The magic of small steps

I discovered the secret how you can achieve your goals.

A secret that can change your life. Forever.

When we look at people who lost weight, at people who got rich, at happy people, at people who mastered a craft, we only see the results.

We see what they are now. And not the path that let them there.

We do not see the hours of hard work they put into it. The errors they made. The times they wanted to give up.

One reaction to this is to be overwhelmed. What they did, we cannot do…

The other reaction is to imitate them. But one has to fail it that if one only looks at the results.

So, now let me propose something different.

Focus on the small everyday steps.  Stick to them.

Read the secret again. It’s too easy to forget. It’s not popular these days. It never was.

The reason is that going from A to B, one step at a time, does not look or feel glorious.

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

Benjamin Franklin

Why small steps are so magical

Small everyday decisions compound over time.

Example 1: Money

You invest $200 a month. It’s easy to do for most persons. Also, easy not to do.

It will not make a big difference at first. You will hardly notice how your savings increase. You’d rather keep the money.

But after 20 years, you will have saved $232.777,50. Here comes the fascinating part: Your investment will return $1370 per month. Not bad at all.

Here comes the fascinating part: Your investment will return $1370 per month. More than you ever saved.

You could even stop saving at this point and have a fantastic retirement nest-egg.

Example 2: Health**  You go for a walk every day.

In your youth, you don’t notice much. Just having some fun.  Enjoying the sun.

Down the road, walking has massive health benefits. Less risk for diabetes, lower weight, better mood and many, many more. It also saves a lot of money.

Example 3: Happiness**  Boy Scouts do a good deed every day. Try it — not only will you make the world a better place to live, but you also will be happy.

Or say thank you to a colleague every day. This changes everything if you stick to it.

The sky is not the limit:

That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind

Neil Armstrong

The one step. For the one man.

It was billions of steps. Years of hard labor of thousands of men. Many mundane, seemingly insignificant things.

Culminating in the one step everyone sees.

Go.

I realize that all of this sounds unimpressive. After all, we all do small steps — right?

The problem is: there are 1000 good excuses for quitting. I don’t see results. I don’t feel well today. The weather is fantastic outside.

So one walks into different directions. No wonder it is overwhelming to come from A to B.

So stick to one direction and go. One small step. 5 minutes - it does not matter. Do not quit. No day off. No matter what. You will be surprised where it takes you.