All Great Things Happen In Tiny Steps

Every article you read and source of advice you seek all seem to be pointing toward one thing: change your life. I know I’ve preached this a dozen times over, but something really important that everyone is forgetting to mention is that change will not happen in one swift movement from a day to the next. Change happens in the smallest ways. Baby steps.

We want to be healthy, in happy relationships, pursuing dream careers, etc. But all the advice in the world won’t help if you still feel stuck. If you are depressed or miserable or seeking advice, the smallest change is what will do the trick. And you’ll probably be shocked at what follows. If you want to start working out, walking outside for 10 minutes this afternoon is where you start. When things are too daunting, you won’t do them. If you want to eat better, today make one little tiny barely significant change, like have water instead of soda at one meal. Just once. And then keep going. All the tiny little things will add up and you’ll get to where you want to be.

Change is taking a deep breath and not raising your voice at someone—just once. It’s every job application you fill out, however many hundred you go through, one of them, one little application, could be the start of your new life. It’s a smile, or a hello, to the person you care about. It’s releasing your negative self-talk for just one moment. It’s getting up and walking away from a situation that you shouldn’t be in—just once. That’s all it takes. It only takes 10 seconds of courage to change everything, or to start something that will change everything. Trying to uproot and overhaul and transform your life overnight will seldom work. But do you know what will? Identifying what it is you most want, and making the little, tiny changes until you get there.