Do Just One Thing

One step at a time is good walking.

Chinese proverb

Now that we’re well and truly into the New Year, it’s safe to assume many of us have already fallen short of our resolutions to quit/start doing big, transformative things. But just because January 1 is in our taillights doesn’t mean it’s too late to make positive changes.

If you didn’t make much progress on your big resolution before calling it quits and setting your sights on 2021, consider doing something tiny instead. I’m convinced that making small changes – even one small change – can be enough to make a profound difference in anyone’s life.

I was motivated to write this after I ran across one of my favorite books, “One Small Step Can Change Your Life” by Robert Maurer. It’s a very short book, so if you have an extra hour or two, I recommend giving it a read. 

Outwitting Evolution

Maurer’s thesis – and I’m convinced it’s true – is that most success is the result of hundreds of small, often tiny, steps that ultimately result in big changes. In fact, humans are so hard-wired to resist big changes that finding small ways to make big improvements is frequently the best way to outwit evolution.

See, back in the old days, our ancestors who were able to react most quickly to an immediate threat were able to survive and produce offspring. Those with duller reflexes typically didn’t live to celebrate Mother’s Day. 

Granted, the fight-or-flight response can still come in handy, but when we’re in that mode, it dulls the part of our brain responsible for higher-order thinking and logic. So, when we want to make a big change or take on a major challenge, many of us become paralyzed by the enormity of the task and, six months later, we’re pretty much where we started.

Sometimes, though, inertia isn’t an option.

The Kaizen Way

As Maurer retells in his book, when American military manufacturers were facing World War II, they needed to gear up, fast. Supervisors were urged to “look for hundreds of small things” they could improve in the manufacturing process and to involve every single employee through tools such as the employee suggestion box. That approached helped them build the equipment needed to defeat the Axis powers.

After the war, Japan used the “small changes” approach to rebuild their destroyed nation. It became so ingrained in Japanese business culture that they gave the system a name of its own: kaizen.

Simply put, Kaizen outsmarts evolution by bypassing the fear reflex. It downsizes mountains into manageable molehills and makes success more achievable. And while it may take longer to organize your office one drawer at a time, most people are unlikely to devote the 2-3 entire days it would take to transform their workspace into the organized nirvana they envision. Which is why such projects typically remain undone.

It’s tempting to disregard the power of small things, but think back to those people you trust the most. Are they people who successfully completed a major task for you, or are they people who, year in and year out, arrived on time to meetings, met deadlines, and did the little things that earned them your trust? Chance are, it’s the latter.

What Are Your Small Steps?

Here are my favorite ways to take small – but potent – actions:

Ask little questions: If I have a big challenge, I ask “what one thing could I do today (or tomorrow) to get closer to my goal?” That could be 15 minutes of research, one phone call, or cleaning out one drawer.

Build on your small actions over time: It’s easier to make a habit out of going to the gym on a regular basis, or eating a healthy breakfast, or getting a good night’s sleep, if you can do it just once. Maybe once a week. Or once a month. Whatever small goal gives you the sense of accomplishment you need to keep moving forward.

Appreciate the little good things: It’s tempting to become preoccupied with the negative things in our lives. To snap out of that mode, once or twice a day, take time out to appreciate the nice things around you, whether it’s the way the sun hits the flowers in your office foyer or the way the security guard greets you every morning. Before long, you’ll realize that there’s more going right in your world than wrong. (For more on this, see my Blissipline column.)

As it turns out, the secret to success doesn’t lie in transforming ourselves. The graveyard of “one hit wonders” is testament to the unreliability of “overnight success.” Positive change is more likely to occur when we take small, frequently unnoticeable, actions that put us on the right path, whether that path seems momentous or mundane.

#OnlyJoy