Most people go through seasons of life that feel stagnant, where it seems like nothing is working, nothing is fulfilling, nothing is gaining traction.
If you’ve read any self-help advice, you might notice that the common wisdom offered in those situations is to make one small change.
That might not seem like enough. In those moments, it’s easy to buy into the false belief that the only way out of the rut is to change everything — a complete life overhaul.
But the advice to change only one thing has merit.
Here’s why it works:
Every change has ripple effects. Every part of life is connected to other parts.
This means that it’s virtually impossible to change only one thing.
For example, if you change one piece of your morning routine, everything that flows from that piece will change. Depending on the piece that you change, even your identity may change.
This principle magnifies at scale.
The bigger the change, the bigger the ripple effects.
A move of a few blocks in New York City, or to the next neighborhood in the suburbs, can change everything about your daily experience. Suddenly you have a different pharmacy, a different supermarket, a different gym, and a different route home. Even if you keep the same local places, your interactions with those places will be different.
Changing a job will change your routines, your self-identity, your commute.
This is why change is so disruptive. It doesn’t stay in the silo of the initial change.
There’s no such thing as small change; there’s only a question of how far the ripples will extend.
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