I’ve read that small long-term actions beat a few heroic efforts, but I didn’t really get it until I tried.

I have a few small inconsequential habits, and it shows:

Firefox has less and less tabs. My room is getting tidier. On some days, washing the peanut butter container looks like a hard task, so I fold a T-shirt instead. But today, I have energy, so I tackled the peanut butter container. There’s a steady, everyday progress going on!

How I added those habits to my life

I got the framework from The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy | Goodreads, but it’s quite simple:

  • I made sure the habits are inconsequential, i.e. there are seemingly no consequences if I do it. For example, tidying one item in my room, closing one browser tab.
  • I do it as a part of my morning routine, so I don’t forget. I have my morning routine actions written down in my Second Brain.

The book though, is very good. Here’s a quote:

The Compound Effect is the principle of reaping huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices. What’s most interesting about this process to me is that, even though the results are massive, the steps, in the moment, don’t feel significant. Whether you’re using this strategy for improving your health, relationships, finances, or anything else for that matter, the changes are so subtle, they’re almost imperceptible. These small changes offer little or no immediate result, no big win, no obvious I-told-you-so payoff. So why bother?
– The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy | Goodreads

Inspirational quote about small actions

The only thing you could do wrong is to do nothing. Open a book and read one page? That’s progress. Watch a tutorial video? That’s awesome. Listen to a friend sharing their thoughts about a coding event they attended? That counts too. There is no small contribution towards your goal. Each step you take brings you closer to the person you want to become.
– Mindframing: a personal growth framework by Ness labs