Small Steps Don’t Always Lead to Big Results #ProductiveAF
I know I am about to ruffle a few feathers right now with this post, but it has been on my mind for quite some time and I felt like it was necessary to share this information.
Disclaimer: I know full well that what I am about to say goes against things I have said or supported in the past, but that was then and this is now, and today as I’m writing this, I have a much better perspective and history of my own trial and error to support my change in opinion.
If you want to be a productive and successful person, small steps don’t always lead to big results
I know we hear it a lot, that if you aren’t making progress, just choose a smaller step that’s easier to take and over time it will build up to bigger and bigger results. We hear this especially in the context of setting goals, planning our objectives and managing our habits, but in reality this strategy isn’t effective most of the time.
There are three reasons why I see the idea of taking small steps fail:
#1: It is possible to take a step that is so small that there are no viable results, no matter how many times you repeat the step.
Imagine watching a person walk up a staircase. If that person can’t lift their leg to make it the full height of the step in front of them, unfortunately, their foot will not complete the step and will end up right back where it started. No matter how many times they repeat their effort, if they can’t make the connection between their foot and the next step, they are putting a lot of effort into standing still.
So, some effort doesn’t lead to results.
I see this metaphor play out a lot with people who have set self-care related goals. If you are trying to loose 30lbs but you set the objective to drink more water or take a 30 minute walk once a week, I’m very sorry to say this but you are never going to see a result from either of those actions or even the combination of both. Even if completing each of those tasks helps build your mindset, you will still need to put in more effort to see the needle move on the scale.
This is an error I see a lot of people make, they want change but are only willing to put in so much effort and it gets them nowhere so fast that eventually they give up on the goal entirely.
#2: Breaking a step down into tinier and tinier pieces just increases the opportunity to waste more time, get distracted and loose momentum.
I think of this issue as the checklist addiction, when we have a task to accomplish but we create a long checklist of tasks that come before taking action that actually leads to the result of your work.
A good example of this is when I sit down to film a YouTube video. If I wanted to, I could make a checklist of all the little things I need to do before I can start filming. Clean my office, paint my nails, do my hair and makeup, have an outline written, storyboard the video, etc.
But, if I list out all these tasks, it will give me more work and opportunities to get distracted or drain my energy.
Now, it’s not that I don’t do these items before I start working on a video, but if I were to list them out, it gives them a sense of gravity as they they were the important things to do. They aren’t the important thing to do, but writing out those smaller steps could make me feel like I’ve done enough before I even get to the important work because I am getting that sense of satisfaction from a checkmark.
This is the danger of task lists in general actually. It’s a well documented phenomenon that simply writing out a to do list gives you the feeling of accomplishment even if you don’t take any action on the items. You still feel a mental relief from having the list that tricks your brain into thinking you have been productive when you really haven’t done anything.
Once you actually start checking things off the list, you get even more of a hit of dopamine even from the little insignificant tasks. After a few hits, you will start to feel like you accomplished something big, even if you didn’t, and this can trick your brain into feeling like you’ve done so much, when really, you accomplished little.
#3: No matter how small of steps you break your work into, if fear or another limiting belief is the obstacle holding you back from taking action, your momentum will eventually hit a wall no matter what you do.
Here is the hard truth, if you are breaking your goals into very small steps, it is likely a strategy you have learned in order to procrastinate on your work, support your sense of perfectionism or help alleviate your anxiety around doing the work. All of those situations indicate you have significant fear or limiting beliefs around achieving your goal. As long as you have those fears and limiting beliefs, you will never actually achieve your goal no matter how many steps you take towards it. So, any productivity tip or strategy to help you get more done or manage your list of tiny bite size tasks is useless to you.
The only way to remedy situations like these is to tackle the fear and limiting beliefs head on. This means getting crystal clear on your goal, identifying the fear and limiting beliefs holding you back, figuring out the story that you are telling yourself that is allowing that fear to take up space in your mind, and then overcoming that limiting belief by rewriting the story and affirming it repeatedly until the new belief is programmed into your mind.
