My brain loves the idea of the giant leap of change as much as anyone and I adore instant gratification. But I've figured out that the big moves don't reliably produce either success or satisfaction. What can produce these results? TURTLE STEPS!
Remember who won the race between the tortoise and the hare in the fable? That story is the origin of "turtle steps." A turtle step is an action that is small and really easy to do. Reaching a goal or making a change is composed of potentially hundreds of turtle steps. (Are you thinking "yuck" or "that takes too long" or "boring"? Of course, you are! Just keep reading for the pay off.)
A turtle step is not scary. It is not big. Doing it is as easy as falling off a log. The great thing about turtle steps is that they provide immediate gratification and accomplishment (unlike the big change).
Anything we want to do differently in our lives needs to be reduced to turtle steps. We are not trained to break down our actions into turtle steps - we are encouraged to think bigger, greater, etc. My recommendation is that whatever you think of as a turtle step, cut it in half. And then cut that step in half again. And probably cut it in half several more times. Whatever it is, just keep breaking down the steps until you can't think of a smaller action and the turtle step feels easy.
Let's say that I want to start doing yoga. A turtle step would be to google yoga in my hometown. Another step might be to look for yoga DVDs on Netflix. I might pick up a class schedule as a turtle step. You get the idea.
I would not take all my turtle steps in one day or even one week. That feels like too much. A turtle step should feel easy. A turtle step is a "no-brainer." Don't be an overachiever with turtle steps. If you start taking bigger steps or too many steps, you are being seduced by the giant leap and headed for failure. You succeed at this when the turtle steps are small, easy and not scary.
The added bonus of turtle steps is the instant gratification. You have immediate success from your actions. A sense of accomplishment and gratification is created with each turtle step.
Every great teacher and trainer knows this. When a student (whether human or four legged animal) succeeds at a new small action, a good trainer does not push for more at that time. The teacher praises and stops the work for the day to let the student integrate the success. These training turtle steps produce unbelievable outcomes. Why do we forget it for ourselves? Turtle steps have both ease and immediate gratification. What a combo! Sign me up!
We underestimate the power of turtle steps. We shouldn't. They make us feel good about ourselves and get us to our goals. Turtle steps are small but mighty. The giant leap will most likely fail. The turtle step will succeed.
