{"id":13124,"date":"2011-10-12T04:00:53","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T09:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=13124"},"modified":"2011-10-12T04:00:53","modified_gmt":"2011-10-12T09:00:53","slug":"the-power-of-incremental-change-over-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-power-of-incremental-change-over-time\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Incremental Change Over Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I have always been fascinated by the power of incremental change over time. Most people underestimate this. They think they have to take <em>massive<\/em> action to achieve anything significant.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/iStock_000014720530Small.jpg\" alt=\"Men's Hands Holding a Measuring Tape Against a Wall - Photo courtesy of &copy;iStockphoto.com\/michellegibson, Image #14720530\" title=\"iStock_000014720530Small.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"570\" height=\"379\" \/><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:10px; line-height:12px; margin-bottom:10px; margin-top:-12px; padding:0px; text-align:center; width:570px;\">Photo courtesy of &copy;iStockphoto.com\/michellegibson<\/div>\n<p>I am not opposed to massive action. I have used it myself to achieve certain results. But it causes most people give up before they ever start. They just don't think they can make the investment.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I have a friend who needs to lose fifty pounds. He can't seem to get started. Why? Because he thinks he will have to go on a radical, unsustainable diet.<\/li>\n<li>I overheard a man at the coffee shop complaining to his friend that he hasn't taken a family vacation in years. When his friend asked why, he said, &#8220;We just don't have the money.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>One of the guys I mentor confessed that he had never read the Bible all the way through. When I asked why, he said, &#8220;You mean, other than the fact that it's about 1200 pages long?&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What these people don't realize is that they could make small, daily investments that would soon lead to big results. Here are seven examples to get your creativity flowing.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Losing Weight.<\/strong> Earlier this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/how-i-used-technology-to-lose-11-pounds-in-6-weeks.html\" title=\"Post: How I Used a Free App to Lose 11 Pounds in 6 Weeks\">I lost eleven pounds in six weeks<\/a>. A friend of mine lost 83 pounds in a year. Both of us did it using <a href=\"http:\/\/www.loseit.com\/\" title=\"LoseIt App\">LoseIt<\/a>. We didn't do much other than record what we ate daily. By becoming aware of what we were eating, we made healthier choices.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Paying Off Debt.<\/strong> One of my friends paid of $15,000 in debt in less than a year. She didn't do anything radical. She simply setup a budget, took opportunities to make extra income, and cut back on gourmet coffee and other non-essentials. She used Dave Ramsey's &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.daveramsey.com\/article\/get-out-of-debt-with-the-debt-snowball-plan\/\" title=\"Dave Ramsey's Deb Snowball\">debt snowball<\/a>&#8221; to pay off her smallest debts first, then the larger ones.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Improving Profitability.<\/strong> In a publishing division I used to run, we decided to improve our margins by 2% over one year. We chunked it down to one-half percent per quarter. We focused on targeted price increases and expense control. It dropped over a million dollars to the bottom line that year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Writing a Book.<\/strong> I have used my blog to write several books. I mapped out the book and then wrote it one 500-word post at a time. Using this method, you can write a 50,000 word book in 100 days. At my pace of about five posts a week, that takes just twenty weeks. Plus, you get great feedback along the way.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Running Long Distances.<\/strong> When I started running, I could barely walk a mile. Then I discovered <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffgalloway.com\/\" title=\"Jeff Galloway's Website\">Jeff Galloway<\/a>. I started running for one minute and then walking for two. Gradually, I increased my distance and the time I was running. Within a year, I was able to run my first half marathon.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reading the Bible.<\/strong> The bible is a big book, no doubt. But in less than 15 minutes a day, you can read the entire Bible through in a year. Here's <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oneyearbible.net\/\" title=\"One Year Bible\">an online plan<\/a> I used for several years. Currently, I am reading through <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0718010841\/fwis-20\">The NKJV Daily Bible<\/a><\/em> (Thomas Nelson).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Saving Your Marriage.<\/strong> I had another friend in a really bad marriage. On the advice of his mentor, he started practicing &#8220;5 for 5.&#8221; He simply walks in the house after work, moves within five feet of his wife, asks her about her day, and listens for five minutes. Though a small start, it has now grown to 30 minutes a day. Their relationship has reversed course.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>I'm convinced you can do almost anything if you are willing to clarify your goals and then make the incremental investment over time to achieve them.<\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000033; font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;margin-bottom:16px;\">Question: What small steps could you take today to move you toward a big outcome? You can leave a comment by <a href=\"https:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/the-power-of-incremental-change-over-time.html#respond\">clicking here<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have always been fascinated by the power of incremental change over time. In this post, I provide a personal challenge and seven examples.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[764,428,20,167],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Power of Incremental Change Over Time<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have always been fascinated by the power of incremental change over time. 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