Small Successes Pave the Way for Greater Achievement

Let’s say my goal is to get up at 4 am and do meditation every day. I may say “Yes! Every day, for the rest of my life, I am going to get up at 4 AM and do meditation!” Now let’s say the reality is, it has been more than twenty-five years since I woke up before 8 AM. So perhaps I will wake up at 4 AM for a day, or even a week, but then due to past conditioning, I may miss a day. Missing one day can lead to missing two, and even a whole week. I may feel that I made a commitment to myself, and I didn’t keep it, which can lead to a downward cycle of discouragement. However, what if I say, “I am going to get up at 6 AM at least two days per week for the next month to do my meditation.” I may try to wake up early on the other days, but I am rock solid committed to these two days. At the end of the month, I can feel good about myself for having achieved my goal, and then I can build on that success to eventually achieve those greater, larger goals.