Productivity: Subtle Improvements

For a while I had a friend in my life who was a nutritionist. I often quizzed her on healthy food choices and inquired about her interactions with her clients. One thing she told me surprised me and has stayed with me since. It went something like this.

“Greg, the people who come to see me aren’t interested in eating healthy. It’s not about doing things like eating flax seeds or goji berries. It’s about convincing them that maybe they should only have one soda a day instead of three and then going from there.”

With personal development, a similar approach is often neglected. It’s usually adopting a new habit fully or fail. Perhaps though there is wisdom in this approach. Instead of taking the old focus of all or nothing, perhaps we should gaze else where and ask, “Is there a better habit that I can adopt here?”

This week ask yourself what little steps can you take towards making an improvement in your life. Think about the hardest goals, the most difficult actions, and look for easy improvements that will help get you closer.

For me, I could choose to:

• Set 4 times a day to respond to client emails
• Clear my inbox daily
• Try an afternoon work session in an alternate location

What’s an easy change that will get you closer to what you want?