4 Small Habits with Big Impact

Instead of typical resolutions for 2015, I decided to introduce small habits into my everyday life to improve my overall well-being.  My goal is to integrate all of these practices to the point where they become a part of my core character.  Success means that I practice these habits more often than I did last year (trust me, there is a huge grading curve).  So without further ado, here is a list of 5 seemingly small habits that would make a big impact on our lives.

1. Ask perceptive questions

Setbacks are inevitable.  Instead of negative talk, try to understand more about what happened.  Where was the point of weakness? What can be done to improve the situation?  How can this problem be prevented in the future? When is the next opportunity?  The answers to these types of questions will clear a better path to our goals, and impart some valuable lessons along the way.

2. Take care of yourself

When we take care of ourselves, we are able to function at optimal levels.  Without adequate rest, our performance drops.  A healthy diet and exercise rejuvenates our energy levels.  Meditation improves our focus. Journaling clarifies our thoughts.  Okay, so maybe this isn’t a “small” habit in itself, but we can do small things everyday to make sure we have our own backs.  

3. Introduce challenges everyday

Do one thing each day that pushes the boundaries of our comfort zones.  Maybe it is increasing the heaviness of the weights during a workout or striking up a conversation with a stranger.  On a bigger scale, it could be heading up a new project or trying a new activity.  Growth happens when we stretch out into the unknown and test our limits.

4. Be grateful

There is always something for which we can be grateful.  Instead of letting resentment, anger, frustration, or discontent take over our mindset, let us direct our energy toward the things we are glad to have in our lives.  When we practice gratefulness, our problems become less significant and we get closer to learning the art of contentment.

5. Clear the clutter

Both physical and mental spaces can become congested with clutter - our homes, our offices, our thoughts, our finances, our schedules, our relationships.  It is important to increase our awareness of what we allow into those spaces for the sake of sanity.  Taking the time to purge the extra and unnecessary leaves us room to enjoy and focus on our priorities.


What small habits have made a big impact on your life?

Find the integral - Small steps to big change

Welcome to February 2015!  Depending on where you are on the resolution spectrum, this is can be either good or bad news.  For many of us, we jump start the new year armed with a list of goals to accomplish; our resolve is sure, our commitment firm.  Then, something happens and we begin to question that resolve and abandon those commitments.  What started out as possible becomes an obstacle of epic proportions - it’s just too hard.

Face it:  we do not like change.  Our minds and bodies are wired to favor the comfortable, the familiar, the easy.  We want results now, but without challenge or hardship.

However, life is all about change.  The most important things require work, sacrifice even, before they manifest.  So maybe in order to reach those goals we need to take a different approach - one that works with and against our human nature.  And it involves calculus.

Fortunately, this is not an introduction into calculus.  However, there is a principle of calculus that is of great interest here: the integral.

Simply stated, finding the integral is the act of adding up an infinite number of really small rectangles to estimate the area of a complex shape.

So if asked to find the area of a rectangle, one would simply multiply the length by the width.   It has a defined formula.  It’s easy.

But what if the shape had a curvy line?  It’s a bit more difficult, but doable.  What if you cut up the shape into a lot of smaller rectangles?  You know how to find the area of a rectangle (you just did it.)  Now, all you have to do is add up the areas of all those tiny rectangles to estimate the area.

An example of approximating the area using integration  - finally putting those calculus notes to good use!
via

Did you catch it? We can handle small changes.  They are not too far from our comfort zone.  They are simple, doable steps.

By making a bunch of small changes, something that seems more difficult becomes possible.  Small changes can get us to our goals.  It just might be the approach we need to finally tackle that seemingly insurmountable mountain, whatever it may be. 

To eat healthier, add one more serving of vegetables to dinner.  Drink one less soda per week.

To get in shape, start by walking for 10 minutes after dinner.  Do some stretching while watching a favorite show.

To get more organized, find a home for the most often misplaced items.  Spend 5 minutes each day handling mail or putting things away.

Once these small changes become our new norm, we can dare to make the next change.  Please understand, it is not a fail-safe method by any means;  reaching any goal requires consistency.  But this way, success, no matter how small, begets success.

Whatever the goal, it’s a matter of taking steps, big or small, in the right direction.  Before you know it, you will be ahead of the curve.

As I think, I am

Goals are important.  They are not just aspirations to attain, but also the generator of habits.  This principle was revealed to me this year, as I tried a different approach to my goal-making.  This past January, I set one goal for various aspects of my life that I wanted to improve - physical health, nutrition/diet, spiritual walk, education - and wrote them on a piece of paper that I posted above my desk.  Each day, I forced myself to see them and as a result, act upon them.  At the end of each month, I took a few minutes to reflect on the progress I made toward the goals, good or bad, and prepared the goal set for February.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  

After reviewing my progress from August, I realized that my goals were doing more than getting me to a milestone, they were creating new routines in my life.  Many of my goals were to be better than I was the previous month, however 'better' was quantified.  My goals uncovered an underlying mission - to be the best person I can be.  Despite its simplicity, this was a great 'ah-ha' moment for me.  I know what kind of person I want to be.  All that is standing in the way of me actually becoming that person is a decision, or a set of decisions, that propel me in that direction.  Those decisions ultimately create habits that work in my favor.

Charles Duhigg, the author of The Power of Habit, concludes that once an individual can master their habits, they can accomplish anything.  (**Highly recommended reading for anyone who wants to understand the mechanics of habits and how to change them.**)  For instance, if you want to become more organized, it's going to take more than a cursory decluttering session and purchasing plastic bins or baskets.  You have to identify the habits that make you dis-organized and change them to ones that maintain organization.  Willpower is a skill that must be exercised. Likewise, discipline is learned and will not come easily.

It's also important to remember there is not one single formula to change all habits - some are easy to change and others are difficult.  (I am mainly speaking to the 21-day routine, which has failed me on numerous occasions.)  The saying "old habits die hard" testifies to our resistance to change.  It's all about making conscious decisions to override the unconscious ones.  And no matter how minute, our choices dictate so much of our lives.  

To make those choices easier, it helps to have a mission.  As we determine the main purpose(s) for our lives, careers, roles and more, we are better able to set goals and procure habits that propel us toward it.  Think back to all those new year's resolutions, those goals to lose/gain/stop/improve whatever was highlighted at the moment.  But life is messy and unpredictable, despite our best laid plans.  Priorities switch, obligations shift, emotions flare up, and motivation tested.  The nature of these unknowns is why many businesses craft a mission statement: as markets and trends change, a company should always know its purpose.  In the midst of all that uncertainty, a mission statement gives DIRECTION and reminds us of why we do what we do.  So, when those inevitable challenges come, we can revise our goals so that we are able to stay on target.  

Decartes famously wrote "I think, therefore I am." But I would amend his quote to this:  "As I think, so I am." Not only do my thoughts confirm my existence, they dictate the parameters of it.  Thoughts become Actions. Actions become Habits. Habits become Character. Character determines who you are.