for BIG CHANGES start small
Author: Anthony Quinn

People often know they aren’t living the life they would like to. They may even have a clear goal - but, just don’t seem able to make long-term sustainable change in their lives.

Even when they develop clear goals, decide on a plan and take action - somehow they lose their way and find themselves back where they started - sometimes in worse spot than before!

Its all too easy in the rush of enthusiasm that follows the decision to change, to get carried away and try and change everything at once - You could give it a try - it really does work for some people. But, if you’re one of the many who’ve tried, tried and tried again becoming disillusioned along the way - I’d like to suggest another way!

If you want to change any area of your life - how about taking control by starting small?

This is a simple but very effective way of making genuine sustainable change and growth in any area of your life.

First pick one area of your life where you’d like to grow. Take a look at where you are now and where you’d like to be. Then, decide on one simple small step that you could take, that would move you towards what you want.

Now simply make a promise to yourself that for the next week that you will keep this up.

• If you’d like to stop smoking and currently smoke 20 a day - you could promise to stick to 18 a day!

• If you’d like to lose weight, you could promise to only eat two biscuits with your morning coffee, rather than the usual 3.

It really doesn’t matter what the promise is - What does matter, is that you intend to keep it!


The most common reason people fail is setting themselves goals which they believe are out of reach - how easy would it be to give up trying to fly?

Keep it small, and it’s not only easier to keep your promise - but its also harder to break it!

After a week, review how you got on with your promise: (You may find it easier initially if ask a friend to ask how you’re getting on each week - even better if they make their own promise).

• If you kept it up all week - FANTASTIC - give yourself a pat on the back :o) what would be another small step be towards your goal? Remember keep it small and keep moving forward.

• If you never managed to keep it - ask yourself what went wrong? What can I learn from this?

Did you really mean to keep your promise in the first place? Was it just too hard? If this is the case and the change is still important to you - how could you make it easier for yourself? Think of something smaller and commit to that - and try again.

There is no success or failure here - only an opportunity to understand yourself and learn what works for you - We do things for reasons, even bad habits- understanding these reasons gives you options and allows you to choose to react differently!

The secret really is to keep the steps small - if you keep this process up you’ll find that you make measurable progress towards your goal and in all probability look back wonder how it could ever have been hard.

But there is second hidden benefit in this process - and that is the growth in self confidence and self esteem that come from making and keeping promises - this is especially true when the promise is only to yourself!

Give it a go I’m sure you’ll be amazed!

Fear of taking action - is the biggest single cause of stagnation in life, taking small steps allows you to gain control, build confidence and transform your life. Any "wrong decisions or actions" will be correspondingly small and easy to learn from - again building the habit of learning and moving on!!

Taking small steps and preserving simplicity, then being wrong and learning from it is the best way to explore the unknown. Make failure frequent, fast, and cheap (Roy Miller).

(This article was originally published as part of the Life Coach Column of the Northern Echo's website http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk)






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Anthony Quinn is a UK based Personal Development Consultant, Life Coach and the founder of Empirical Coaching. Empirical Coaching focuses on reigniting peoples passion for life, by getting them into action working towards some goals and using the learning from their experiences to take control of their selves and their lives. Check out the website at http://www.empiricalcoaching.com

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