Success and the Law of Little Things

Natural Scientists, Social Scientists, and Neuroscientists give it different names. Be it the Law of Little Things, the Law of Small Things, or The Tipping Point. Be it, The Law of Increment, or the Power of Tiny Gains, what remains clear is that Einstein’s famous quote, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler,” can help summarize the foundation of Behavior Change or Behavior Modification.

Now, while “Success” is a relative term, scholars have agreed on an absolute or a universal definition, not based on what we have, do, are, or have become; Instead, one that is based on how we are making our own way in the different aspects of our lives. That “making our own way,” is the essential ingredient. And it is “making” “our” “own” “way.” In other words:

1. We are “making,” which means we are “acting,” which means we are “behaving.” And because we are creatures of habits, this “making,” “acting,” or “behaving” eventually becomes automatic, effortless, and a habit. These habits, then are:

2. “Ours.”  We “Own” them. They become part of “us” part of our identity. They become Us-Our identity.  These habits also are:

3. Our own “way.” They are “our own way” of being in the world, and they are how “we are making our own way,” while they also determine which “way” we are going.

Let’s imagine life as our way. Let’s imagine it being without a final destination. This would mean that success would be neither “the” destination nor “a” destination. This would also mean we would not be making our way to success; Instead, we would be in success, and this is the universal contextualization of “success.”

Now, what does it mean that “we would be in success.” It means we are “making our way” in a positive direction. It means we are neither “stuck,” nor are we making our way backward. It means that while there is no final destination in our way of life, there are ten thousand miles of us going forward and progressing.

 Viewed this way, the word “success” stops being so anxiety-provoking. It stops being so misunderstood, and it stops being such a burden. Indeed, seeing it this way, success becomes simple, just like Einstein says everything should be.

One way for us to keep that simplicity is through the use of the Law of Little Things, and here are some steps to follow:

1. Start with a complete behavioral log (See the previous article)

2. Select one of your 7 Categories Life Model where you’d like to prioritize on being in success

3. Each day, ask yourself: “If I were in success at X, today, what would I be doing/how would I be acting/behaving?

4. Then go ahead and act accordingly

5. Take into consideration how you did yesterday, and see how you can go just a little bit above it.

And that will be enough for you to be in success, to make your own way in life.

Would you like to implement these five steps, discuss with your peer mentor, and then plan for more progress each day?

You are only comparing yourself to who you were yesterday. Each time you go just on inch more than the day before, you can be sure that you are being in success that day. And if you are being in success on more days than not, you know you are being in success in life.

Now, let us meet next Monday, 10/9, 7-9pm EST for our next class in this Behavioral Modification Certificate Course and continue to explore a new way of making helpful habits possible and of addressing the habits that we find are no longer helpful.

Until then,
Karen and Mardoche