A Small Change Makes A Big Difference

Take Pen to Paper: Edition 130

Mar 20, 2025

Happy Thursday!

It can be difficult to focus on the big picture and stay motivated. Whatever your big picture is, it can seem far away.

That’s why we take small steps on our way to the big picture. And let’s face it, even the small steps can be challenging.

In this newsletter:

One step forward, two steps back.
Progress is slow.
Seeing the results.

Slogging Towards Your Goal

A healthy lifestyle, cleaning out, and organizing family memorabilia are a few long-range projects that seem to take forever. You can probably name some of your own.

These projects are not completed in a day. In fact, some create a cycle of activity that occurs repeatedly. You never feel like you are making progress.

Family memorabilia is an example. As you organize what you have (or are close to being organized), you are creating more memorabilia to be organized. It’s the same way with cleaning out (and bringing in).

On my journey to a strong, healthy body, it has literally been one step forward and two steps back. As my knee is healing, one day it feels great, and the next day not. It’s time to rest it again and build my activity back up to the feeling great stage.

We Underestimate Slow, Steady Progress

For the past ten months, I’ve been working on growing my hair out from shortest to shorter. That means from a half inch in the back to three inches! (So I still have really short hair.)

It has been an awkward journey.

Each time I get a haircut, I get very little trimmed off, but enough to make my hair neat. Last time, my stylist said, “A little makes a big difference!” I have to agree.

I’m unsure where I’m going on my slow, steady journey, but seeing the small change each time motivates me to keep going.

Progress Needs A Visual

I’m sure you have heard of creating vision boards for what you want in your future. Sometimes, even those are too abstract.

I get monthly feedback on my hair from my stylist, but it would be nice to have that feedback come more often.

Immediate feedback can really give you a boost.

One of my daily goals is to hydrate throughout the day. At the end of some days, I realize how thirsty I am and discover I’ve only had four or five cups (8 oz) of water out of the recommended eight or nine. This surprises me because I have tracked my water intake for years in my journal. But the day gets away from me, and I’m thirsty. I don’t recommend drinking more than a cup of water before bed.

My old water bottle was stainless and held 17ish oz. If I didn’t drink all 17ish oz., I could not see how much was left. I’m sure you can see where this is going. I was only getting a rough estimate of how much water I consumed.

Enter my new glass water bottle with marked capacity levels. Now, I can see how much I’m drinking, and I find it motivational. I can see my progress!

The small change in water bottles has made a big difference in my goal of staying hydrated. Seeing my progress makes that slogging feeling go away.

I’m grateful for the immediate feedback I get from my water bottle.

Now, if only measuring all of my progress on my many projects was as easy as buying a new water bottle.

7 Days, 7 Thoughts on Gratitude and Good:

I am grateful for guidance in defining the small steps to take toward my goals. 🪜
It’s a good thing to have someone on the same journey to bounce ideas off.
Visuals can make the seemingly complicated processes appear simple in reality. I always enjoy Ozo Newsletter and Visual Growth. 📊
A quote: "Celebrate what you've accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed." - Mia Hamm.
It’s a good thing to notice the small steps taken by others. If they can do it, so can you.
Not all water is equal. Check out this article. 🚰
I’m grateful for the small tools that make the journey toward a goal easier.

Thank you for reading. Do you need frequent feedback when trying to reach a goal?

Until next time,

💚

Susan

What is your favorite tool to help you achieve your goals? Leave a comment and let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts.

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