Small Changes Bring Big Change


Many of us wait until the New Year as an opportunity to start anew and make changes in our lives. We do this by setting goals, making resolutions, or a promise to our self.   It’s all with good intentions and even some planning may be involved. The problem occurs when we begin to apply these changes into the everyday pattern of our life.

Let me tell you that CHANGE is hard. It’s UNCOMFORTABLE. To stick to your plan is more difficult because in many cases you don’t have support. The world is working to against you much of the time. For example, do you find that all kinds of things can creep into your life if your goal is get daily exercise? It could be family obligations, work or many other distractions, but the end result is you don’t follow through with your plan. Another example is healthier eating and losing those extra pounds. How many times has someone said to you, “Oh go ahead, one bite isn’t going to hurt you.” I can feel you nodding your head at that one.

So do you give up and blame your family, surroundings, or work environment and quit? Hopefully not.   Personally I have found I have to need or want something very badly to make a change.   It has to be important enough to not give in to excuses. The end result needs to drive me to continue until the habit it formed and I don’t have to think about it as much.

You may need to do some planning. It you want to exercise, plan when you can do that and then have a backup plan. If you want to eat better, write down a weekly menu and buy those items. Want to be more organized? Then work on daily list and put items in places where you will look for them. Whatever your goal, plan for it and then make it part of your daily routine. The daily routine is the hard part of this change. Habit’s normally take time so don’t be discouraged.

A piece of advice, don’t try to change everything at once. I heard a term recently that I really like. It’s called Single-Tasking. Opposite of Multi-Tasking it means to really focus on one thing and do it well. So make your list of what you want to accomplish, but focus on one item at a time. You will not be so overwhelmed or setting yourself up for failure.

If you are still feeling overwhelmed and cannot get a habit created then think smaller. For example, if your goal is to be more organized then instead of trying to organize everything in your life, start with one thing in its place. It could be having your keys in the same place every day or throwing papers in the recycle bin rather than leaving a pile on the table. 

Finally, reward yourself for your accomplishments on a daily basis. Don’t think you have to wait until you reach the final goal. Everyday pat yourself on the back for the smallest accomplishment.   Do a little happy dance for saying “YES” to the smallest change. You and only you are in charge of these tiny choices for change in your life.  

“The 3 C's of life: choices, chances and changes. You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change”. Unknown

Comments