GRIN Behaviour-Change Model
Turn a preferred future into a small, measurable next step
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 99%
GRIN is a brief behaviour-change conversation built around Goals, Resources, Increments, and Notice. First, describe a preferred future precisely enough to make its lived benefit visible. Next, surface strengths, support, knowledge, and previous actions that already worked instead of treating the person as an empty vessel. Then choose a small, realistic increment that moves toward the goal. Finally, decide what improvement the person would notice emotionally, energetically, physically, or in their sense of identity, and reflect on what actually happens. The mechanism replaces guilt and generic instruction with hope, self-knowledge, attainable action, and reinforcing feedback. Unwin says he uses the model in clinical consultations to learn what matters to the patient rather than acting as a “talking leaflet.”
Origin
Unwin attributes the published GRIN model to his wife, clinical health psychologist Jen Unwin, who reduced elements of cognitive behavioural therapy into a brief structure he says he uses in consultations.
Core principles
- 01A specific preferred future is more motivating than guilt
- 02People arrive with useful strengths and prior successes
- 03Small realistic increments create movement
- 04Noticing benefits reinforces the behaviour
- 05Questions can uncover motivation better than instructions
How to run it
- 1
Specify the goal
Describe what life should look like if the change goes well. Move beyond a label such as losing weight and name the practical difference the outcome would make.
Pro tip Use a concrete scene or capability that makes the preferred future emotionally meaningful.
Watch out A broad aspiration is not yet specific enough to guide action.
- 2
Surface resources
List strengths, supportive people, knowledge, and actions that have helped before. Treat the person as an expert in their own experience rather than assuming the coach supplies every answer.
Pro tip Ask what worked, then redirect gently if the answer focuses only on failures.
Watch out Do not turn this step into advice-giving before existing resources are understood.
- 3
Choose an increment
Select one small and realistic action that can move the person toward the goal now. Make success possible even on an imperfect day.
Pro tip Prefer consistency that can restart tomorrow over an all-or-nothing streak.
Watch out An absolute target can turn one missed day into abandonment.
- 4
Notice the benefit
Define what the person expects to notice when the action is working, then reflect on the actual result. The signal might involve mood, energy, capability, identity, or another goal-linked outcome.
Pro tip Use the noticed benefit as feedback when choosing the next increment.
Watch out Do not claim that a subjective improvement proves a medical effect.
In the wild
The host describes abandoning an every-day gym target after one missed day. In the GRIN conversation, he links fitness to remaining able to enjoy life with loved ones, identifies social accountability and prior learning as resources, chooses consistency as the increment, and notices energy, self-esteem, and a sense of control as reinforcing benefits.
→ The goal becomes a repeatable practice that permits short sessions and a fresh attempt the next day.
Common mistakes
Starting with blame
Guilt consumes attention without defining a preferred future or a useful next action. Begin with what the person wants instead.
Prescribing before listening
Telling someone what to do can miss their motives, resources, and constraints. Use questions to uncover those first.
Making success all or nothing
An absolute streak can make one lapse feel final. Choose an increment that supports restarting and continued consistency.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for coaching conversations and self-reflection when someone wants change but needs a workable first step.
Not ideal for
It is not a substitute for diagnosis, urgent medical care, or specialist treatment of a serious health condition.
From the transcript
“we had the goals. G Yeah. Then we had your resources. R”
“Then we had increments.”
“And then finally, I invited you to notice and reflect. And that spells grin.”
From the episode
Fatty Liver Expert: Your Liver Is Filling With Fat Right Now - Dr David Unwin