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It’s January. Many of us enthusiastically make our New Year’s resolutions; then many of us fail, and we do so quickly. The reason is simple. Our steps are too big. Let’s take a moment here as the year gets underway, then, to revisit a few ideas shared in a a previous blog, where we talked about strategies for successful change.
We live in a culture of innovation. So, when we seek change, we tend to go for what I like to call “the big leap.” If our resolution is to lose weight, for example, we go all out. We join a gym, hire a trainer, and download the latest diet, often all in the first day. In other words, we jump in the deep end, head first, and possibly before we learn to swim. For some, this strategy works. However, research indicates that when we do this, most of us abandon our resolutions within two to three months.
There is an alternative strategy, however, that has also proven to be much more effective. It is the taking of very, VERY small steps in order to accomplish large goals. At first glance, this may appear to defy common sense. Small steps would take too long! Yet, research on successful change reveals the undeniable, powerful effects of incremental steps in achieving larger goals. For example:
*A study in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that a three-pound weight loss can significantly reduce blood cholesterol;
*Research published in the American Journal of Cardiology found that three ten-minute exercise periods provide many of the same benefits as one thirty-minute session;
*Breaking up long periods of sitting with two minutes of walking every twenty minutes can lower blood-glucose levels almost 30%;
*The famous Framingham study of health risks found that subjects who lost four pounds in four years reduced their risk of developing high blood pressure by 25%.
In our 70mm, super-sized, extreme-makeover culture, we have trouble believing that small steps can matter. But small steps are powerful, because they build habits. This is why you are subjected to the same commercials over and over again during hour-long television shows. The repetition, the advertisers know, will build the memory that will result in a plan that you will possibly follow without thinking about it much.
You may recall that I was introduced to the wisdom of this strategy of small steps many years ago when I observed a world-famous pain expert at UCLA conduct the first of a two-night program with a group of patients experiencing cancer pain. At the end of the evening, he offered the audience a homework suggestion. He asked them all to go home and meditate for one minute. I thought this was silly at best. After the audience left, I approached the speaker and politely asked him why he had suggested only one minute. He wisely stated that it was likely that everyone in the room had heard of meditation before. He expected that those who liked the idea had already found a book or a teacher and they were meditating. For the rest of the audience, meditation was possibly the worst idea ever presented to them. He said, “I’d rather they meditate for one minute than not meditate for thirty. If they discover they like it, they may forget to stop.” He was right, and many subsequent studies have supported this strategy for change.
So, as this wonderful new year begins, I encourage you to dream big dreams. It is the steps that you may want to down-size.
Confront the difficult when it is still easy. Accomplish the great task by a series of small acts. -Tao Te Ching
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step. - Lao Tzu
Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens - and when it happens, it lasts. - John Wooden, UCLA Basketball coach
