Why I Take Ridiculously Small Steps to Massively Change My Life

Currently, I am doing the most scary thing I ever. I transform my life — until I am ready to quit my corporate job; make money from my passion; and live happily ever after.

Sounds like a ridiculously big goal?

Ticking My Own Brain

Totally. And I am aware this will by no means happen overnight.

That’s why I broke it down to, again, ridiculously small steps.

So small that each step feels easy.

Let’s take today as an example. To transform my life massively, I write 30 minutes. So 20 minutes from now, my transformative effort for today is done. Check.

Make It Feel Easy

“If something seems to hard for you, the first step isn’t small enough.”

I don’t remember where I read this quote. But it has become my mantra. Us humans, we can do anything. Sure, some faster, some slower.

But the basic idea is that we have limited energy. We have to handle that constraint wisely. And again, a limited part of that energy is transformational energy.

The idea is not to overstretch that part. This would just cause overwhelm.

The idea is to divide a seemingly ‘too big’ idea in steps so ridiculously small you easily implement them, day by day.

And suddenly, you are at a totally different place.

Radically Erasing Overwhelm

I find that any transformation is all about emotions. Human brains are built on habits and recurrence to create some safety and avoid chaos.

So far, so human.

And it’s only natural that we have a resistance towards change. But we can outplay that resistance: we can make change appear so small that even our own brain barely notices.

Change is all about emotions. And as soon as we feel resistance, things become hard for us.

Overwhelm = paralysis.

But a feeling of ‘oh, that’s doable’ leaves us at ease.

Small successes cause cravings for more. It’s essential to create those small successes and cravings.

Where I Am At Now

The first thing to know when we initiate about is that we we’d rather be. Make your goal life very clear. Then go and create a system that avoids overwhelm.

Any big task can be achieved with ridiculously small steps.

Still, it will take patience.

But good things don’t come with lots of comfort. So the best advice is to make them as comfortable as possible.

Take my example.

I still hold that stupid belief that I am just not made for extraordinary things. That’s probably from my childhood, but it doesn’t matter.

I still keep going. It’s easier to act myself in who I want to be than to think myself in who I want to be.

Five years ago, I noticed for the first time that I am not built for my life path.

So I did a tennis coach license and never stopped to write on Medium. I didn’t put in 12 hour days for that. In fact, I put in small consistent efforts over five years.

Now I have my coach license and am teaching tennis. Last month and this month are the first two where I am coming close to four digit earnings on Medium.

So I have been moving to a point where quitting my corporate job would actually be financially secure.

And while I write this, I can’t even believe it myself.

Small steps made change so seemless.

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