You’ve set yourself a big goal. Perhaps you want to lose weight, become fit or even transform your whole body. Big goals require big changes, right? You start out all excited, with the end picture in mind. Then, as you start making drastic changes to meet your huge goal things start to look a little different. It seems hard, perhaps even impossible. Your big goal fades away into a distant memory and you resume life with very little progress towards what you really want. Sound familiar?
What if we gave you the key to success, the easy way to achieve your big goal?
Well, that’s exactly what we want to do today – because your success is our success. At Active8me, we pride ourselves on enabling and empowering you with everything you need to make big changes – that last!
So, what’s the big key for making big change? The simple answer is…taking MICRO ACTIONS!
Sound strange? Well let us explain. Micro actions are really small, consistent steps towards achieving your goals. The reason that they’re powerful is they offer you the ability to create new habits with incremental change. One of the biggest reasons why our great intentions don’t result in any real change is because we make unrealistic resolutions that we don’t stick to, so that our initial motivation isn’t sustained, habits aren’t formed, and change isn’t made. (And then this often has the opposite effect of being demotivating !) In this blog we explore the power of the micro action, with some helpful suggestions for you to start today!
1.A micro action is about the compound effect
Simple ‘bite-size’ changes can grow over time and add up to a lot. While all SMARTR goals have a time period associated with them, micro actions are more about consistency, and the compound effect. That is, one small step forward, plus another small step forward, then another one and another one. These very small steps add up, compounding and taking you closer to your goal in a faster manner than taking a giant leap, then falling further back when you find you can’t sustain the change.
A micro action for you to try – Drink a little extra water every day. If you fill a drink bottle with water and make it your intention to get through it before you drink other drinks, ie. soft drinks or bubble tea, you will find this micro action leads to drinking more water and less sugar. This of course has a flow on effect with losing weight!
2. A micro action lays the foundation for larger, more substantial growth
It takes time to reach a big goal, but almost no time to take micro actions towards it. Micro actions mean you are more likely to succeed, often. And in this way micro actions help you create positive habits that build upon your ability to succeed. The more you succeed, the easier it feels. And the momentum builds. And this foundation of achievement and self-belief opens the door for more substantial growth. Jeremy Rolleston, dual Olympian and Founder of Active8me explains “We’re so used to instantaneous gains. To wanting to see it NOW. You see this in fitness and health – unfounded claims of ‘Transform your body in 21 days’. That’s crap. Simply not true. Physiologically the body doesn’t work like this. And life doesn’t work like this. Things don’t happen overnight.” Watch his explanation of why this is so:
A micro action for you to try – Go to bed 15 minutes earlier. If you can’t get right to sleep, try some mediation, or check out our better sleep tips! This micro action has myriad flow-on effects. Apart from the importance of sleep in muscle growth and repair, you are more likely to be able to rise earlier, achieve more the following day and reduce stress.
3. A micro action can make a daunting goal fun
Not every action you take has to lead you directly to the BIG goal. Some micro actions can assist you to stay motivated or in a good mood. Take the path less travelled and have fun creating new healthy habits. If something is a chore, then it will always be harder to complete than if it’s merely a fun stepping stone to the end result.
A micro action for you to try – Pump up some different music! Listen to an audiobook, podcast or learn a new language next time you workout. By adding this micro action to your regular exercise routine, especially if you’ve been avoiding particular workouts, you’ll find extra reasons to continue.
4. A micro action is smaller than you think
The word ‘micro’ is used in these examples to mean small. But it doesn’t have to mean ‘whole’. A micro action can simply mean doing part of what you need or want to achieve. It’s about minimising your options. Making lots of small wins. About building momentum. It’s about 1+1+1 = a lot. If you know you want to achieve something, think about all the small things that enable you to do that and choose to take pre-emptive action on one of those micro steps.
A micro action for you to try – You know you want to do some exercise on the weekend, but you’re just not sure when you can fit it in? Get up and get dressed in your workout gear. Apart from ‘ activewear’ being a whole new fashion movement, you are much more likely to get to your goal of exercise if you don’t have to change clothes to do so! And then just do something, anything – even if it wasn’t the workout you planned or the full workout.
5. Micro actions deserve rewards
Give yourself credit! Acknowledge the small things you are doing that make your life healthier. Recognise and celebrate your micro actions with a little reward that reminds you of why you are doing this!
A micro action for you to try – Take the micro action and download the Active8me app as a first step towards your health and fitness goals.
There you have it – 5 ways micro actions can be highly effective at reaching your goals. We love a BIG goal, something that scares you a little but motivates you a lot. And we understand that the path between where you are now and where you want to be can be overwhelming at times. But this is why we share this key tip with you. Your path to your goal is paved with small steps – small positive wins – consistently over time. The small things really do add up to the big things. And that means micro actions!
So what micro action are you going to implement today? Tell us all about it and inspire others by sharing it with our community on Facebook or Instagram!
