Doing Small Things Over Time Turns Into Big Results

You are in a marathon, not a sprint. I know, I know. It’s hard to think of waiting X number of months to attain a goal you want right now. But remember the Just Blink philosophy? You have to focus on the little things you can do now that will pay massive dividends in time. We’ve all heard it’s the little things that count. Jeff Olson describes it this way:

The slight edge is easy to do—and it is easy not to do. Now, I’m defining EASY here as simply “something you can do.” The Slight Edge philosophy is based on doing things that are easy—little disciplines, which, done consistently over time, add up to the biggest accomplishments. The problem is that all those things that are easy to do are just as easy not to do. Why is something easy not to do? Because if you don’t do it, it won’t kill you today. But, that simple, seemingly insignificant error in judgment, compounded over time, will kill you, destroy you, ruin your chances for success, and demolish your dreams. You can count on it.”

Let’s make this theory practical. If you drank one glass of water, would that make you healthy? Absolutely not. If you went to the gym only once, would you get six-pack abs? No way. However, working out consistently and drinking water daily will absolutely change your health and your body for the better.

Here’s an example of how you can apply the slight edge to improving your health.

Wake up every single morning and immediately do ten push-ups and drink one glass of water, that’s it. If you can’t do ten push-ups, do five. If you can’t do five, do three. As soon as you wake up, open your eyes and jump on the floor, do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and chug a glass of water. At most, this will take forty seconds of your time. You won’t even think anything of it. What will happen is this will become part of who you are, part of your routine. This one act done consistently will eventually lead to better choices.

From this one simple act, your health over time will dramatically improve. Why? Because one day, effortlessly, you’re going to say to yourself, “You know, ten just is not working for me anymore, I’m going to do fifteen push-ups instead.” Then you’re going to want to go to the gym or an exercise class or join a sports team. One glass of water turns into two, into three, and so on and so forth. Good eating choices start to replace bad. And to be a successful student, you MUST take care of your health.

One simple choice can change everything. But by the same token, not making one simple choice can change everything as well... and not for the better! Not doing anything for your health is definitely going to have negative effects over time.

Let’s say your professor assigns you a twenty-page paper to write and gives you a deadline thirty days away. By just writing one page a day, you can have your paper done in time to get it reviewed by your professor, write a second draft, and still have time to party with your friends... stress-free!

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.