The Power of Small Changes
Small actions taken today can pave the way for major transformation down the road
Happy new year, friend! And how are you? Whether you are a recent subscriber or have been following my Snail Steps newsletter for a while, thank you for your patience during the pause between posts. Although I’ve been eager to share what I’ve learned on my personal growth journey these past several months, the fast-paced tempo of my life has continued to keep me on my toes. I needed some time and space to start experimenting with course corrections to old routines that no longer sustain me. Which leads to the topic of this post.
As we’re entering a new year with the promise of fresh beginnings and shiny dreams, which can be exciting, I’m aware that some of us may feel pressure or even trepidation about getting started, especially if we have been wrestling with ongoing challenges that didn’t magically resolve at the end of the year. Some of us may feel tired and unmotivated to sign ourselves up for any additional challenges, self-imposed or not, even if there are new paths we’d like to explore.
So I’d like to offer a gentle way to invite transformation into your life: rather than diving head-first toward a major goal, how about starting with the smallest, most incremental changes you can imagine? But why start with small changes? What about dreaming big? Tiny changes are actually quite powerful—they’re like seeds you plant today that, over time, can grow into a lush garden blooming profusely with gorgeous flowers.
Why small changes can be more sustainable than big changes
Have you ever excitedly set a goal for a new project, made a few productive steps forward, and then a month later struggled to find the motivation you previously had? I certainly have—more than once. This is not because big goals are wrong or unhelpful. A long-term project can help us pinpoint a general direction to steer our daily life compass toward, so we’re not wandering aimlessly in circles. But sometimes the goal I set for myself a month ago no longer seems relevant, or it feels overwhelming because it’s not the right time to work on this particular project—or perhaps it wasn’t even the right goal for me to begin with.
Setting small goals to make incremental changes can help us start exactly where we are right now. You can make a tiny change that speaks to what you need or want in this very moment. Since you only need to take one step forward, enacting a small change today feels less overwhelming than envisioning a major transformational change one month ahead. Not only is the bar low enough to begin right away with ease, but also a small change requires less effort to course-correct if you decide it’s not helping you. And a bonus: taking a small action now rewards you with instant gratification. Hooray, you did something! Trying one tiny tweak feels so much better than doing nothing because I feel too overwhelmed by a grandiose vision and don’t know where to start.
How to choose which small changes to focus on
If you are anything like me, you may sometimes feel overwhelmed even at the thought of deciding where to begin, when there are so many changes you’d like to make. So how do you decide which change to try first? Here are a few questions to consider:
What do you need or want most right now?
Which area of your life has felt like the biggest struggle to you lately?
What have you been wanting to try but keep putting off?
What will give you the most joy, healing, or satisfaction today?
You don’t have to answer all of these—if after answering just one question you feel a solid “yes!” then start there.
Some examples of how to start small
Once you’ve decided what kind of change you want to make, how do you make it small enough to feel manageable? Imagine you are zooming into your desired goal with a microscope. What is the smallest action you can take in the next five minutes to move toward this change?
One small change that has made a lasting difference. A few years ago, I decided to reduce my sugar consumption to improve my overall health. What helped me get started was thinking incrementally, so that the change wouldn’t feel like a punishment or great loss all at once. First, I gradually phased sugar out of my pantry. I allowed myself to finish any cookies, candy, or sodas I still had at home. (I don’t like to waste food, especially if it tastes good.) Then I decided I’d only buy sweet treats occasionally, and I would avoid high fructose corn syrup and other artificial ingredients as much as possible. Later on, I decided I would no longer buy these items at all when I went grocery shopping, unless it was for a special occasion. Over time, as I consumed less sugar on a regular basis, I developed a more discerning sweet tooth; although I still enjoy the occasional sweet treat, I prefer less sugar per serving and fewer servings.
Below are a few more examples of how I’ve started small:
Add one new practice to your daily routine. If you’re thinking about starting a new fitness program, try a bite-size version first and see if you can stick with that. About a year and a half ago, I strained both calves and needed physical therapy to rehabilitate. Although I had struggled for years to stick to a regular fitness routine, starting the daily exercises prescribed by my physical therapist developed into an ongoing morning routine that I still maintain to this day. Now I focus on whatever I need to strengthen in the moment, and I rarely skip a workout. The magic was in the small change of adding 20 minutes of simple exercises to my daily routine.