You Still Need Steps to Achieve a Goal
Now, I want to be clear here, I am not suggesting that you shouldn’t break your goals down into steps. Obviously, you can’t achieve a goal in one go so steps are necessary. But these steps must be reasonable in size that they provide some form of visible advancement.
Think about the Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule. It states that 20% of our actions lead to 80% of our results. In the example of me filming a video, I could list out a bunch of tasks to get ready before filming, but it’s the filming/editing that is the 20% of the work that leads to the major result of having a video to post. All the prep work is just there to make us feel ready to do the thing. But if I wanted to, I could skip all those actions and just hit record on the camera and wing the video. Now, the video might not be as good, but the majority of the end result is there. So, I don’t want you to let the 80% of low impact tasks waste your time, cause you to procrastinate, or loose momentum due to the decision fatigue that happens each time you look at an item on your task list.
Living your dreams and achieving your goals isn’t easy
It’s not easy being an ambitious woman in today’s society. Women have more responsibilities on their shoulders now then they ever have, which is why goal getters like you and I need to stick together!
This is what I created the Productivity + Planning Mastermind for.
To be a safe space for women like you and I who see beyond the surface of our societal expectations, challenge the accepted norms, and know there is a better way to live.
It’s a place for support, encouragement, accountability and ongoing personal development for us to continue challenging accepted norms and choosing our own unique path to success.
→ The Mastermind includes so many resources to help you on your journey, from multiple live calls each month, to on-demand strategies, tools, and even a complete course on productivity!
→ We have our own private chat forum where we connect and discuss topics ranging from planning, metaphysics, mindset, and wellness.
→ We have a monthly book club to help nurture a growth mindset and continue to learn.
→ We even have a dedicated group for small business CEOs to learn and connect as well!
→ The best part is, when you join the Mastermind, you get immediate access to the entire library of resources, masterclasses and bonus materials that I have been creating since it’s launch.
→ There is no waiting, content isn’t dripped to you, it’s all there for you to explore and access on-demand as you please.
→ And of course I am there as well for guidance and to answer your questions along the way.
When you know better, you do better.
Are you ready to do better for yourself, your family and your future by committing to your personal development to become the best woman, mother, spouse, sister, daughter, aunt and friend that you can be?
This could be the best investment you make in yourself in 2021!
Hope to see you inside!
xoxo,
An interesting and thought provoking article. Now as someone who has witnessed the power that small steps can have on one’s life, there is a few things which I’d query.
One been that you gave the example of walking up the stairs and how if even the first step is too big, you’d never achieve getting up the stairs. Whilst this is true, let’s not forget that the step is necessarily fixed.
By this, I mean if you can’t get up the first step, you could undertake leg exercises where you slowly increase your ability to lift your leg high enough to get up the step.
Whilst this may be seen as a waste of time for you are chunking down massive goals into micro steps, over time if you master it then you can master reaching the first step. Subsequently you can work up to the next step.
Also you mention if one believes they can’t do X big thing then no matter how small the tasks they will never get around said task. I disagree for even if the steps are small enough and one rewards themselves for taking such steps, they can create a feeling of success which brings out new beliefs about how they can achieve what they want.
I will agree with you that whilst it is true that small steps can’t allow one to accomplish massive goals by themselves (we all have a limited life span) small steps can be used to help us take actions that leverage our results. For example, Elon Musk can’t build SpaceX by himself but with corporate structures and thousands of employees, it becomes possible.
One thing which I do also agree with you on however is that for many it is possible to fall into the mental trap of believing you are doing something by filling your work up with inappropriate small steps. Yet this in itself isn’t anything to do with the philosophy of small steps but procrastination by the individual. And the only way around this is for the person to realise what they are doing. Then step back and pick out one small step to do which would take them in the direction they want to go.
Good article nonetheless.