Power-Small-Steps

 

Yesterday I got into a tug-of-war with myself.

It was dark, cool and 4 a.m. I did not sleep well the night before and my bed was so comfortable. But I greatly needed to get up for my daily workout. I hate working out when I am that tired.

I wanted to blow it off; I couldn’t get together enough energy to get out of the bed. Usually I can pep-talk myself into getting up on days that I lack motivation but my mind kept saying “oh, one day off during the week is not going to hurt.”

I finally pulled out my covert weapon, the baby step. I told myself that if I just got up and went to the gym, I would only stay for half of the time and do light walking versus my regular all out, balls to the wall cardio that I do twice a week. After that, I could come home if I wanted. That seemed reasonable enough, and so I got up and went to the gym.

After the first ten minutes, which was really not as tiresome as my mind and body suggested it would be, I increased the time another ten minutes. By the time I was finished, those increases added up to sixty minutes and 618 calories burned!

Small increases helped me get started and they helped me continue.

When you are feeling unmotivated, stressed, time-restricted, or just tired, just employ small steps. They do not take a lot of energy but they can take you farther than you thought you could go.

Small steps have an immense effect. Here are four reasons why they are so powerful.

Gets You Moving

We all have dreams and aspirations that we want to accomplish in our lives, from today’s to-do list to long-term goals. In spite of what you wish to accomplish in your personal or profession life, the best way to be triumphant is to just start. One small step can be the difference between advancement and stagnation.

When I started on my fitness and weight loss journey nearly 6 months ago, I was very resistant. I had tried to lose weight in the recent past with diet and exercise without success. But one day, after not being able to fit into my favorite pair of jeans, I decided I needed to do something about the baby weight that I was struggling to lose.

I started telling myself that I would start slow. My husband and I began to eating Paleo and I started going to the gym. I convinced myself that I would just go to the gym a few times a week.

After my first session of doing the 30-Minute Circuit and the elliptical trainer at my gym, I realized that it was not that difficult. The next day, I got up and did it again. I continued getting up and going every day, 5 days a week since December 30 regardless if I felt like it or not. Some days, I need to give myself a serious pep talk just to get my running shoes on.

Create Drive

If the first step you took felt hard, the second and third most likely will as well. Ultimately you will gain drive to do whatever task is at hand, whether it be getting up to go to the gym or going on to complete that MBA you’ve been telling yourself you are going to finish. But first you have to generate enough movement for the drive to happen or in other words “get the ball rolling.”

By creating the movement, you create a habit. Humans are creatures of habit. The more you do the same thing repetitively, the more you are able to move on “auto pilot.”

You can lose the drive at any point in your process, like I did earlier in the week when I attempted to talk myself out of getting up to go to the gym. Wherever you are in your progression, do not surrender when it begins to feel difficult. Sometimes you feel weak and when you feel weak you just want to quit but you have got to dig down deep and find that motivation to not give up no matter how bad you want to stop. Just center yourself on the next small step in your plan and keep moving forward. It is ok to slow down your momentum a bit if you begin to feel weary but don’t stop moving forward.

Gain Perspective and Remain Motivated

Have you ever really thought about what it takes to move from point A to point Z? If you look at it from a distance, it seems like one gigantic step. But, if you break that gigantic step up into smaller increments, it is easier to see progress and keep going without getting frustrated.

Back in December when I started this weight loss journey, I wanted to lose 40 pounds. 40 pounds does not seem like that much until you realize that they are not going to just fly off of you. You have to WORK to get them to move. You have to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving until you get to your goal.

Whatever goals that want to accomplish, it is so much easier to remain motivated and enthusiastic about achieving your goals when you can measure progress and rejoice in your successes with each step taken. For me, it is small cheat meals every now and again of my favorite foods.

Helps You Refine Your Goals

When I first started I wanted to lose weight. I have lost 35.8 pounds (and holding). But something amazing happened along the way; I realized that my goals from December had evolved throughout the months. As I began to feel more confident in my endeavor, I began to revise my goals. What began as weight loss goals has changed into strength goals. I have decided that I want to be able to lift heavy like the boys because after all—muscles are sexy.

Revision of your goals helps your goals remain relevant. As you move through your small steps, you may begin to see that you have underestimated yourself. You may find that you are moving through the steps much faster than you anticipated or maybe you found a new goal along the way. Whatever your case may be, always remember to think and dream big and big things will happen for you. God bless!

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