What if rather than trying to change your whole life, you just committed to changing one little thing?
As a Life Coach, I live in the personal development space. I consistently digest material that speaks to how we can live up to our potential, create the life of our dreams, or transform in some miraculous fashion into the human we aspire to be.
Many of my clients come to me wanting to improve how they feel about themselves and their lives. They may:
- Feel stuck in a rut knowing that something needs to change but have no idea where to start
- Are in the midst of burnout and are looking for a lifeline to help them feel like they can at least breath again
- Or they know at some level they are moving in a direction that doesn’t feel right, but they don’t know what to do about it
While personal development is a wonderful thing, it can also just make us feel like we’re failing in too many ways to count. When faced with the ominous list of “Things I know I should do” from a client, my advice is always the same.
Rather than add more tasks to the already full “to-do” lists and burden themselves with more obligations, I ask this one question:
What is one simple thing we can focus your efforts on that you already know will make a big difference?
That’s it – one little thing. The rest can move to the side for the time being.
The reason this works so well is all to do with momentum – or the Snowball Effect. Once we get moving in the right direction we:
- Move into a space of flow – we are moving
- Start feeling positive emotions again
- And begin to feel like additional positive habits/feelings become relatively easy
Rather than forcing ourselves into the Person we aspire to be; we rather find ourselves traveling with a relative ease in that direction.
We are no longer in a battle against ourselves to get going. The feeling of achievement that comes from this forward momentum is an essential precursor to sustained personal growth. Baby steps really do lead to big gains.
I’m human, and I often have to practice what I preach. Just recently I was knocked off my center and was feeling negative could feel myself falling into a downward cycle. Due to circumstance, (read nothing extraordinary: holidays, family health issues, and travel) I let many of usual self-sustaining routines fall by the wayside. I know that I thrive when I am nurturing healthy habits. Acknowledging that I was feeling out of whack, I sat down and asked myself this question: what is one small thing I can do to regain some positive momentum?
For me, that was cutting out alcohol. Already I am noticing the snowball impacts – I’m back to meditating daily, drinking more water, and back to consistently practicing my self-care habits. I feel more relaxed, calm, and infinitely more creative for it. I had the inspiration to pump out this blog post!
For another one of my clients, her one thing was setting a consistent bedtime. Her snowball effect – she is happier, feeling more intentional with how she is using her time, being more productive in the mornings, and has noticed her stress levels have gone way down.
Another client decided to focus on creating a consistent work-out habit only to find that a couple of months in, without trying, she was naturally drawn to a healthier diet because that was what she craved. She reported feeling so much happier for it.
Rather than being overwhelmed by all the things you feel you should do, I encourage you to ask this simple question of yourself – What is the one seemingly small thing that you know deep down will help you start moving forward again?
Start there, and don’t expect anything more of yourself. Simply sit back and enjoy the ride while you let the Snowball Effect take hold.
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Hi. I’m Kate Snowise. I’m a Life Coach and host of the Here to Thrive Podcast. I help people get clear on what they want, need and crave, and then helps them take the steps to move towards that.
I believe life is about more than surviving and being good enough. Each of us truly has the ability to thrive and live a beautiful, aligned life where we remember and connect with our authentic selves. I have an MSc in Psychology (the positive kind that concentrates on what is right with you). To read more about my signature coaching program The Thriving Life Project click here.
