Most of a person’s future is lost in the little things. Call it a ripple effect, butterfly effect, whatever. But your small actions each day have a huge impact on your longterm trajectory.
We’ve seen this in the negative. A young child makes the decision to steal a pack of of gum. He gets away with it. That decision opened a door to bigger and bigger things. That kid arrives at age 40 and finds himself in jail, never realizing he could have become a congressman. One small act.
The ripple effect works in the negative. But it also works in the positive.
For instance, the key to that book you want to write is probably a simple 100 words each day during your lunch break. Instead of taking the full hour, why not take 45 minutes and write during your other 15? Instead of driving to a restaurant, pack a lunch and use the saved drive-time to write.
That simple step would mean a chapter in one month. You’d have a book written in a year.
Now what if you took other times during your day? Do you really need to watch the whole football game? What if you skipped the first quarter?
You see; these small steps will lead to big things in your life. Plus, there’s an intangible benefit you won’t see until years later. You’ll see those little decisions led to habits in your life. They led to connections. They led to thoughts that you wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Your small decisions are bigger than they seem. They have a far-reaching impact.
So here’s my question for you: What small decision do you need to make today? What 10-minute project do you need to tackle? What small tweak do you need to make to your schedule?
Make it. Keep making it. See what happens.