Super small, super simple; super successful

Maybe the title of the article sounds “super strange” to you, not only because it consists of six words that start with the letter “S,” but also because it could imply a clear paradox. 

What leads to success

Through the years, many leadership experts, motivational speakers, and famous writers have attributed great success to massive changes, total transformations, and paradigm shifts. Such elegant expressions, unintentionally, led to frustration among normal people who dreamed of making their lives better. We were told that achievements and breakthroughs need giant leaps that can make immediate impacts and lead to notable changes. 

Subsequently, a lot of modern researchers, scientists, and specialists open new horizons of hope for normal people, like us, by stating that tiny habit changes that create small improvements in the right direction will definitely result in desirable outcomes.

New research, new findings

In the last two decades, tens of books and papers were published to prove and exemplify the impacts of simple and small changes. Among these famous and best-seller books are: “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, “Tiny Habits” by B.J. Fogg, and “Stick with It” by Sean Young. All these writers emphasize that positive changes should be gradual, simple, and even easy. None of them underestimates the importance of thinking big and having ambitious dreams or goals. Consequently, they stress that dreams and goals cannot be achieved without being broken down into small achievable and measurable targets, and then developing small and simple habits that lead to accomplishing such targets.

Success builds up and accumulates like a snowball. The well-known saying “Nothing succeeds like success” reflects this idea. When you have small and simple steps, it will be easy to succeed, and this success will motivate you more than anything else. 

The magic impact of tiny changes

Clear says, “If something or a process gets 1% better each day for one year, it will end up 37 times better by the end of the year.” For sure, the impact will not be clear in the first few days of even months. However, it will be notable in the long run. 

This is the principle that is followed by athletes, inventors, and successful authors. “Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors repeated every day,” said entrepreneur and author Jim Rohn. 

My personal story

In 1992, I graduated with a B.S. degree in the English language. When I started working as a teacher, I realized that I had to improve my English. I started a small habit to study for about one hour most nights. After a few years, I won second place in a very comprehensive competency test conducted for more than 600 teachers in my area (governorate) in Egypt, surpassing all my teachers and supervisors. This success helped me to win more than one scholarship to study in the U.S. and the U.K. 

Amazing achievements and inspirational success stories are not the results of miracles or extraordinary actions. They are just the results of small changes that go simply on the right track with consistent improvement. 

The good news is that you and I can embrace such small and simple practices to be super successful. 

Your Voice reflects the thoughts and opinions of the writer, and not necessarily those of the publication.