Meeting with a group of CEOs this week, I was struck by how a slight change in behavior can make a huge difference. Think about the time you decided to get up 10 minutes earlier, or pay your bills on the same day every 2 weeks, or put $50 into savings every pay period, or some other slight change that made a noticeable difference in reducing your stress level.
In the book “Switch” by Dan Heath and Chip Heath, they talk about looking for bright spots where small actions can make significant change. One example they give is the State of West Virginia’s campaign to reduce childhood obesity. We all know about the national issue with rising obesity and the human as well as medical costs this is generating. To make a simple step in the right direction, the public health department developed a campaign to get parents to switch to 1% milk from whole milk. They ran ads comparing the fat in a glass of whole milk to eating 5 pieces of bacon. What a visual! They motivated a significant switch to 1% milk which is one easy step to lowering fat consumption.
The positive benefit of achieving results keeps us motivated to continue with the good practices. It gives us confidence that we can do even more to get what we want. What is one small step you could adopt today to reduce your financial, physical or emotional stress? Let us know what has worked for you.