Planting Seeds

One thing that I love about the systems and habits approach to improvement is the idea that you can start small. In fact, you can start microscopic. It doesn’t have to be some major overhaul.

This makes it easier to get started. We can come up with an idea and implement it right away. We can start small, so we don’t need willpower or motivation to get it going.

It also means we can pivot and adjust quicker. When we are early in the process, we know we have leverage and can flex when needed.

It all leads to being able to try many ideas. I think of it as a farmer trying to grow crops. If he can only plant one seed at a time, it wouldn’t produce a great harvest.

Therefore, he plants many seeds at once. This gives him the best chance at success. In life, we should take his lead and learn how to plant many seeds of improvement all at once.

When I first started using this technique, I started small but had numerous changes going at once. None were major adjustments. But I had a few going at any time.

I wanted to get in shape. I set a minimum for my exercise and began working out. I started with a brisk bike ride in the neighborhood 3 days a week. This was simple. It was easy. It didn’t force me to join a gym or wake up early. I just had to make sure I found time to make it happen.

I also knew that I had to stop eating unhealthy food. I began eating oatmeal for breakfast. Again, this was simple and easy. I enjoy eating oatmeal so changing out the waffle was doable.

I also set the minimum to eat one vegetable every night with dinner. It didn’t have to be anything difficult to make. I didn’t need to eat a ton of veggies and I could season them however I wanted. I just had to make sure I had a vegetable incorporated with dinner.

I wanted to quit smoking. I started small and would limit the times I let myself indulge in a cigarette. I didn’t quit forever, I slowly started to limit when I could smoke.

I was running an audio engineering business at the time and wanted to pay off some of the debt that I took on. I would use part of every paycheck to go towards the debt. I created a new way to balance my accounts, so I was more aware of where I spent my money.

I also wanted to learn to sing. I took lessons and set aside a few minutes a day to practice. I wanted to read so I made sure to do at least 10 minutes a day. I wanted to start writing my book, so I wrote a few pages a day.

None of these changes were impactful alone. But combined and over time they created massive improvement in my life. As they started to take hold and form a new habit, I could add more. If they didn’t work or I struggled to maintain them, I could try something else.

I was planting a bunch of seeds. Being slow and deliberate I was able to get around my lack of willpower or fleeting motivation. It wasn’t about powering through. It was about subtle tweaks that could be done enough to form a new automatic behavior. I had to be consistent. But over time that consistency paid off.

If you are trying to improve, find many small tweaks. Make sure they are so small that it is easy to do. Then remain consistent so that they form habits. While it may not seem like the life-changing adjustments most will tell you that you need, these small seeds can grow and become a massive benefit for you in the future.