Originally posted 10/28/22

I don’t know about you, but as we are quickly walking towards the end of a year, my mind starts filling with all the hopes, dreams, and goals I want to achieve in the coming year. Some, if not all, of these goals, are monstrously huge. From where I am starting, some feel like insurmountable tasks. Those lofty goals and ideas seem like mountains I can climb in December, and even in January, but like most people, I have slowed or completely stopped the climb as the spring season approaches. This epidemic is so common that you can find thousands of blog posts, books, articles, Ted talks, and more that give you an endless number of solutions and tools to set yourself apart from the crowd and be among the 1-3% that set and meet their goals every year. This is one of those blog posts.

There are few new ideas on this topic, so I am not promising life-changing insight here. That said, sometimes you need to hear something again just at the right time for it to click. I want to talk to you about small changes. That's it, just small changes. Does that seem anti-climatic? Well, I am sorry about that but understand that this focus is coming from someone who has just gone through and is recovering from professional burnout, and the idea that small changes can still make massive impacts is precisely what I need right now. Is it what you need as well?

The last two years in our country and our world have been unlike anything we have seen in our current age, and our lives, communities, and societies will never be the same as they were pre-Covid. Many have accomplished massive changes during this time, and it's easy to look at a new year and load it up with even more massive changes. However, sometimes I wonder what February would look like if those massive changes had smaller steps toward achieving them.

I’ve written about setting up our annual goals in quarterly steps. My Full Focus Planner allows me to write up 10 or more annual goals, but the planners are quarterly, so it almost forces me to break them down into 3 months sections. This is an excellent way to take a massive goal and work through it in manageable sections. But I want to go smaller than that.

Okay. I need to, in all honesty, probably need to lose 100-120 lbs to be at a medically healthy weight. So I put on my annual goal list- Lose 100 lbs in a year. That's literally 1.92 lbs per week. It's not a ridiculous goal. It's a slow process to lose under 2 lbs in a week. So I can set my goal of losing 2 lbs a week. However, that would require weekly weigh-ins, calorie counting, food logging, working out, and more. There are a lot of things to do to keep track of that. Doesn’t seem like a small change. So, what if my goal is to lose 100 lbs, and the first thing I need to do to achieve that goal is to do one thing? Yea, one thing at first. One thing that is manageable and still works toward the overall goal. Maybe that one thing is that I stop eating potato chips. I didn’t say to stop eating carbs, processed food, or candy. I listed one thing. Potato chips.

For me, the absence of potato chips is a huge thing. It might take me a few weeks to master that craving and habit. But once I do, it gets checked off the list. I mastered one small change. That one small change could drop two pounds off that scale in a week or eight in a month together. Small Change=Massive Change. Are two pounds or eight pounds a massive benefit? A massive change? Well, it depends on your definition of the word MASSIVE. But without question, it is a step in the right direction toward the overall goal of losing 100 lbs.

Maybe it's not the weight for you. Maybe it's getting more business. How do you quantify that? Perhaps your goal is to earn $10,000 more monthly by the 3rd quarter of the year. To accomplish that goal, you will need to set up action steps. Right? You can’t just wish for more money. You're going to have to work for it. Those action steps are your small changes. Let me give you some examples of some of your possible action steps:

1. Increase direct marketing efforts by visiting potential clients twice a week,

2. Create a comprehensive follow-up schedule for all contacts,

3. Translate marketing contacts into clients and provide them with excellent service or products.

Both steps one and two can be classified as small steps. But those small steps help make the third step a reality, and if step three happens, then the overall goal is closer to being achieved. All because small steps have the potential to create a ripple effect that goes much further than you might think.

Small changes could also apply to your mental health, home, and relationships. Think about what it would do for your partner if you started making sure you noticed something nice about them every day and told them. If this isn’t something you often do, I imagine it could massively change how they feel about themselves every day and how they feel about you. Was taking the time to notice them a giant effort? Was it the biggest mountain you've ever climbed? Probably not. But imagine the impact on the person you love and care about.

What if you want to have a cleaner house? You decide to walk around the house daily before bed and pick up clutter. That's it. Do you not think that would have a massive impact on the cleanliness of your home?

What if you want a calmer mind? You could decide to spend just three minutes a day practicing meditation. Is that a ginormous change? Well, no, not really. But I am telling you that it could enormously impact you and your mental health daily.

One small change. Maybe it's a haircut or a new way of doing your makeup or hair. These are small, itty bitty changes with the power and potential for major impacts and changes. Those massive impacts could simply be how you feel about yourself.

This idea isn’t revolutionary, but it's important to remind ourselves that we don’t have to put on our tights and cape to change our lives or the world. Sometimes the intention, the idea, and the small steps toward the goals we set or the tasks before us have the biggest impact on us and those around us.

What goals are you thinking about for the new year? How can you break down your steps to achieve those goals into smaller steps and changes? I would love to hear about them. I would love to discuss them with you. As always, feel free to email me at any time. I would love to hear from you.

Until Next Time-

Jennifer K. Cooper- JKC Mobile Notary