One Small Step

Going for a run from my house always ends straight uphill because I live at the top of a very long, upward winding road.  One day I hope to run the whole thing without stopping, but for now I manage in increments like “just to that mailbox”, or “to the edge of that next driveway.”  It’s absolutely amazing to me how this works!  When I chop this daunting hill into smaller pieces I start winning, and winning makes me want to keep going.  When I reach the mailbox or the driveway I think, “Yeah, I did it!” , and then, “Maybe I can go just one small section longer!” 

“Kaizen” is a strategy for making significant changes in very small steps.  In his book “One Small Step Could Change Your Life”, author/psychologist Dr. Robert Maurer describes how he helped one boss become a better leader in 30 seconds a day.  This particular boss was gifted in his area of expertise, but he had a strong aversion to either complimenting or criticizing the work of his employees.  As you can imagine, moral and productivity were very low in his department, and the owners of the company demanded change.  Dr. Maurer knew he couldn’t ask for much, so the 30 second a day challnge was agreed upon for a period of three months. How could anyone say no to that?

His client agreed to spend that amount of time each day using his imagination to create a visual image of himself giving a compliment to a member of his team.  After a week he was told to spend that time instead giving a compliment to a member of his family at home.  (They thought something was wrong with him!)  Eventually, as you can well imagine, he was able to spend his thirty seconds preparing and delivering a single compliment at work, and he eventually became a very good boss.

Tryng to change your eating habits is a monumental shift not easily done. It probably won’t work to say to yourself, “I’m never going to eat another piece of bread”, or “No more sugar for three months”.  But how would you feel about a small challenge like, “this week I am going to eat at least one serving of fresh or gently cooked vegetables each day” ?  Although that seems small, making such a change like that is powerful because success breeds the desire for more success (remember my hill). 

Only one in four Americans is eating a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables, so as always,  this week’s menu will help you get some more into your own diet.  (1) 

*Sweet potatoes, carrots, celery and parsley in Chicken Noodle Soup and Potato Fries,
*broccoli in Indian Red Dahl,

*red bell pepper, zucchini, Brussels sprouts and cherry tomatoes in Crispy Fish and Balsamic Roasted Vegetables, and

*bananas in Banana Ice Cream.

In any area of life huge changes are scary and something in us resists all the way, but very small goals are where we find inspiration to keep moving in the right direction.

I would love to hear about any goals you make for yourself, and of coarse, any small victories that come. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) In return I’ll keep you posted on the hill!

Molly