If my parents had chosen a few adjectives as my middle name rather than Marie, then perhaps they would have selected: Ambitious. Impulsive. Can’t-Take-No-for-An-Answer-Type-of-Gal. I would have changed my middle name ASAP…which would be a dead give away of one of my worst characteristics.

I admit that these tendencies of mine lead to an issue I have with working toward small goals. I have this all-or-nothing approach when I set goals or, say, see a new workout system on infomercials. My fiancé recommends that I just try using one of the 800 workout tapes I already have… I shake my head and tell him that, “If I only had this (insert money-wasting-piece-of-machinery-here), then I really would be in great shape. Don’t you understand?”

But, whether it be going green, getting in shape, finding my spiritual calling or getting rich, working in small bits has proven to be a better method of achieving the things I want from life.

5 Small Things You Can Do For Big Results:

1. Just run to the next mailbox. I should have recognized this lesson a long time ago. When I first began to run more than ten years ago, my mother taught me to “just work toward the next mailbox.” What she meant is that when I was running, it was much easier to say, “OK, I just have to make it to that mailbox down the street, and then I can stop.” What I found is that I often kept running to just one more mailbox, completing a few miles before I realized it.
2. Go the extra mile. According to Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano, “Plastic bags are made from petroleum derivatives, so the manufacturing process is unsustainable and extremely polluting. They will love for thousands of years in a landfill, and they do not biodegrade, and they are a menace to marine life.” Uliano says throwing your plastic bags in your curbside recycling bins is not enough. Instead, being them along with you on your next grocery trip. Most states have a mandated bin at local grocery stores that is specifically made for plastic bags. Toss them in there, so they can be taken to a suitable facility.
3. Take five minutes to just breathe. Research shows that a few calming breaths can ease nerves and nix stress. I need to do this at least 25 times a day for it to be effective.
4. Talk to your pets. It sounds crazy—that’s because it is—but chatting with a pet can make you feel better about certain issues that have been weighing on your mind. There are no rebuttals, only sympathetic head cocking. Now, just make sure no one is around.
5. Start small. In this materialistic, propaganda-loaded world it is so easy to give in to the gotta-have-it-all-now approach. But starting with small changes can make a huge difference. If you cannot squeeze in 45 minutes of exercise, take ten. If you cannot save every pet in the shelter, feel good knowing you helped that one.

This last approach reminds me of the Starfish Story, adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley. The story highlights a wise man, walking along the beach when he comes across a young man who is throwing starfish into the ocean, one at a time. When the wise man asks the young man why he is throwing the starfish, he replies that he does not want them to die. The wise man says, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

In response, the young man bends down, picks up another starfish, throws it into the water and says, “It made a difference for that one.”

That’s the thing about life. So many of us—including me, me, me!—stick to a notion that things have to be big, grandiose, larger-than-life in order for them to count. But the truth is, working toward just small bits can make a huge difference. And wouldn’t you at least like to know you did a few things rather than nothing at all?

I would. Even if it does mean skipping out on that Fluidity program that totally would have given me the rump I have always wanted.

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Photo courtesy of *clairity*