We constantly hear about people becoming millionaires overnight or about those that take a leap of faith to reap big rewards. Living in a world that glorifies the “high risk, high reward” mentality, it’s easy to overlook the power of incremental progress. Taking small, deliberate steps could be an effective but also sustainable strategy that can be applied to various sectors of our lives. Whether you’re striving to improve your health, advance in your career or embark on learning something new, I believe that by implementing the idea of gradual improvement, it will lead to the most satisfying outcomes.
In this blog I would like to explore more on why the world is so caught up with taking big ambitious steps and instead enlighten you on some of the great benefits of taking small baby steps.
Why do people try to make progress in big leap?
1 - The Pressure To Do Better
Factors such as ambition, societal expectations, peer pressure and competition often drive us to make big steps when it comes to achieving progress. Some of us want to gain recognition, fame, rewards, promotions etc so that we can move up in life. Others may feel that it is imperative that they move fast lest the competition catches up. One could even argue that taking bold and audacious steps is necessary in the path of making breakthroughs and innovations. This is what history has shown us over and over.
2 - Overestimating Oneself’s Abilities
While it is important to be confident in yourself and your abilities, overestimating your capabilities and resources could be a major downfall. Overconfidence can propel you to take big steps in tackling large challenges without the adequate planning and preparation. Taking the time to fully consider the situation, the risks involved and the current limitations is the best way to achieve our goals.
3 - Unawareness of the pros of taking small steps
I believe that most of us are simply just unaware of the benefits that taking small steps can bring about. This is not so surprising considering the fact that not many have the patience to take things slow. In our hectic lives, we are always fighting to find time, and the word “slow” doesn’t particularly sound so time friendly. On the other hand, people tend to be unaware of the risks associated with taking big leaps as well. Get it right and you may win big, but get it wrong and you will fail dramatically. Ultimately, it becomes a gamble
Benefits of taking incremental steps
#1 - Reduced Pressure
Tackling large projects or trying to achieve a big goal can often seem daunting. We are riddled with countless doubts or questions that need to be solved. Big projects can have multiple things that need to be completed which can seem overwhelming to some. These may cause added feelings of stress and anxiety which further slows us down.
For example, breaking down a large project into multiple milestones help in making the whole thing seem more approachable. It allows us to dedicate our full focus on one specific issue or task without having to constantly worry about the several other things that needs to be done.
#2 - Risk Limitation
Taking smaller steps give you more leeway to make mistakes. Mistakes can be viewed as learning opportunities instead of grave errors. You can pivot from the mistakes to reflect on what went wrong and move forward.
Instead of making an error that goes unnoticed and ends up compromising a major project, breaking it down into smaller steps allows for there to be multiple checkpoints in which the work is checked. Taking smaller steps means that any shortcomings will have lesser impact on the end goal.
Making mistakes is never a nice feeling. However, the reality is, even the most conscientious and meticulous of people are prone to slip ups. Achieving progress in incremental steps is a simple yet effective method in reducing the risk we undertake.
#3 - Sense of Accomplishment
Successfully completing a task/reaching a goal gives us a sense of accomplishment. It makes us feel good and boosts our morale. Very often when working towards something, there may be long periods of time where we can go without any visible success or validation. It gives us the undesirable feeling of being stagnant. However, when we regularly complete small goals or reach intermittent milestones, it acts a point of verification. It reinforces the fact that progress is being made which in turn motivates us to continue working. These small victories are invaluable in the journey of achieving larger goals.
Real World Application (Weight Loss)
My commitment to maintaining my fitness levels are lackluster at best. I have always been a prey to sugary drinks and good food(often absurdly high in calories). Whenever I made up my mind to fix my diet, the effort never lasted for more than a few days.
However, injecting small changes over a period of time to both my diet and general lifestyle was a much more sustainable approach. These included opting for less sugar options, including food items that kept me full for longer, eating lesser fast food in a week and ensuring that I clock in a workout every alternate day.
Rather than pushing myself to extremes, letting my body slowly adjust to the changes I introduced allowed me continually keep up with my new habits. I also didn’t suffer too much fatigue or sugar cravings.
In my opinion, breaking down any task into smaller chunks is the best way to go about it. It gives the entire process a structure that can be followed. There are lesser chances of pitfalls and multiple checkpoints to verify the progress made.
By setting realistic and achievable expectations, it builds confidence and keeps you motivated. The sense of progress and achievement can provide the drive to keep moving forward, even through challenging periods.
There is also room for experimentation, to test out what works and what doesn’t. You can play around and decide what are the most effective methods before committing to larger initiatives
“Direction is so much more important than speed. Many are going nowhere fast” - a random dude from the internet
The world is so caught up with overnight success stories that many have forgotten the flip side of the coin. There are more cases of people taking a leap of faith and failing horribly as compared to those making it big. As we’ve seen, incremental progress offers a more reliable path to success. It may not provide rapid progress that taking big leaps is capable of, but as they say…
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