The start of a new year is the perfect time for us, as aspiring and established sex coaches, to embrace the excitement and motivation that come with turning over a new calendar page. 

But let’s be real for a moment. Building and growing a sex coaching practice isn’t just a walk in the park. It’s rewarding, yes, but it can also be a bit like juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle. 

You’ve got business tasks piling up, marketing strategies that need honing, and let’s not forget the essential, ongoing process of building meaningful client relationships. It can be overwhelming, to say the least.

But what if I told you about a secret strategy you could employ that will help you overcome the overwhelm? It’s not a magic pill, but it’s just as powerful – the concept of “Tiny Habits.”

This approach is all about making small, manageable changes that lead to significant, lasting impacts. 

In this article, we’ll dive into how tiny habits can transform the way you approach your daily to-do list, turning mountains into molehills and helping you find that sweet spot of progress without the pressure. 

We’ll also explore some concrete examples of how you could put tiny habits to work to help your clients achieve their sexual wellness goals.

Understanding Tiny Habits

Tiny habits are the micro-steps to your macro-goals. Big changes can come from small beginnings. It’s like planting a seed; it may seem insignificant at first, but with time and a little care, it grows into something beautiful. 

In the context of our work as sex coaches, this means breaking down those overwhelming tasks into bite-sized pieces so we can actually make progress.

Why does this approach work so well? 

Here’s the secret: Consistency beats intensity. It’s not about making massive leaps every day; it’s about taking small, consistent steps. 

Another key element is immediate success. Each time you complete a tiny habit, you’re achieving something. And that feeling of success? It’s addictive in the best way. It fuels your confidence and propels you to keep going, creating a positive feedback loop.

So, how do you start? It’s all about selecting the right tiny habits. These should be actions that:

  • Take less than 30 seconds to complete.
  • Can be seamlessly integrated into your existing routine.
  • Are so simple that you’ll say, “Well, I might as well just do it.”

Tiny habits are about making your goals approachable, doable, and fun. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want more of that in their professional journey?

Why Tiny Habits Matter for Sex Coaches

The beauty of tiny habits is their ability to be highly targeted. In the realm of sex coaching, this could mean dedicating a few minutes each day to specific tasks that often get overlooked but are crucial for our practice’s growth and our clients’ well-being.

Marketing & Outreach:

We know we need to market to find clients. And yet, so many marketing tasks seem to demand our attention that we will often shut down before we accomplish any of them.

Building a tiny habit around a single marketing task (responding to DMs on Facebook, writing blog posts, planning your newsletter, reaching out to a podcaster, etc.) can help lessen the overwhelm and improve your chances of accomplishing your marketing goals.

Client Relationship Building:

The relationships we build with our clients are the cornerstone of our practice. Tiny habits here could include sending a brief, personalized check-in message to a client or setting aside a few minutes each day to reflect on client sessions. These small acts can significantly enhance the therapeutic relationship and client experience.

Personal Development:

In a field that’s constantly evolving, keeping up-to-date with the latest research and techniques is crucial. Integrating a habit of reading one research paper per week or watching a short webinar can keep you at the forefront of sex coaching without the pressure of extensive time commitments. And yet, even that often feels like too much.

So try this: find a research paper you’re interested in and instead of reading it yourself, feed it into ChatGPT and ask it to summarize it for you. This will take 30 seconds or less, and then you can move on with your day. 

In essence, tiny habits empower you to make meaningful progress in your practice without feeling weighed down by the magnitude of the tasks at hand. 

