It’s 2023 and this month I’ll talk about the power of the small stuff. Personally, I am not that keen on setting new year resolutions, but I have been reflecting on what I think are some of the big learnings from the year 2022. Considering what are the important messages I can share with you. Especially, as we have just come out of a usually busy time for all, namely Christmas and New Year celebration!
The Power of The Small Stuff
It’s really easy to underestimate the power of small shifts, particularly when done consistently, and the impact they can have cumulatively. So, for example, I’ve made an effort to get to bed 15 minutes earlier, I turn my light off 15 minutes earlier, and it’s meant that my sleep almost consistently starts with a seven, seven hours and a minute, seven hours and 59 minutes. Sometimes it creeps into the eight hours, and that makes a huge difference to my energy, my mood, my motivation.
So what can an extra 15 minutes in bed look like for you?
Small Changes, Big Impact
Small changes, when made consistently can amount to a big impact. Another small shift I made was with fitness. I started to do more frequent exercise and fitness sessions, but shorter. And it meant I could fit more in. It meant I could do things like movement snacking (a movement snack is a little pocket of movement, just a minute of movement every hour. For example: You might get out of your chair and you may do some squats. So up and down in the squat position. Or you may go up and down stairs a few times) in the office, and I’ve actually seen more lean muscle mass. It’s not the only reason, but it’s a contributing factor. I feel more energised. I feel that my mood is better and it feels more achievable, which is a superpower of the small stuff.
A common blocker to fitness is it’s easy to think “I’ve got a one-hour workout to do and I can’t fit it in” therefore it’s not going to happen. A 15-minute brisk walk, or a 5-minute movement snack every 2 hours, perhaps even gentle dynamic stretching when you wake and to destress before bed. So think about the small stuff. Creating more shorter opportunities to work on fitness as defined by you.
What would a shorter but more frequent fitness routine look like for you?
So, they’re just a couple of examples of small things, powerful little shifts. What could that look like for you? What small shift could you create towards a better habit? Doing more of something that benefits you in all those ways? Strength, health, energy, mood, and motivation.
So, the power of the small stuff, that’s a real observation from me looking back at this year in summary. Take that with you into 2023 and see what that does for you.