We’ve all been there - that moment where we check our bank statements and we realize that our monthly restaurant spending is much higher than we expected it to be. Panicked, we resolve to learn to cook and to start preparing all our meals at home from now on.

It sounds easy enough in principle…so why, then, is it so hard to follow through on our culinary plans?

As Tim Ferriss, author of the best-selling book The 4 Hour Chef,  teaches us - it has little to do with cooking, and everything to do with behavior.

It’s Not Really About the Food

While Tim Ferriss’ book may have the word ‘chef’ in the title, The 4 Hour Chef isn’t really about food, or even cooking for that matter. The culinary arts are simply the medium for Ferriss’ message about quickly mastering new skills that will allow you to lead a healthier, happier, more productive life. According to Ferriss, becoming the master of your kitchen is as much about personal growth as it is about creating tasty meals.

The same lesson can be applied to developing any financial habit - from cooking at home to saving for a rainy day. It’s not just about penny-pinching and saving money, it’s about personal empowerment. It’s about understanding that you are completely in control of your financial future, and that you are capable of acquiring the skills that you need to realize your financial goals.

What is Your Good Life?

In his book, Tim Ferriss explains that the goal of learning new skills, like cooking, is to be able to use these talents to lead ‘the good life’. The same is true for financial habits. While skills like monitoring your cashflow and saving for emergencies individually contribute to your financial wellness and personal stability, together they represent the building blocks of your financial future.

Just as saving is more about harnessing the power of money to reach your goals than it is about account balances, developing a habit like cooking at home is about using food to design a lifestyle that brings you closer to your dreams.

We are constantly bombarded with financial tips and tricks and money-saving advice. It can be overwhelming to process such a high volume of information to find the perfect advice that will help you achieve your unique goals. That’s why the best place to start when developing healthy financial habits is to decide what the good life means to you. Whether it’s retiring at 40 to travel the world, or being able to support the less fortunate in your community, starting with a strong vision of the good life will help you choose the right habits to develop to empower you to live the life you imagine for yourself.

Making Habits Stick

Once you have figured out what habits you will need to help you live the good life, the trick is to start small and gradually incorporate these new behaviors into your lifestyle.

As Tim Ferriss explains, it’s all about breaking down new behaviors into smaller, more manageable habits. “One of the issues with cooking” he explains, “is when people say ‘I want to learn how to cook’ they’re typically trying to adopt five or so habits at once: grocery shopping, prep, cooking, and cleaning. Of course you’re going to fail - pick one at a time”.

According to Stanford-based behavioral scientist BJ Fogg, the secret to lasting behavior modification lies in something called a ‘tiny habit’ - a small action that you can incorporate into your life to create larger behavioral change. For example, flossing one tooth a day in the hopes of creating healthy behaviors around dental hygiene.

Fogg explains that the best way to incorporate your new tiny habit into your life is to associate it with a daily trigger, something you are already doing. That way, the new habit becomes part of your daily routine. The final and most important step of a ‘tiny habit’ is creating positive reinforcement by celebrating your success.

When it comes to creating the larger behavior of cooking from home to save money, begin by breaking it down into smaller habits, like choosing a daily recipe each morning. Your trigger for choosing a recipe can be the first time you turn your computer on in the morning. After completing the tiny habit every morning, be sure to celebrate your accomplishment. This can be anything from giving yourself a physical pat on the back, or announcing out loud that you’re proud of yourself for picking such a delicious recipe (it sounds weird - but it’s important!)

Over time, your tiny habit will become part of the fabric of your life. And as you gradually build more tiny habits into your routine, you will see new behaviors develop and you will be able to see the positive impacts of your actions on your financial wellness.

Like the pop band Snap! taught us in the 90s, we’ve got the power! The power to learn new skills, create new habits, and live the good life.

Tell us: what financial habit do you want to create?