Motivation Series, Part 5.  Check out part 1, part 2, part 3, & part 4.

You want to stop eating sweets but you keep a jar of M&Ms on your desk. You honestly want to quit smoking but you have packs of cigarettes lying in every corner of your life so that you’re never far from that temptation. You want to start paying down some debt yet you keep several credit cards with you at all times. These details often go overlooked but have a very big impact on your level of motivation and success. Ignoring these small details often means the difference between progress and frustration.

Little, Tiny, Baby Steps

If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, does it matter how big your feet are? Nope. Does it matter how big your steps are? Nope, again. The truth is, the only thing that matters is that you take a step…then another…and another. One little, tiny, baby step is just as good as a giant leap; you’re still moving forward.

Do You Have What It Takes?

Okay, so you want to stop eating sweets. So what’s the plan? Will taking the M&Ms off your desk help you shed two pounds next week? Nope. But this is one small (but very important) step you can take right now! But you have to take that step with the strength and conviction of your true goal, which, in this case, may be to lose weight or it may simply be to cut down on eating sweets. No matter what your goal, you have to have conviction.

Slow but Steady

If you look around, examining your daily rituals and habits, it’s pretty easy to identify your M&Ms—those small adjustments that can help you to move forward if you make them…like taking the M&Ms off your desk and putting them out of sight (No, not in your belly!). If you make small changes by taking little, tiny, baby steps each day or each week, you will begin to see progress in a short amount of time. It won’t feel like such a big sacrifice because the steps you’re taking are small and slow. Before you know it, you’ll be able to look back and see how far you’ve come. And nothing motivates like progress!