Don't go big this month, here is why you should go small.
Happy New Year returning digital family and also to all the new people that have joined this digital community. It’s a bumper one for you today but it’s been a few weeks so I suppose it’s fitting.
First, a quick update: I’ve been in America for a month and have three more weeks to go. The plan is to travel to a few states, connect with family, and plan for the new year. It’s been going well so far; this might be the most successful ‘holiday’ I’ve ever had.
So what do I mean by go small?
Well, let me reset the room quickly. You are probably reading this newsletter because you want to take your personal development this year, or perhaps you want to build something notable, maybe you are already doing this. Whichever camp you fall into, there is one thing pretty universal about people like you. You typically have big goals and big plans for the year. I mean it’s January, chances are you are feeling pumped and ready to take on a new year, achieving your goals, proving doubters wrong and so on and so on. That’s brilliant, really it is.
My goal with this ‘go small’ digital issue is not to be combative or even to be contrarian but to offer you a slightly different perspective to conventional wisdom and help you go faster for longer. Let’s dive in.
Growing up, I always felt a strong affinity for January. It’s a chance at a fresh start and in this thing called life, we don’t get many of those. It’s the month of the new, so many people launch podcasts this month, announce book deals, and queue up at the gym at 5 am, all ready to have a life-changing year. This is of course amazing and I genuinely wish everyone well.
However, you and I know what inevitably happens to many more people before we even reach the middle of the year. People run out of steam, they lose motivation and the sheer scale of their dreams starts to dawn on them. Many of us set high and large goals, miss them and then go again next year. This subconsciously becomes our routine when we write down goals and plan for the future. I fear that for some of us, our goals may remain lifeless ink in our notebooks and vision boards if we don’t do things differently this year.
So how exactly do I go small?
Well, rather than making January a month of big and new, start small. Make this a month about structure, discipline and small decisions and actions that when you aggregate them will add up to a large change. In other words, make this a month of building the necessary routines and rhythm that will carry you over the year.
The best analogy to describe this is one I shared with my mentees not too long ago. Imagine baking a cake, when it’s in the oven, there is little you can do to change the outcome other than changing the temperature. Most of the input you will have into the cake will be at the beginning when you are adding ingredients, manipulating the batter and so on. As you do this, you are baking things into the cake that will yield the masterpiece you will later bring out of the oven.
Similarly, take time this month to ask yourself, if the cake will represent my life this year, what kind of ingredients do I want to bake now? What kind of traits do I want to develop this year and how do I start small?
What kind of things do you want to achieve this year? Start small
This way of thinking may be annoying when everyone around you is announcing big things and new things but trust me, this kind of thinking will pay dividends later. I’ve already written about the importance of small things and the compounding effect of focusing on the small.
This will make all the difference to your 2025
1. 3 Rules You MUST Follow For An Amazing 2025
The path to achieving your goals doesn’t require anything fancy or complicated. Here are three straightforward rules—simple yet transformative—that can make all the difference.
love this!