When it comes to making any big change in your life, it can be scary and overwhelming. Often we get stuck analyzing a situation or learning more, rather than jumping in and starting to make small changes.
I’d like you to draw a dot on a piece of paper. This represents where you are in your life right now. Now draw a line horizontally outward to the right and place another dot on the page. This is where you will be down the road if you don’t change.
Now try something different. From the original point, shift the trajectory of the line up one degree. Now follow this line outward and upward to a new point. This is where you’ll be down the road by just making one tiny little shift today. Your entire life path will be different.
Small changes can make a HUGE difference. A daily affirmation, a gratitude journal, a morning prayer, a daily walk, drinking more water, eating a piece of fruit for breakfast. There are so many positive little changes you could make.
Likewise, little negative things can also lead us in the opposite direction.
A few months ago I was driving to work after having a small disagreement with my husband. I found myself thinking some ugly negative thoughts. I always listen to personal development podcasts or books in the car, and that morning I just happened to hear a talk from a pilot who said this:
“Suppose you were to take off from an airport at the equator, intending to circumnavigate the globe, but your course was off by just one degree. By the time you returned to the same longitude, how far off course would you be? A few miles? A hundred miles? The answer might surprise you. An error of only one degree would put you almost 500 miles (800 km) off course.”
That day I felt my thoughts leading me away from where I wanted to be. I could see how if I entertained those negative thoughts about my husband (who is totally awesome, by the way) it could lead me away from the happy marriage and family that is so important to me.
What change can you make today?
The difference between happiness and misery, failure or success, often comes down to small simple choices that we make every day.
My challenge to you is to pick 2 or 3 small changes you can make in your life today. If you’re working on your health and fitness or trying to eat clean, but just keep reading diet book after diet book, stop reading and start doing. If you’re overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin, I always suggest these three starting goals:
1) Drink more water.
2) Add a fruit and vegetable to every meal or snack.
3) Create a minimum exercise standard for yourself.
The important thing is that you take just one small step. I’ve slowly taken one baby step after another over the last year, and I’ve lost 50 pounds. None of the changes I’ve made have been big or grandiose, but they all add up to something amazing in the end. Believe me, I’ve been a lifelong dieter. If I can make it work, I promise you can too!