Building Your Own Tiny Habits

Creating your own set of tiny habits is like crafting a personalized toolkit that keeps you efficient, motivated, and on track. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you develop your own tiny habits:

  • Reflect: Identify your goals (expanding client base, deepening knowledge, work-life balance) and challenges (time management, client engagement, staying updated).
  • Select Habits: Choose specific, simple habits related to your goals and challenges, like jotting down tomorrow’s top tasks for better time management.
  • Anchor Habits: Link new habits to established routines (triggers), like reviewing client notes after morning teeth brushing, ensuring consistent practice.
  • Celebrate: Acknowledge small successes to reinforce the habit, whether it’s a mental note or a small reward.
  • Review and Adjust: Regularly assess and modify your habits to align with evolving goals, maintaining flexibility and focus on improvement.

Here’s the Basic Formula

Repeat after me (inserting your own actions):

  1. After I [trigger action],
  2. I will [take what specific action].
  3. Afterward, I’ll celebrate by [doing what].

For example:

  1. After I open my laptop,
  2. I will open LinkedIn and browse my feed for 30 seconds, looking for a post to comment on.
  3. Afterward, I’ll celebrate by eating one M&M.

It can be this simple. What is the one thing getting in the way of you making progress on some aspect of your business? What is the tiniest action you can take to move forward on that one thing?

You’ll be surprised how often that 30-second task leads to a longer period of time doing the thing. In this case, I might find myself spending 15 minutes commenting on and sharing several posts, all of which builds toward my goal of a more engaged network.

But the point is, all you HAVE to do is that one tiny habit. The pressure is off!

Over time, you can begin “habit-stacking,” which simply means tacking on another tiny habit to your established routine. Like this:

After I open my laptop, I open LinkedIn and browse for 30 seconds, commenting as I go, and then I write one sentence in the blog post I’m working on. I’ll celebrate by eating one M&M and shouting “Whoo! I’m on fire!”

Remember, the essence of the tiny habits practice is not in doing less, but in the consistent, small actions that lead to big changes over time.

Empowering Your Clients with Tiny Habits

After you’ve experimented with tiny habits in your own life, here’s how you can integrate this approach into your coaching to benefit your clients:

You can use this blog post to share the fundamentals of tiny habits with your clients. Help them understand how small, consistent actions can lead to significant changes.

Highlight how tiny habits can help them feel less overwhelmed and more in control of their personal growth and sexual well-being.

Here’s how you can guide them in developing personalized tiny habits for themselves. Help them create tiny habits that are relevant and meaningful to their individual goals. 

Example 1: Enhancing Intimacy

  • Suggested Trigger: After you’ve both finished brushing your teeth…
  • Habit: Exchange a quick kiss on the lips with your partner.
  • Impact: This simple act, repeated daily, can gradually enhance the sense of closeness and connection in a relationship.

Example 2: Building Sexual Confidence

  • Suggested Trigger: When you step out of the shower and look in the mirror…
  • Habit: Practice one positive self-affirmation about your body.
  • Impact: This can help in gradually shifting their mindset, leading to greater sexual confidence and self-acceptance.

Example 3: Managing Sexual Health Concerns

  • Suggested Trigger: After you finish dinner…
  • Habit: Sit quietly and do three to five deep breathing exercises.
  • Impact: Over time, this can help reduce performance anxiety and improve their overall sexual well-being.

By teaching your clients the tiny habits approach, you are equipping them with a tool they can use for a lifetime of personal growth and fulfillment. 

Walking Into the New Year One Tiny Habit at a Time

Whether it’s for managing your sex coaching practice more efficiently or empowering your clients to make meaningful changes in their lives, tiny habits for sex coaching offer a practical, sustainable path to success. By breaking down goals into small, manageable actions, we make progress less overwhelming and also more enjoyable and achievable.

Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. In the case of tiny habits, it’s a series of small, consistent steps that lead to significant transformations. 

As we embrace the new year, let’s commit to these tiny yet impactful changes, both in our professional practices and in the guidance we offer to our clients. 

Here’s to a year of growth, progress, and fulfillment, one Tiny Habit at a time!

Curious about training to become a Certified Sex Coach™? We invite you to join our Sex Coaching in Action webinar to meet the Sex Coach U team and participate in a live Q&A.