How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
- Annie Dillard
The importance of small steps
How are you spending your days? If you’re like most lawyers, you’re too busy putting out fires to worry about how you’re spending your days. You’re too busy paying the bills. You’re too busy dealing with staff. You’re too busy arguing with opposing counsel – or sometimes, your clients. You know it doesn’t have to be this way. You know something must change, but what? The answer to this question is simple. But as I often tell my clients, simple doesn’t mean easy. The “simple” things are often things we already “know.” But the changing of our future depends on “doing,” not merely “knowing.”
For many of us, there can be an enormous gap between “knowing” and “doing.” You know you should eat right. You know you should exercise regularly. You know you should get enough rest. You know you should start working on the brief that’s due in two weeks. But what are you doing? Doing is what counts. And doing something requires – well – doing something.
So, what is this simple answer? Begin. Just begin. Small steps are the key to lasting change. Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” Justice Ginsburg was speaking about societal change, but what is true for society is true for us as individuals. The path to change starts with one step. In fact, the smaller the step, the better.
We often fail to start – because the task seems just too overwhelming. In fact, that sense of overwhelm is one of the biggest reasons we procrastinate. I once heard Angela Duckworth, the author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, speak about how to start a project. She said something that has stuck with me to this day. If we want to start a project, don’t just start with a small step. Start with an infinitesimally small step. Start with a step so small it seems almost insignificant.
There are several reasons for this. First, starting small sends a signal to your brain that you can do it. Heck, you’ve already started. Second, once you take that first infinitesimally small step, you may want to take another and another. Infinitesimally small steps add up. Finally, our brains don’t like change. Our brains like the status quo and will fight our efforts to change. New Year’s Resolutions are a perfect example of this fight. New Year's Resolutions usually involve big changes. Have you ever made a really big New Year’s Resolution? How did that work out? If you’re like me – probably not so well. I may have really wanted to get up at 5:00 a.m. every morning and head to the gym, but my brain wasn’t feeling it. Has that ever happened to you? “Go big or go home” might be a catchy meme, but if you really want to create a new beginning in any area of your life, “Start small and stick with it” is the way to go.
The future depends on what we do in the present.
- Gandhi