So you want to make an impact but you don’t know where to start, sometimes I feel the same way. In an article I read recently, The Art of the Small: How to Make an Impact by Leo Babauta for ZenHabits.net, I found some really great advice.
In this article Leo talks about this awesome Jedi mind technique… The Art of Small wherein the Jedi essentially narrows his focus … until he can use “The Force” to change things at a microscopic level.
Did you just say, “Huh, I remember that from the movie!”? I know I did. Total flashback, right?
Think about the simplicity of this. Thinking about a baby and how they learn to walk, one step at a time, one foot in front of the other.
It’s the same for everything else we do, except we have a habit of running headlong into everything these days without thought to the steps or sequence it takes to make things happen and then what…EPIC FAIL!
When we focus our attention on each step we make way more progress than we would if we skip a bunch, lunge forward, fail, and have to start over. It’s the same for life and for business. Here are 4 lessons in The Art of Small that Leo shares in his article that we can apply to both.
- One person can make an impact. Don’t feel that it’s hopeless. You don’t need to be someone famous or powerful to have an impact. You can make a difference, you can change things — if you focus on The Art of the Small.
- Concentrate your efforts on smaller and smaller areas. When your efforts are diffused over a wide area, they won’t have much of an impact. So focus on smaller areas, and your efforts will be felt more fully. It could take time for change to happen, but keep that focus narrow.
- Try to find an area that will cause a tipping point. You’ll have the biggest impact if you can change something that will in itself cause further changes. This isn’t an easy thing, to find that pressure point, that spot that will cause everything else to change. It takes practice and experience and luck and persistence, but it can be found.
- Don’t try to beat an ocean. You’ll lose. Instead, focus on small changes that will spread.
The point is, start somewhere, start small, and focus on one step at a time. Create a ripple with your efforts and begin building momentum. You might be able to complete only 1 or possibly several steps in a day, but make each step purposeful with a specific outcome in mind.
Soon you’ll begin to see the results of your actions as you move toward your goals and the impact you want to make. Focusing on the steps needed to reach your goals for 2018 is a great place to start! I’d love to hear what your goals are.
If you are dealing with overwhelm and don’t have the slightest clue where to start, schedule a strategy session today. We’ll help you prioritize your overwhelm and map out your next steps together.
(For Leo’s complete article visit https://zenhabits.net/the-art-of-the-small-how-to-make-an-impact/ )
