What tops most of our New Year’s Resolutions list? The big four include health, work, money and family. Most of us want to be healthier, quit smoking, lose a few pounds and exercise more. Others among us want to improve at our jobs, maybe make more money, go back to school or learn a skill we have been meaning to. And nearly all of us want to save more, spend less and get debt under control. Likewise, we may want to spend more time with our partners, kids and family. Maybe we want to travel or help a child save for college.
Whatever your resolution is, know that it is the small steps we take every day that get us closer to our goals. Even big journeys begin with small steps. If you want to lose thirty pounds just thinking about all the stuff you have to do, or not do can be overwhelming and ultimately send you off track soon after you start. Want to get healthy? Start small, maybe pack your lunch and take a short walk each day. Or figure out a way to remake your favorite comfort food into a healthier version.
I know a little something about small steps leading to big things. Stathakis started in a garage as a small painting business and has grown to a large thriving company of over 400 employees. If I would have had to mentally work to where we are now, it would have been too much, too big, too seemingly impossible. Instead we grew steadily and as we got better at what we were doing, we added services and we added people. The goals changed as we grew and with every step, I got bolder in imagining where we could be a year from now and five years from now.
There’s an old saying “how do you eat an elephant?” And the answer is “one bite at a time.” If you had to think about eating a whole elephant, you’d get acid indigestion just thinking about it, but that first bite is a real possibility. The beauty of small goals is you have something real and doable to focus on. And when you get there, you go on to the next bite. So for all of you, for me, for any of us, I wish you a Happy New Year and the resolve you need to start planning your next bite, whatever that might be.
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