Change. Big word. Especially when we want to make big changes. The bigger the change we want to make, the harder it all seems. 

We live in a “big” culture-big food, big houses, big cars. The value of “small” is not big in American  culture. (Sorry. I couldn’t help myself). 

Small steps are really the key to big changes. I always think about the Jodie Foster movie First Contact. When working the short-range radio, the main character’s dad coaches her with, “Small steps, Ellie. Small steps.” Then later, when she is meeting the aliens for the first time (who have taken on the appearance of her father to help her feel comfortable), Ellie asks what’s next? Where do they go from here? And he replies, again, “Small steps.”

We often can’t make a change because we mistakenly believe we have to take a big first step, a too big first step.

What if we shift the goal from the meaning-laden, overwhelming idea of “changing my life” to the much more approachable idea of “jiggling my life?” What if all you expected from yourself right now is to just jiggle sometime a little bit and see what happens?

After all, a small jiggle (and another…and another) gets a lot more accomplished than waiting for the stars align perfectly so you can make that big step. 

Let me know how it goes. 

Photo credit: CarbonNYC [in SF!] / Foter / CC BY