Tiny habits are small simple steps that get people heading in the direction of their goals. A lot of work is going into this idea right now, but the phrase "tiny habits" often feels unambitious compared to people's biggest, most difficult goals. People often use the phrase "baby steps" in place of tiny habits, which isn't any better. How do you approach the use of tiny habits when you're trying to create them for yourself or for people you work with?

The thing that we all know about tiny habits is that they're still REALLY DIFFICULT to start unless you're already highly motivated. It's important to show that even though the habit may be tiny, the task is HUGE, and still highly likely to fail. And that's okay. That's why you're signing up: you need help; we want to help. It's okay if it doesn't stick the first try... we're gonna help get you going again until it does.

That's sort of how my pitch goes with new users, at least.

Is it right to focus on the possibility of failure? Is that to help soften the blow when the person does fail or is it to reset their expectations so that they tackle something more manageable? (By right, I mean effective). Would it be more effective to say simply, "this is the first step to being awesome and I believe in you," and leave it at that?

I think the possibility of failure is the elephant in the room when it comes to any kind of behavior change. I've found that mentioning usually brings a sense of relief to people I talk to... it's something that they're afraid of, and if you can name it, and talk about it, it's not quite as scary.

NOT mentioning failure probably sells more self-help books, though. I've made a conscious choice to talk about it a lot, but it's definitely not the only way (or even a proven way).

That said, I like the way you phrased it above.