All the small things

If you were sitting in an interview and the question came up, how have you changed and evolved over the past 5-7 years, how would you respond?

Many of us would go right to the monumental changes we’ve encountered – maybe it was growing your family, losing a loved one, job promotion, joining a community initiative. Our mind tends to gravitate towards the big moments in life as our way to define what’s happened in the past few years.

Obviously, these big events are extremely impactful but they don’t tell the whole story. At times we underestimate how all the small things in our everyday lives shape so much of what changes over time. Small things that make lasting impacts on whether we stay on our path for striving for a better tomorrow or fall off that path a little at a time.

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Start thinking about what all is around your house. Are there books ready to be read to feed your curiosity? Is the food in the cabinet supporting your health and wellness goals? Is there even something as simple as Tupperware that allows you to bring a cost-conscious meal to work? Is there a family calendar to stay up to speed with the long list of events?

Think about something you look at all throughout the day – your phone. Are there apps that help you move towards your health and wellness goals? Do you leverage a financial app to prepare successfully for the future? Do you have a text string with family or friends that help keep you connected to relationships that are a priority?

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The list can go on and on but the point is while each one of these are small in their own way, combined they become a big wave of determining daily habits that in turn determine long-term success. All the small things continue to compound on one another and while they may not be easy to distinguish, each little piece adds to why we change and evolve over the years.

If you notice, many of these small things also fall in our controllable bucket. We can control whether we invest time in reading, who we choose to connect with that day, what we choose to put on our grocery list, and so much more. The choice is each of ours to acknowledge the little things matter to continued growth.

Take your step: start small and look around your house. What things around your house can help propel you to some of your goals? What adjustments should you make to surround yourself with what you need to move closer towards what you’re striving for? It may be as simple as buying a blender to create a habit of drinking healthy smoothies. Maybe it’s downloading an app so you can listen to books on tape to feed your learner mindset. Whatever the adjustment is, it can be one more step towards striving for your better tomorrow.