Where can the smallest change make the biggest difference?

We have found that one insightful question, asked regularly, can make a big difference for your effectiveness. Here’s today’s killer question: Where can the smallest change make the biggest difference?

The brain’s natural choice for goals is what researchers call “be-good goals”: fit in, go along, do well enough not to get in trouble. The goals that grow us far more helpfully are “get-better goals.” They irritate us, stretch us, drive us to build our lives forward.

There are three steps to getting better: aim, pilot, and grow. Aim at what’s meaningful and compelling; pilot-test a better way to get there; and, if things get better, keep that improvement and grow. If they don’t get better, try something else. Now, do it again.

Hitting resistance? Try differently, not harder. Ask, Where can the smallest change make the biggest difference? Start there, test there. Your fearful brain resists less when all you’re looking for is a small change, and you grow more.

Along the way, take more notes. Your mind can only hold one Post-It-note-worth of information in working memory. Everything more than that creates overwhelm. Quickly record ideas and thoughts to keep your mind clear, free of that tell-tale dazed look we get when we are juggling too much mental stuff and missing the moments that really matter.