From Small Steps To Big Change (And How To Keep It Going)

Some days you lose all faith.

You want to quit, toss over a desk or two, walk away, and never look back.

You begin to question if all the effort was ever worth it, if it made any real difference.

Maybe you drank the ‘small steps, big change’ cool aid and fooled yourself into believing – at least, in the moment – that your hard work will give you the results that you’re looking for, bring you happiness or recognition or meaning or money.

Then things got hard. Really, really hard.

Standing At The Crossroads

Now you’re left wondering what to do. Give up and admit defeat? Or keep going, and give it one more shot?

Decisions like these can be difficult, in part because maybe you, like me, are guilty of focusing only on how much you struggled to climb the mountain that’s now behind you, not where you reached the summit and earned your victory.

I tend to forget that part all too often, where I actually accomplished a thing or two. Like the time I lost 30 pounds, went from the couch to running a 5K, then a half marathon (then a full marathon, and a few ultra marathons), adjusted my work hours to fit my life (something I’d forgotten I had permission to do even though it was my own business), or wrote a book (only other people do that, right?).

All done not-overnight, not with ease, and a little bit at a time. Small steps, big change.

Although life changed in many ways, they already seem so long ago, and half-forgotten. I’m too preoccupied with the mountain that lies ahead of me. Besides, what’s the point of living in the past?

Celebrate Your Progress

But maybe you (I) should take the time to remember how far you’ve come. In the throes of whatever you’re struggling with now, past successes can restore faith that not only is what you want achievable, but that you’re capable of it.

Faith and belief in yourself is important during long spells of seemingly no progress, when you feel like giving up and need to summon the strength to persist, or when you succumb to comparing yourself to others who seem to have done it easier, better, faster.

Small Steps, Big Change

Small, simple steps – like getting out of your warm bed into a cold room to read, write or run; like making time by cutting out hours of TV; like eating less junk and choosing real food (even if it means a little more work); like figuring out what’s working for your business and what’s not – do add up.

Maybe there are a few leaps along the way, but mostly it’s the doing that little bit every day that’s manageable. And it doesn’t seem like much…until you look back.

So make a list. Add notes in a jar. Take pictures. Make a “feel-good file”. Capture your high moments whatever way you prefer. Just know where to look when you get the urge to toss that desk.

Small steps may not be glamorous. But they work. They’re the only way most us CAN make it work.

Keep going.

 

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