“I don’t have the time or energy to make changes. It’s just too much, and I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve said those words out loud—or at least thought them. I know I have. In fact, as I’m writing this, I can think of a few areas of my life where I still feel that way. Just thinking about them raises my blood pressure. I can practically feel the cortisol coursing through my system. It’s stressful, right?
This is where I put my coach “hat” on for myself and ask:
“Okay, Deb. If you were your own client, what would you say?”
And my coach-self answers:
“Baby steps.”
Of course. Yes. Always.
Looking at the habits or situations we feel we should change can feel HUGE. Overwhelming. Just too much.
But not impossible.
Think of the proverbial building that’s constructed one brick at a time:
🏛️ The Giza Pyramids.
🕌 The Taj Mahal.
🏙️ The Empire State Building.
🏗️ Your habit.
There’s no need to overhaul your entire life overnight. Not only is that unrealistic—it’s unsustainable. And frankly, it’s a setup for burnout, resentment, and rebellion (yep, against yourself). Sound familiar?
Enter baby steps.
Aka tiny tweaks.
Small, simple actions that get momentum going. So small, you can’t fail.
Here’s one of mine:
There’s an upstairs storage closet in my house that’s been untouched since we moved in… in 2007. It’s overwhelming to even look at. So I gave myself a mini-assignment:
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I tackle one square foot of the closet.
Sometimes it takes 30 seconds. Other times, 30 minutes. But breaking it down to just one square foot makes it doable. And often, I do more—not because I have to, but because I want to.
This strategy works beautifully in health and wellness, too. There are so many tiny tweaks that can make you feel better quickly and easily. Here’s just one example:
A friend of mine was complaining about her terrible sleep. Sure, there are lots of potential reasons for restless nights, but I knew one common culprit that’s easy to overlook—and even easier to fix.
I asked her, “Are you drinking enough water?”
“Absolutely not,” she admitted. “I get lazy about it.”
So I introduced her to a hydration-tracking app, and she downloaded it.
Two days later, she texted me:
“I slept like a baby! I drank 80 ounces of water yesterday. That app really helped!”
That’s a great example of a tiny tweak with a quick payoff. And no, not all tweaks deliver instant results—but doing them consistently over time creates real change.
This is the foundation of a little book I recently published:
How to Be Healthy: 30 Tiny Tweaks That Transform Your Wellness in Minutes a Day.
It’s a pocket-sized guide you can keep on hand and check off as you go.
Maybe it’ll spark ideas for other areas of your life too.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. Or huge.
Start today with one baby step.
Get that win.
You might be surprised how good it feels.
Other blogs and podcasts on this topic:
