. And then the drop? This is now my fiber kit in my kitchen.
But this is more than just about the glories of yogurt. It’s about the power of habits.
Tiny habits aren’t just physical… They change your identity
There’s another powerful force working behind the scenes when you install a new habit—
And this is where the real magic happens.
Every time you take on a healthy habit, you’re not just changing your behavior.
You’re upgrading your self-identity.
Psychologists call this the Identity Shift Effect: Every action you take becomes a vote for the person you believe yourself to be.
Start adding fiber daily and suddenly…
You’re no longer someone who “tries to be healthy.”
You’re someone who is healthy.
You’re no longer reacting to circumstance.
You’re proving to your brain:
“I am the kind of person who takes action for my own well-being.”
This is one of the greatest transformations a human being can experience—
the shift from victim-of-reality to co-creator-of-reality.
And science supports this beautifully.
Study #1: Harvard’s “Small wins effect”
Research from Harvard Business School shows that even tiny wins—little progress toward goals—can trigger a powerful neurochemical cascade of dopamine and motivation.
This becomes a self-reinforcing loop:
- You take one small positive action
- Your brain rewards you
- That reward gives you the motivation to take the next action
- And that momentum becomes a chain reaction
A spoon of chia seeds. A 10-second breath. One stretch. One glass of water.
Each one is a “small win” that rewires your biology for progress.
Study #2 – Stanford’s BJ Fogg and the Habit Cascade
Stanford behavioral scientist BJ Fogg discovered this in his groundbreaking “Tiny Habits” research:
Small habits don’t stay small.
They expand horizontally and vertically.
One tiny habit creates a ripple that triggers the next…and the next…and the next.
This is called the Habit Cascade.
My yogurt habit led to:
- More veggies
- A fiber-rich fridge
- Daily veggie shakes
- Better workouts
- More mental clarity
- A return to my ideal waistline
- Better energy and sleep
- Better creativity and productivity
One habit → many upgrades.
Because once your identity shifts, your behavior follows.
Once your behavior shifts, your environment follows.
Once your environment shifts, your future expands.
This is the real secret.
The real magic of tiny habits
They are doable.
Repeatable.
Identity-shifting.
Momentum-creating.
And they create exponential results over time.
And this is exactly why Mindvalley was designed the way it is.
Why Mindvalley Membership works
You don’t just learn—you transform through habits.
Every Mindvalley Quest is built around habit installation.
It’s not about binge-watching content…
It’s about installing micro-habits that rewire your life.
Think about it:
If one tiny habit changed my waistline, my energy, my mood, my focus, and my overall well-being.
What happens when you’re introduced to:
- 10 tiny habits from Lifebook
- 20 tiny habits from WILDFIT
- 15 tiny habits from the Six Phase Meditation
- 10 tiny habits from Ben Greenfield
- 20 tiny habits from HoloBody
- 10 tiny habits from Breathwork for Life
- Dozens more from Silva Ultramind, relationships, business, longevity…
Not every habit will stick. Not every habit will be your thing.
That’s normal.
But the right ones? The ones that land at the right moment in your life?
Those will transform you.
This is why Mindvalley is powerful:
It doesn’t give you a single path.
It gives you a library of identity-shifting micro-habits—so YOU can design the life that fits your biology, your psychology, and your soul.
And if there’s ever a moment to join…
Your Black Friday deal is here—And this is our biggest unlock of the year
This week, you get:
- Every Quest
- Every program
- Every meditation
- Every transformation method
- The newest releases
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- The world’s best teachers
- Live talks and workshops
- And a global community that rewires you by proximity
…at the lowest price we offer all year (and you get to lock in this price FOR LIFE).
This is the only time you can secure a Mindvalley Membership at this price… because next year, the price goes up—and this offer you’re seeing disappears forever on Sat Nov 29.
Go here to lock in your Mindvalley Membership at 50% off for life
(Yes, you can start your 15-day risk-free trial.)
But the real value isn’t the content. It’s not even the community.
It’s the habits. The micro-shifts. The identity upgrades. The tiny decisions that compound into destiny.
My fiber habit took 3 minutes a day. And it transformed everything.
Imagine what happens when you start experimenting with the thousands of tiny habits waiting for you inside Mindvalley.
Mindvalley has evolved rapidly in the past 20 years in areas of health, wealth, relationships, AI, manifesting, entrepreneurship, and more, serving you the best of what the self-growth industry can offer.
We bear witness to how lives can change with ease—at an accelerated speed—when we read 25,000+ case studies from our 1 million+ strong tribe of Mindvalley Members.
Now, this is the season we welcome you to transform your life.
One micro-habit at a time in any area of your life that you wish to.
P.S. Reading your reflections always inspires me. Come share your favorite tiny habit or biggest takeaway from this story in the comments—I’ll be reading.
