When we set out to create a new habit or to change a habit we currently have, there is a tendency to want to start big, to want to do or change everything all at once.
This usually proves to be a mistake, however.
We start out with lofty goals, pushing ahead with all of our focus and attention, but then, inevitably, we come up against resistance.
We try to move forward, but things become difficult.
Things do not quite go as we had planned, we do not progress as fast as we would like to, and we get frustrated.
This frustration quite often leads to quitting.
Instead of creating a new, positive habit or transforming a negative one, we tell ourselves that it is not even worth the effort to try and we go back to life as we previously knew it, in spite of the fact that we have already admitted to ourselves that what we were doing before was not working and we need to change.
Quite often, this entire cycle could have been avoided if only we had tried to do less.
Of course, the change we are aiming for is great.
Transformative habits require a great deal of time and energy.
There is not much point in striving for subtle change.
Still, by trying to do too much, too fast, we set ourselves up for frustration, disappointment, and failure.
We are usually far better off taking lots of small actions that add up to big change than trying to take big actions that we give up on before change is allowed to happen.
Small bits of progress made consistently over a long period of time will usually produce greater results for us than large amounts of progress made sporadically and inconsistently in short bursts.