If you’re striving towards something, making a change, or forging a new path in your life…
There’s one thing you have to realise before you get there: reaching your goals takes one million little steps. It’s rarely just one big one.
Sure, there might be a major step along the way; a moment you look back on and identify as life-changing. It could be an opportunity you were clever to jump on, a risk that turned out right, a celebratory moment where all the hard work pays off.
But those big game-changing moments are built on the little things. It’s your habits and rituals that bring you those moments and opportunities in the first place. Nothing (and no one) can get you from where you are now, to where you want to be — without having built a foundation that moves the needle.
You know: all those little, daily steps that get you a tiny bit closer to where you want to be.
Consider how this has manifested itself in your life so far. Perhaps two years ago, you set out on a mission to add more activity to your life. What started as twenty minute walks twice a week has evolved into being a regular fitness class attendee; a level you couldn’t dream of reaching when you began.
Maybe one day, you decided to create more focus, to find ways to get more done in your designated productivity time. Week by week, you narrowed down the distractions, you figured out what pulled your focus away, and you built rituals that returned you to centre. Now, you don’t struggle to zone in and get things done when you need to — and the extra spare time is proof that you made a change.
Maybe you wanted to prioritise family time, and cut out the late nights at work. Over time, subtle shifts happened, both in mindset and behaviour, and each time you were faced with a decision, you chose the one that aligned with your goals. When you look back, you realise how far you’ve come — now, your family knows you’re a non-negotiable presence in their life.
See: when you’re trying to achieve a big dream, you don’t have to think so big. There is a secret formula to achieving your goals — it’s your habits. Not a stroke of good luck, or crossing your fingers that the right opportunity comes along.
The beautiful thing about this mindset is that it lessens the pressure, because you can only take it one day at a time (and, truthfully, imagining a whole life change at once is totally overwhelming). Play it as big as you want with your goals, but think small in your actions.
Focus on making those little, impactful changes to your daily rituals and routines.
That’s when real change comes — and it feels so much more sustainable and stress-free along the way.
Reposted with permission by Retreat Yourself at www.retreatyourself.com
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
