How to Change Your Life: Just Do One Thing
Here’s the best way I’ve ever found to make big life changes, or even change one thing or achieve a single goal. The “formula”? Do it a step at a time. Pick your starting place, and then just do one thing…and then do another and another.

True, but don’t forget the Tortoise and the Hare, and the Little Engine that Could! Plus, we all know that small bites are totally the way to eat a rhinoceros.

All kidding aside, though, come on over and shake hands with "personal kaizen,” which asks a simple but powerful question: what small thing can you do to change/improve something in your life or move closer to a particular goal. In your own case, perhaps you might ask what small thing(s) you can do to begin changing your life? (How to Change Your Life.)

These steps don’t have to be big ones; in fact, sometimes the smaller the steps the better. Incremental change often proves more effective (and sustainable) than radical change. Easier to live with, too, as this type of change generally involves minimal drama and uproar.

So, when you’re embarking upon any kind of change, think kaizen; think small steps. You can use such steps to change something about yourself: lose weight, perhaps, or build up your wind. Or to learn to speak Italian, or get another degree. You can use them to change a habit: quit smoking, get up earlier, keep a neater desk, etcetera. You can use them to change your environment: organize a closet, clear out the garage, ease the book clutter, and so on.

What’s the Destination?
There is, however, a question that really needs to precede "what small thing can you do?" And it is this: what do you want to change your life to? Or, to put this another way, what areas of your life do you wish to change and in what particular way?

Unless you have those answers, it will be hard to figure out how to change your life. Without a destination, where will you even start? If you need to sort that out, check out our free online (and self-directed) course: "What do you Really want?"

Know the answers already? Terrific: just start taking the steps. Do one thing (now) that feels like it’s taking you closer to your initial goal. Then do another and another…because small steps can lead to very big changes. If you’re ready, let those changes be yours.

When You Don’t Expect Claps and Cheers
If you’re worried about encountering resistance, you may actually find that small changes gradually created generate less push-back than you expect. So, just quietly take your chosen steps, one by one, and remember that win-win solutions are nearly always possible if the parties involved genuinely want them. (Click here for a discussion relative to that.)

In other words, walk and talk softly on your path, and leave the big stick behind. If you don’t have it, you won’t be tempted to use it, which could break the flow of your steps.

Bottom line? Just keep taking steps until your life "fits" you better. That’s the easy way, and it works more often than not. It can work for you as well. So, don’t worry too much about “how to change your life." Just start doing it.

[Return to Just Do One Thing from How to Change Your Life]