Small Steps Are Better Than No Steps

New Year’s Resolutions. Ugh. I think my resolution is to stop making resolutions. (But you know, best of luck with yours, lol) 

Here’s how I think about resolutions, starting new habits, etc. etc. First, I believe that learning, growth, personal development…these are basic human drivers. So there is nothing wrong with wanting to challenge yourself. 

But what often happens to me is that I set myself up to “fail” by trying to take on too many things at once or something too big, which overwhelms me and then I give up and that makes me feel like I’ve failed in some way. 

Let’s take my kitchen for example. It could benefit from a deep clean. But when I start thinking about what a deep clean could look like…yowza. When was the last time I got up there and dusted that wasted space between the top of the cupboards and the ceiling? (What is that called anyway?) When was the last time I moved the refrigerator and vacuumed up all the dust bunnies? The floor! On and on. The longer the list grows, the more overwhelmed I become until, it’s too much and I decide to take the dog for a walk instead. 

SO. INSTEAD of doing that, I love the idea of small steps. 

Just choose ONE small thing. What’s the very first step? For me it was taking everything out of the dish drainer that was clean and dry, but I just hadn’t gotten around to putting it away. Seems simple enough. 

When I put away all the things that had been in the dish drainer, I discovered plastic lids that had been wedged under it and were yucky. I also discovered that the sink under the dish drainer needed a scrubbing. So I gave it a good scrubbing and now it sparkles and makes me happy when I look at it. 

One teeny step — putting the dishes away led to the next step — scrubbing the sink. Which led to scrubbing the countertops. Which led to omg the refrigerator needs to be cleared out and cleaned.

I made MORE progress by just taking one little simple step. Is the kitchen “done”? No, there is still work to be done. Is it better than it was? Oh hell yeah. 

What is the smallest — NOT the biggest — step you can take today toward something you want to accomplish? Tell me all about it. I love hearing back from you!