Little Habits that Get You on the Right Path

Big has its purpose; a big vision, the end-game, the master plan, the goal. But little is where it's at when we really want to get things done. Little is where we get started and set ourselves "on track."

If we are on path we will instantly feel a sense of "yes!", moving forward and doing something. In fact, it's well thought out and we know it's working.

We can emulate the people who are most successful at reaching their goals. It starts with small steps. ​​When you were young and learning to read, you had to start with sounding things out and going over the words slowly until you developed the skill to read fast and quietly to yourself.

Now, their are other, bigger outcomes you desire. They're almost like projects you must take on because they can't be flippant about how you go about it if you want to take it seriously. These outcomes you desire are important. These desires change based on your age and stage, right? 

You May Have Been on a Yo-Yo When it Comes to Getting What You Want

Diets, trials, trying to adopt new habits or instill good ones in your family all may have been plans with good intentions yet they didn't stick.

Yo-yo-ing in making plans, or following diets, plans or advice is when we kind of try it and go back. A new habit or outcome does not stick. There's a reason for this in our brain. In a nutshell, our deepest, most primitive areas of our brain don't want us to change at all, even if it's for our good.

To get around our resistance to change...we start little!

For the big vision of where you should start planting your flag to get a sense of purpose and direction when choosing your small action steps, you won't want to miss the Live, free goal-setting workshop. It happens virtually and very soon. 

How do you start little?

Just commit to the smallest thing.

Why? Because if you haven't been getting what you want and you don't think you are about to take any kind of big plunge, you are better off with small steps to your destination that build on themselves vs doing nothing at all.

Small steps do build on themselves. They open doors actually where you saw none before. That is, you could have only guessed what would happen next but when you take steps and action the right direction, you don't have to guess, you see.

Small new habits essentially announce even in a little way to your deeper brain (the one that doesn't want to change) that "Hey, it's OK" and that's all your deep brain needs to let you go forward without fear which shows up in most people as resistance, excuses, blocks, give-ups and other stuff that causes them to stop all together.

You are also telling the universe really that you are the person who does this thing now,  no matter how small your action is, it's the consistency that matters.

Make sure you get started is the key. Start small and don't make it too big, cumbersome or over-stretching. It's kind of like you want to plan on not marrying someone you meet at first sight and committing to them forever but you will commit to a dinner. One small step, that's a good step. When you take it absurdly small, you will do the actions. You want to make it so small that really anybody can do it even on their off day. That's when you are on track.

Your path or end game may include you ramping up your good habits in fitness, food management, relationships, managing your money or managing your stuff or your mess.

Here's some small habit ideas to fit into your day:

• 1 minute planks everyday
• 5 pushups
• 5 situps
• Read 5 paragraphs
• Read for 10 minutes
• Run for 8 minutes
• Run/walk a 1/2 mile
• Interval train for 4 minutes
• Eat an apple first thing when you have a sweet craving
• A salad with every lunch (even if just lettuce or spinach and nothing else added)
• Appreciate someone before you talk to them
• Save $20 every two weeks. Better than none at all
• My hubby always takes time to ask and listen how someone is doing before getting into any more of a conversation
• I acknowledge what is said, the good and stick to it for a minute or the bad and give condolences and then move on to the meat of the conversation
• Clean up 5 items before bed
• Clean up one surface before bed. Put it anywhere else. Usually sorting is the key but you don't need to
• Write 50 words
• Read one article
• Read two pages

These small tasks and activities can be as big as you need but they should be absurdly small too, so you can do them even on your "off" days. What's small for one person is not for someone else, just make it right for you.

Remember it's just about getting in the habit of doing something and making space and time for it so you start taking this new action seriously. 

The big vision is still important and can give you some motivation and clarity about where you are going and what you are doing. Join us in goal setting for free.

Which small action can you commit to in getting started?

Big has its purpose; a big vision, the end-game, a master plan, a goal. But little is where it's at when we really want to get things done. Little is where we get started and set ourselves "on track."

If we are on path we will instantly feel a sense of "yes!", moving forward and doing something. In fact, this is the space you are in when you know it has been well thought out and it's working.

We can emulate the people who are most successful at reaching their goals. It starts with small steps