With love—and extra yogurt,
Vishen
24 Responses
Hi Vishen – thank you so much for this post and message. My micro habits this year have been a Minimum of 2500 steps before breakfast. Most days I get closer to 5000. I also do at least 5 minutes of breathwork and 15 minutes of Silva meditation every morning. This always sets me up for a successful day! (Just re-upped my Mindvalley for 3 years… best subscription ever!).
I wii change my criticisn against myself starting today . Five minutes a day to start thinking on the human being I want to be and enjoy life. Thanks for the tip Mind Valley.
Please share the prompt with us also 😀
Thank you for this amazing article, it inspires me and remember me to re-evaluate all my habits (good or not so good) and to implement new and better micro-habits.
P.S. One of my morning little habit is to heat a glass of water at 40C and put some lemon juice in it (maybe half a lemon juice), then drink it the first thing in the morning. It helps a lot. Now i will add and link a second mini habit, adding fibers in the morning (sometimes i skip the breakfast and it is not good).
I enjoy your weekly essays Vishen, and this one struck a chord.
A tiny habit that I introduced several years ago is doing 20 calf raises every morning and night while I brush my teeth. I now have muscles and improved mobility and strength in my legs.
Giving up sugar in my 70s changed everything: my energy, my brain, my digestion, and my overall wellness. I did it for my brain after reading about the detrimental effects of sugar on the brain. Everything followed from this one step.I’m fit, lean, with perfect blood pressure and heart health, and my memory is crystal clear at 83. (And fully engaged with what Mind Valley offers on many levels for my personal growth and service to others).
I may be the only one who cried while reading this… but a good cry 🙂 My dad laughed at my mom’s devotion to health food until she passed away 20 years ago, and he changed his tune completely. Vitamins, supplements, healthy eating. As he got older and ate less, instead of making big meals, he’d just put it all in a blender — along with the supplements & vitamins, he’d add salad + leftover veggies + even salmon. Ok, so definitely not as appetizing as a blueberry yogurt smoothy, but he lived to 101 and just passed this last June. On a side note, I asked him what he thought would happen after he died (we talked quite candidly the last few years), and he said without a doubt that he, like many souls, would become part of the Northern Lights. My daughter is going to Alaska for Christmas to “visit grandpa.” I hope I can see the aurora someday and say Hi to my dad again.
My micro habit began ten years ago – I began to learn how to speak kindly to myself. I began to make friends with myself. It took many micro-moments to move from the inner critic to the inner ally – but I have. I have befriended my imperfect, beautifully messy me. This micro-habit has radically changed my life. I know teach self-compassion andam on a mission to bring self-compassion skills to every child and family around the world. Thank you for sharing your fibre micro-habit change. Your reflections are always so inspiring. x
I DMd you my transformation within 18 months. I have changed my entire reality since adopting micro habits. It started with ten mins Pilates each day.
I lost 22 kilos, got incredible opportunities (podcast interview, collabs) , went viral on tik tok….
It really is the secret and changed my life
Three years forward, three years back
Hi Vishen,
Your email about tiny habits made me smile — not because of yogurt, but because I suddenly realized something.
You wrote about upgrading the next 3 years.
But for me, Mindvalley has already been the last 3.
Three years ago I didn’t buy a membership.
I stepped physically into a portal.
At that time I wasn’t looking for productivity, hacks or biohacking.
I was looking for myself — in paintings, in closets full of shoes, in love letters, in mirrors, in every place except in me.
And then something funny happened:
long before Mindvalley Paris, long before I ever ever heard your voice on stage, I had a copy of Silva — and for years I didn’t know how to open it.
I touched the cover a thousand times, but I couldn’t step inside.
I thought I lost the book.
But in reality, I had lost the version of me who could read it.
And so I found myself physically in Paris, thinking I was entering an event…
but actually, I was entering myself.
Since then, I didn’t chase transformation.
It stayed with me, in a small habit — morning coffee with a Quest, weekends with community, moments of confusion, moments of breakthroughs.
Not through force.
Through identity.
Through remembering who I am.
So while you speak of the next 3 years of transformation, I just wanted to tell you — thank you for the previous 3.
Some love stories start in Paris.
Mine started the day I stopped searching outside and finally found myself inside. This November.
With love —
and zero yogurt,
Andra
PS: For years, every mirror showed me a different heroine — Cinderella barefoot, Joan of Arc ready for battle, Athena pretending she came for wisdom but clearly staying for the drama or Frida painting pain into beauty. And sometimes I was even the royal court clown trying to make everyone laugh. And then one day, after polishing the last mirror with all my tears and all my silk dresses, I finally saw something I had never seen before — myself.
To be continued.
Always.
