The Power of Absurdly Small Goals

Are you investing your most precious resources of time, effort and energy in a way that aligns with your highest values?

If we go with the statistics, your answer to the question above is no.  Research shows that as many as 50 percent of adults in the United States make New Year’s resolutions, but fewer than 10 percent keep them for more than a few months. 

Example- You transitioned to a work-from-home situation in 2020.  

• For the last 9 months you haven’t worn pants during business hours if you didn’t feel like it.  
• You’ve Door Dashed more often than you’d like to admit because you were under a stay at home order (and let’s face it, didn’t want go to the store because you’d have to put on pants, lol)
• You’ve worked out the best you could but it just didn’t feel as fulfilling as your pre-covid sweat sessions at your local studio.  

January 1st arrives. You are determined to make 2021 different!  YOU TAKE ACTION!   

✔️ Reconfigure ‘home office’ into a boutique office/fitness studio complete with meditation corner. 

✔️✔️ Buy a cookbook and trade in dash pass for a weekly organic delivery service

✔️✔️✔️ Thank and donate the outfits that no longer bring joy + commit to a morning routine that includes, you guessed it, pants.

You kick a** and by March…………………………………..  You are a part of the 90%.

The terms Virtuous Cycle & Vicious Cycle– snowball effect- refer to complex chain of events that reinforce themselves through a feedback loop.  

Why are you a part of the 90%? Using an all or nothing mindset can set you up for failure. While it can feel exhilarating to go from 0 to 60, the process (long term) is overwhelmingly more successful the smaller you go. 

The secret:  Create goals so small that there is no way that you cannot achieve them day over day.  COVID-19 may make it especially difficult to prioritize goals in 2021.  You can increase your chances of achieving your New Year’s resolutions by setting small, daily,  achievable goals that will help you form new habits that will still serve you long past Springtime. An easy way to start is to ask yourself a few questions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

1. What am I  willing to start today?  Right now, this second?
2. What can I accomplish in 10 minutes?  
   1. This is ½ of a percent of your day- anyone can find 10 minutes every day.
3. What do I need to do to become 1% better everyday?  
   1. What will I feel like 30 days from now if I become 1% better everyday?
   2. What will I feel like if I don’t?
4. (bonus question) Do I actually care?  
   1. No point in going through the process of setting up even itty bitty milestone goals if you are doing it because you *should*, someone else wants you to, all your friends are doing it.

Ultimately, only YOU can determine which snowball you will turn into an avalanche.   You’ve already become great at small habits.  When was the last time you skipped whatever beverage gets you going in the morning?  How many days in a row have you checked social media? By carving out those 10 minutes a day, you are choosing to invest your most precious resources of time, effort and energy in a way that is in line with your highest values.  

The magic of possibility for what you’ll create for your future begins with the decision to believe that  a seemingly insignificant action, repeated over time, can move mountains.