When “every Little Thing Helps” Improve Your Health, and When It Doesn’t
When it comes to building better habits, small changes set the stage for much bigger ones. However, as you move and set a goal, small steps matter less and less, especially if they hold you back. In this post, we’ll look at when “every little bit” is really helpful, and when it’s more of a hindrance than a help.
Small steps create a snowball for motivation
It’s important to remember that in terms of health, fitness, or diet, any changes that make your life better are good. If you don’t do anything, this will be the first important step towards a happier, healthier life.
For example, parking away from the office and choosing stairs instead of an elevator won’t get you in shape, but if you’re sedentary and don’t do any activity at all, this is a good starting point. Likewise, some changes, such as even a little walk every day or getting a few extra hours of sleep at night, can have huge benefits.
Here are some more examples of when these small changes really help:
- When the return on your investment is huge: Sometimes these little things really have a huge impact. For example, given how much soda we all drink , a small change like switching to tea can make a huge difference. While there is no guarantee that it’s worth it, it’s worth a try . For example, we’ve discussed research that has shown that taking a short walk every day can have tremendous benefits , even if it’s your only activity. Choosing the right little things can be overwhelming, as long as you don’t spend more time looking for little things or combining little things in the hope of more value than you would have spent on something more substantial.
- When you start : Motivation is important and the little things help shape it. We mentioned this when we explained how to get to an exercise regimen that you will actually stick to . Too often, we set ourselves too high goals and make big changes right away to achieve big results. If we don’t immediately despair, we burn out, turn the table over, give up and return to our bad habits. This is where small, manageable steps come in. Sometimes starting slowly – even so slow that you doubt you are doing anything at all – is just what you need to start forming better habits. After all, it could be one of those little steps, like taking a short walk after work or baking lunch instead of eating out, which means the difference between having some healthy habits to feel good about and not having at all.
- When you build momentum : When you are motivated, there is momentum. Remember that “little things” do not have to be fixed habits, such as climbing stairs or eating from small plates . Even a 5-10 minute workout in the gym may not seem like a good fit for losing weight (or gaining weight, depending on your goals), but it’s the path you need to build a long-term sustainable habit. Then an impulse appears. You will spend more time and energy in the gym, you will not shy away from harder workouts, you will see great results and feel your progress. “Every little piece” tends to snowball into bigger, more serious things, and this makes them infinitely more valuable than trying to jump right into the deep end.
- When the alternative is unacceptable : Another time when “every bite helps” is when the alternative is to do nothing, give up a good habit, or give up the good altogether. You know those days when you chill out in the gym and tell yourself that it’s better than not going at all or eating salad instead of fries. They may be small and they may not lead to anything significant in the general scheme of things, but they are still victories, and the alternatives are even worse options.
In short: “every bite” is more conducive to correct thinking than it produces measurable change. Can you lose weight, reduce your risk of seizure-related illnesses, or get in shape by choosing a side dish when you eat out and then parking away from the door when you return to the office? Probably not, but if it’s part of a set of healthy habits that spill over into one another, do it and feel good. After all, every small step, no matter how small, is another data point in an ever-growing set of healthy options.
Small steps are not a reason to give up on real change
Of course, there are other cases where very little helps. Worse, they trick you into thinking that a good excuse for bad behavior or that one good habit outweighs a dozen bad ones. You can recognize this as the effect of “diet cocaine and healthy food,” where we allow one healthy decision to compensate for others that are really bad.
Likewise, since some small steps are of immense benefit, it can be tempting to hunt for the little things instead of making real changes to improve your health. Diminishing returns kick in, and you spend more time and energy looking for quick fixes, hacks, and easy exits than setting up something consistent. For example, nothing helps:
- Once you are on the road to your goals : If your goals are visible and you are already making progress, it is much more important to maintain that progress than to derail the work you have done in favor of a quick fix. After you do something important, such as making exercise a habit or starting to cook for yourself at home, you can take a break from time to time, but you should not take a “break” or “good enough for today.” Not at the expense of your progress or your motivation. On the contrary, it should be a kind of “planned” failure or small step that sustains your momentum, not something that pushes you back.
- When it distracts from better change : If you spend so much time looking for quick fixes or “little things” that don’t fit your goals, you’re wasting time. In a great article on Fitocracy (and a longer study at Evidence Based Fitness ), Dr. Brian Chang, Ph.D., explains that just because cinnamon is among other questionable “natural” remedies – they are all designed to regulate blood sugar levels by taking all of these may immediately seem like a great quick fix to a serious problem. This is actually a terrible idea. You can try them all and never see the results that you would see through diet, exercise, or talking to your doctor. He explains that you may have better blood sugar levels, but there is a time when the best is not enough – especially in the absence of more effective methods with proven results. This is important to remember: small steps can provide momentum, but they cannot be the main drivers of change. Health and fitness are waiting for you for a long time. Be patient with yourself.
- When it drains your precious willpower : Just like a distraction, sometimes these little things drain your precious willpower . If you spend it all on little things but to no avail, you won’t be inspired to make bigger, more rewarding changes. Chang explains that the same energy you use, for example, to demonize carbohydrates and eliminate them from your diet, is the same energy that you use to regularly go to the gym. Trying to do both and depleting your willpower – one of which may not even make a real difference – binds energy that you could use to make better changes elsewhere, or to recover when you stumble. Remember, showing self-compassion also takes energy, and self-compassion is more important than anything else . If you lose motivation and dump your child with the water in the bathtub, all these “little things” eventually become meaningless. Keep some gasoline in your tank. You need it.
Sometimes the little things can have even more bang for your buck , and it’s important to identify the things that will bring you the most benefits based on the amount of effort you put into them. However, you should not shy away from difficult things just because they require a lot of effort.
Likewise, you should not let these “little things” go at the expense of your goals. For example, if your goal is to lose weight and reduce your risk of disease, switching to Diet Coke in the comfort of the gym and spending every waking hour behind a screen probably won’t get you there. It’s a success, of course, but it has to be part of a broader strategy that gets you where you want to be – otherwise this little thing won’t really help, will it?