Small Habit Changes Can Lead to Big Advances

By: Randy Wolken, President & CEO

I don’t know about you, but some days it all seems a little overwhelming. The world and what it demands can seem like too much.  Right?  And yet, as leaders we are tasked to navigate in this increasingly global and complex world.  How do we do it?  Small habit changes give us a way to productively move forward.

Big changes are incredibly risky.  We see it all the time.  How about small changes?  They are much more manageable, and we can continue to modify them over time.  Let me give you just one example – this weekly blog.  How did it start?  I decided that I would do a weekly message to the members.  At first, I did not know where it would lead.  However, I worked with my team and we began putting it out.  Each week this small habit bloomed into something more – and hundreds of readers who have told me they value it.  Today, over two years later, I have written well over a hundred weekly messages.  It also resulted in my writing my first book and getting it published on Amazon.  Today, I am giving learning sessions about its contents.  I have written a second manuscript and plan to continue.  One small habit change – a weekly blog piece of about 500 words – has changed me into a published author.  I could give you dozens of similar changes in my life that started with one small decision that has snowballed into something big, wonderful, and life-giving.

We use this technique of small changes in our habits at MACNY. This helps us change our services as we transform ourselves into the MACNY of the future.  I see this used countless times in our member companies to completely transform themselves daily.  Almost all start with small habit changes that multiply over and over again.  Start small – and then, overtime, go bigger.

There are no overnight successes.  None.  Every successful business – even the largest – are an accumulation of small wins due to small habit changes. When we adopt a small habit change approach, we can take action today – now.  We can begin change – and choose to continue it.  It works.  And today, we need it more than ever to go beyond surviving to thriving.

What small habit changes can you make today that will accumulate into something significant over time?  Is there a habit change in your personal life or professional life that you want, and you can start in a small way today?  How can you encourage others to start small habit changes that will enhance their life and the work they will do in your organization?  As leaders, we are responsible for our change and others.  Start small – it will change your life and your organization in a very big way.

Looking for more? Download my Amazon Bestseller, Present-Future Leader:  How to Thrive in Today’s Economy.