There are several stories form many cultures about the small unexpected thing becoming significant and causing massive change to society. Western culture especially highlights the tales of the small and unfortunate taking on the large and overbearing. In the early Hebrew writings (Bible), the captive Daniel interpreted a few dreams from the Babylonian King. One of those dreams is about a small stone that falls from a mountain side and as it slowly tumbles down the mountain grows in size until eventually it is so large that it fills the whole earth.
That imagery is very interesting. The seemingly inconspicuous little thing growing in size slowly until it becomes so significant that it it is now the dominant. Putting what Daniel thought that dream might have meant to the side, I was thinking about that concept this morning. What is the small thing that if I started now, would become something that significantly changes my life in the future? Is not this exactly what a habit is? Is this not exactly they way we should think when selecting a habit to focus on?
Really interesting as I reflect on this. The habits that I have started that I took to 365 days and more, how they have impacted my life. The very basic idea of just contemplating what I would focus on each morning has had a profound influence. Prior to that commitment, I would not do this everyday, I would plan like that only periodically. Now it is everyday and I just could not imagine living life any other way. Another is prayer. Some people may scoff at the idea of morning and evening prayer, but combined with my planning session in the morning and my review session in the evening it has helped me focus, stay tuned with what is important to me and providing inspiration when I needed it most. It has also taught me to make the most of each day, to forgive myself, to forgive others and to recognize and be ok with the best I could do that day. That small and simply habit has done major reconstructive surgery in my life. The other small habits have also grown and I find myself completely focused on different things, life altering, improving things. I think I have started to feel what happy must actually feel like – and that is a strange feeling. Makes me think something is wrong. I am so used to having stress, anxiety, worry and intense feelings about overcoming inadequacy as part of everyday, that now those are frequently absent that I have anxiety about the lack of anxiety.
Anyway, my quest continues. I am considering everyday habits that I can form now that in a year, two years from now will have a major impact on me. One of which is the habit of reaching out to someone new everyday that I have not met before. Yesterday, I reached out to the 50th person that I have not met before. I got a response, and we have a scheduled discussion this week. This week I have random 30 minute chats scheduled with a behavioral psychologist, a war hero from Afghanistan, a physician, the founder of a sports nutrition company, and a famous blogger. That will be about 2 hours out of my week – but just think on this. What am I going to gain, grow, and learn from these people? How will this effort impact me if I keep it up for full year? The small simple conversations with great people can indeed become something magnificent! The point is that the small things can become great things, you just have to start and keep it up.
I was thinking that this formula could be applied to almost any challenge in life. Do you want to be a better salesperson for example? Well, what habit could you start right now what would have this snowball effect? Something that if you started right now, and did everyday, would have a compounding effect so that in a year or two from now the impact would be overwhelming? I imagine you could think of a few things, pick the best one and start today!
I did this with my running. I wanted to be healthy, so I decided to just start running everyday. Just a little, everyday. Now I am seriously in planning mode to run my first 100 Miler and in order to get there I will be running several marathons. That is right, marathons are now just simple training runs to me. This all started by running to the 18th green and back at a hotel in Scottsdale AZ and now I am seriously considering what best pair of compression socks I should buy. I did not even now that was even a thing 2 years ago.
Point is start small, pick the little stone, and just watch. In a year or two from now it will be a giant boulder and it will fill your whole life.
Guy Reams (638)
