A few months ago, I was reflecting on the life I was living. I wrote in my journal about my situation—where I was and where I wanted to be. When I wrote about what I wanted to achieve, I felt a bit disappointed because I thought most of it was a bit delusional. I wasn’t in the place I needed to be to become that person anymore. So I had to stop kidding myself and start setting achievable goals.
But deep down inside, I asked myself, “What if?”
What if it wasn’t too late to think positively about my dreams? What if it was possible to become that version of me who lives the life he wanted? What if I could do everything I aspire to do?
I told my wife, and she said I was being too pessimistic. Usually, I’m the opposite. So, I thought about it for a few minutes. “What if it was really possible?”
Even if I started thinking positively and worked on becoming a better version of myself, I don’t have the time to take the actions required to get there. I was too busy with my work and doing things that I thought mattered at the time.
Everything I thought about was negative. Yet I still had a little positive voice in my head that kept asking, “What if?”
I chose to listen to that voice and give it a shot. After all, what if it was indeed possible to change your life at this point? So, I began listing things I needed to do to achieve my goals. I didn’t start with the big stuff immediately. Instead, I wanted to tackle things one at a time. The most important part about achieving your goal is discipline. Consistently taking actions you need to grow. If I had thought big immediately, it would have been a sure path to failure. As I said, I wasn’t in the phase of my life where I could go big.
I decided to start with my habits—small, consistent actions that compound into bigger outcomes. For example, to achieve my fitness goals, I decided to do 50 push-ups and walk at least 5,000 steps every day. I didn’t go for the traditional 10k steps and ten-type workout routine. I stuck to a simple, achievable action that would make a significant impact over time. I used a self-made habit tracker to make sure I did it daily.
The first month wasn’t about the habit. Taking action consistently mattered more. It wasn’t what I did that mattered. Instead, how often I could repeatedly accomplish my daily goal mattered more.
After the first month, I walked at least 5,000 steps every day for 28 out of 30 days. That was great. Some days, the daily step count grew to 10,000 and even up to 17,000 on one day. And as for the daily 50 push-ups, I did that for 29 out of 30 days. Wow! My body felt great, and most importantly, doing this daily challenge made me believe that change was possible. If I stayed consistent and took small, consistent actions, nothing was impossible.
The second month, I added other workout routines that were a bit more challenging. I achieved at least 90% consistency.
That was only about my health. I used the same method to improve other areas like finance, relationships, writing, content creation, reading, etc. It also helped me let go of bad habits like scrolling on my phone and arguing with my wife. I tracked everything that needed to change.
The lesson I learned from this experiment was that change is possible. You can always, at any age or point in your life, become a different version of you. For that, you need discipline. You are competing with yourself. You are showing up for yourself. It’s you against you.
First, set an intention—decide what you want. Then, believe it’s possible. At first, I was very pessimistic about the change I wanted. But when I set the intention and changed my beliefs, I took action. Lastly, the most important part about change is starting and taking small, consistent action.
Most people think about the big things they need to achieve. They worry about all the significant action required for that change. But the truth is, you must start with small actions. This builds your mindset and motivates you to believe it is possible. And when the goal is small at first, you can easily achieve it.
Once you get going and build a habit of consistency, you can slowly go big. Your discipline and focus matter the most. Once you understand this and start working to become the version of you you want to be, you start acting like them. And when you don’t lose focus and stay on track despite many obstacles, you manifest the greater version of you into reality.