Rearrange one small corner of your home. Rather than tackling your entire closet, how about sorting through just one shelf or drawer today? A little over a year ago, I moved to a new home. Although I got rid of as many things as I could prior to the move, I ran out of time to sort through it all. I still have quite a few boxes stowed away in a couple of different closets that are waiting to be organized, but life has been really busy. What has kept me from feeling overly frustrated is the very gradual process of sorting through one drawer, shelf, or box at a time. Amazingly, I get an immense amount of satisfaction every time I straighten up just one tiny part of my home.
Try one new productivity method. If your current workflow is no longer, well, working for you, try a couple of adjustments before you reboot or give up on the entire process. I think it’s only fitting that the Snail Steps newsletter has been a part of my small changes experiment, too! Although I find less time to write long-form content these days, I still enjoy writing this newsletter and don’t want to quit. So I’m trying a different approach. One newsletter post usually takes me about several hours to complete—from the initial outline to writing, editing, formatting, designing, and publishing, as well as preparing social media announcements. I used to pound out the entire piece in one weekend, but that’s not a sustainable pace anymore. Now I’m breaking up the process into several steps. One evening I drafted an outline for this post. The next day, I started writing the first draft. What you are now reading has come together over a period of several days, rather than one long sitting.
Make time every week for one activity that gives you joy. When you’re feeling overwhelmed by the constantly shifting tides of life, choosing something you enjoy doing, even for as little as 15 minutes a week, can help you feel happier and more grounded in the present. This is my favorite small change to practice, though I admit I don’t do it as often as I’d like. How about if we try this one together? One small change I started practicing last summer is making more time to play. So far, I’ve enjoyed creating LEGO succulent plants, singing while I’m doing dishes or getting steps on my walking pad, and dancing to favorite tunes in my room.
How to stay motivated and maintain consistency
Starting any new change in my routine is often the hardest part, but once I’ve taken the first step forward, I feel exhilarated by the act of transforming myself in this very moment. However, staying motivated week after week can be challenging for me. Can you relate? If yes, here are a few ideas for keeping to the path you’ve chosen:
Focus only on one area of your life at a time. I can speak from experience that trying to make too many changes at once gets overwhelming very quickly. The more things I try to change at once, the more divided my attention becomes, and the harder it is to stay focused.
Zoom in. As much as I’ve been emphasizing the word “small” throughout this post, I can’t overstate how important it is to go as granular as you can. Choose a task, practice, or activity that you can realistically start right now, and make it simple enough to complete the first round today.
Evaluate your experience at least once a week. Take a brief pause to review how the new change is going so far. Is it helping you move closer to your desired goal? If not…
Adjust and pivot often. Just because something is quick and easy doesn’t mean you should keep doing it. If it’s not working the way you’d hoped, consider how you can modify the new change to make it a better fit. If it’s not working for you at all, don’t hesitate to quit altogether. You can always move on to something else.
Celebrate your consistency. Katherine Morgan Schafler, author of The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control (a wonderfully healing reframe of perfectionism), declares that “Maintenance is a triumph,” because in order to truly benefit from a new change, you have to keep practicing it. But life has a way of making frequent interruptions in our plans, doesn’t it? And we’re all human, which means we will regress sometimes. That’s normal. So it’s important to celebrate your consistency when you’ve taken a 15-minute walk every day for a week, and then a month, and wow, an entire year! It doesn’t matter if you skipped a few days, or even a few weeks (or months). What matters is returning to the practice again. And again.
Small changes practiced consistently can lead to major transformation
All big goals, projects, and dreams start with small changes. Once you plant the seed of a single change and continue to nourish this new practice, you may be inspired after an initial period of exploration to make an even bigger change in the same direction. Or you may receive clarity about the next step to take in a different area of your life where you were feeling stuck, simply because you let it lie fallow while you were focusing on this other area. The more you practice making and maintaining incremental changes, the more confidence you will build in your ability to transform your life, one tiny step at a time.
How about you?
What kind of transformation have you been wanting to make in your life? What is the smallest, most incremental action you can take to move forward in the direction of your desired transformation?
May you be inspired to take one tiny, brave step toward transforming your life today, and may you receive encouragement and guidance along the way to help you maintain this new change, until it becomes part of who you are. 🐌
This was a timely read for me - thanks, Alyson. I’m also looking at physical therapy for my back, so I did a 5min core exercise today! Small steps.
Wise and practical advice, gently expressed.