Making 1% Better Changes instead of setting big goals | Atomic Habits [Episode 256]

I love making big goals – and you’ve seen me do some of them here with things like the Soaring Mothers Summit. But this year, I wanted to try something that I read about years ago in Atomic Habits: making 1% Better Changes.

Each month of the year, I’m picking one tiny thing to focus on, and so far, the impact has far exceeded my homes.

When I’m deciding on what to focus on each month, I start with this question that is found in the quarterly review pages of the Thriving in Motherhood Planner:

“What is the ONE thing that will make the biggest difference in all areas of my life?”

It allows me to get honest with myself about what my current habits are and where I would like to make things better for myself.

What I love about this question is that whatever season of motherhood you’re in – even the super hard ones – you can find things to make 1% better instead of staying stuck and feeling like a victim.

Here are the changes I’ve made so far in quarter one of 2023:

January: Charge my phone away from my bed at night.

February: Daily exercise (with a low bar of what counts)

March: Track our spending in a spreadsheet

The changes are simple, but by moving my phone away from my bed at night, I not only went to sleep earlier, but I also started off the day by doing all the things that matter to me before picking up my phone.

Daily exercise for me is crucial to decreasing pain, and I’ve made a lot of improvements in that area.

Tracking our spending turned into bigger conversations about how much we’ve saved and want to save for our kid’s college, retirement and how we can tackle our mortgage more quickly.

For more details of why I’m focusing on little things and the results I’m seeing, listen to this week’s episode of the podcast!

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