“Half my pants were negotiating early retirement packages” 🤣🤣🤣 This had me laughing, the way you pit things 😆 Ever since having my 4th child (almost 5 years ago) and entering my 40s…my ease at maintaining wait dwindled and my pants are long retired…new more expanded pants have taken on the job 🤣 Recently though, I visited my mum and her daily breakfast is Greek yoghurt, banana, blueberries, walnuts and cinnamon…she would make a bowl for me each morning while I was there and I am now hooked…a month and a half later and this is now my daily breakfast (I also add dessicated coconut to mine 😋 I may have to sprinkle some chia seeds too for that little bit extra) and I have been eating even better than before and my expanded pants look like they could be made redundant soon 🤣 And I am most definitely feeling so much better also.
Thank you for your entertaining and inspiring newsletter…I look forward to these every week, you are very funny 🙏☺️
Inspiring story @Vishen, thank you for sharing 🙏
It’s a invitation to embrace new perspectives and start new habits.
I am also grateful for the amazing upgrade of the membership, it’s your Christmas present to me 🥰
I am proud to be a Mindvalley member for 3 years now and want to belong to this amazing community of like-minded people forever 😊
I am a better person every day..
Hi Vishen,
Thank you very much for doing all you are doing …and for sharing this! So very impressive, your self-made food-AI support !!! Maybe you would like to share how this works?
I also would like to share a very interesting & important receipe with you that was recommended to me by a friend in energetic health care.
It’s the “Heavy Metal Detox Smoothie” from the “Medical Medium”. You may have heard of him or even know him personally. His name is Anthony Williams.
Ingredients:
– 2 bananas
– 2 cups wild blueberries
– 1 cup cilantro
– 1 cup orange juice (or water or coconut water)
– 1 tsp Barley grass juice powder
– 1 tsp spirulina
– 1 small handful of Atlantic dulse
In a high speed blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. If a thinner consistency is desired, add up to 1 cup of water.
This smoothie is not only delicious, it’s also perfectly designed to include five key ingredients that work together in synergy to pull heavy metals like mercury, lead, aluminum, nickel, copper, and cadmium out of your organs where they accumulate.
I am very convinced of this healthy smoothie and made it a habit to drink it daily over 4-6 weeks in January/February to reset the system and give the new year a fresh, clean start.
Enjoy!
I love that you implemented a tiny habit that led to being healthier and reducing your waistline, by easily adding more fiber to your diet, Vishen!
Plus, you added something tasty that will improve your health – blueberries, yogurt, and Chia seeds are all delicious AND they’re beneficial.
You’ve inspired me to try this right now! (I have blueberries and yogurt in the fridge at this moment…) I’ll get the Chia seeds and psyllium husk soon.
This reminded me of what Jim Rohn always used to say…. “You can start a health plan today… Eat an apple, walk around the block. Then do it the next day and then the next day and the next. Then just keep going!”.
I love this! 💕
OMG Yeo thick Greek yogurt is lushness. I gently warm the blueberries up & add some local honey (prevents hayfever in warmer months due to micro dosing building up immunity to local flora pollen). I eat the seeds separately because fussy & not keen on small bits in the yogurt 😅 Well done btw on achieving your goal. Baby steps all the way! That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” 🙌🏻
Thank you for this week’s blog post Vishen, I appreciate the tiny habits approach.
Thanks for the great email
I enjoy reading these when you send them
I’m also a huge believer in small habits make life-changing differences.
One of the habits that I have added to my life is to have a large glass of warm water every morning as soon as I get up before any other beverages, coffee or tea
There are many other small habits, but that one is the easiest, and the most significant one that I have added recently
There’s a great book called the slight edge, which is all about those small things that you do or don’t do that can change your life
Thanks for sharing
I am curious how Mindvalley organizes de different food opinions on the different courses. Some advices or tips seem to contradict. For example the opinion on fermented foods that is given in Wildfit.
I began being real with myself. To be real I had to be real with myself. I stopped lying to myself about their my body was screaming at me but was in denial of. Once I asked myself those ugly questions, my body and mind started feeling like it was rejecting my old self so I could reveal the real me hidden all the masks I hung onto. My hunger for knowledge was driven for the understanding of self rather than to prove our condemn another. Hot dog, I don’t even recognize myself or the life I walk. That’s an amazing thing. Growing pains means change, stop resisting who you are and surrender. My purpose has revealed and my gifts have boomed. Thank you Vishen for your passion to help humanity.
Thank you Vishen for realization that tiny change of habits can make a huge difference,and that it doesn’t need force. I always thought that I need to make some grand changes,and push myself to stick to it😅. I am starting to learn how not to force myself, how not to push myself. It’s not easy considering the fact that I spend lifetime of pushing myself 😅. But I have started not to push myself. And when that urge come,and I am aware of it, I pause. Go inward,try to relax and do what feels right. Not what my mind says I should do. For example if I feel I need to force myself to work on one goal,I pause and then do what feels light in that moment. I am not forcing myself, instead going with the flow. Even if that means just going to lie down in my bed and relax. Well, I did a lot of resting in my bed lately 😂. Anyway, thank you for that realization. Now I will not feel disappointed if I don’t do some major change,but instead I will focus on small changes. Thank you 😊