“Moving forward requires that one first take a step.” - Chase S.M. Neill

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We’ve all felt it right?  You’re all fired-up and ready for massive action.

You clean out the junk from your pantry and restock it with expensive foods from the local health food store.  And plan a daily visit to the gym! 

You’re going all-in to lose weight and get fit FAST, because that’s how you roll, right – all or nothing. 

And you know you can do it...you’re persistent, determined and capable of ANYTHING if you just get started.

But ouch… the day after that first day back at the gym… maybe you went a little too hard.

And when you finally finish up another day of hustling and juggling, you’re absolutely exhausted and you’re definitely in no mood to start working on that new recipe you scheduled in the meal plan for tonight – I mean how do you even cook quinoa?  

But the pantry is devoid of anything quick and easy to cook since you did that pantry clean-out!

Plus, you’ll probably need to skip the gym tonight – you can barely walk after yesterday.

And that’s only day 2… Day 3 usually doesn’t fare a whole lot better.

We’ve all been there and I don’t need to tell you how it plays out…

There are a lot of reasons this happens (much more about in our upcoming Myth of Willpower mini-podcast-series, so watch out for that), but the part I want to talk about today is the component of ‘taking massive action.’

Because we’re always told to take massive action – in life and in business.

As kids we were told to… Dream Big!

Or... Reach for the stars!

And as we get older it's “Go BIG or go home!”

Even Tony Robbins tells us “The path to success is to take massive, determined actions.”

And I get it, why - when you feel like so there is SO much that needs ‘fixing’ - would you start out small?  It would take forever to achieve anything that way, right?

But if taking massive action hasn’t worked for you in the past, or seems just too overwhelming to even think about right now, then consider that taking small action might actually work better, as counterintuitive as that might sound…

Let’s unpack that a bit….

1. Massive Action can be difficult, even impossible, to start

Think about our example before. 

Going to the gym daily and cooking completely new food can be very time-consuming – up to two hours every day if you count travel time to the gym and fiddling around with a brand-new recipe.

And do you have two free hours in your day right now?

Or are you already stressed-out and struggling to juggle everything?  Because if you can’t create a two-hour window every day, then it physically isn’t even possible to get your new lifestyle off the ground. 

Your new ‘massive action’ is a complete non-starter!

But small, bitesize changes that only take a few minutes a day are much easier to incorporate into your life straight away, even if you’re too busy to make time for you right now.

2. Massive Action is also rarely sustainable

When you’re always busy, stressed and short of time, even the smallest of tasks can seem overwhelming, if not impossible. But if you don’t have the time or energy to do the small things, you’re definitely not going to get very far with the big stuff, because it just adds MORE work to your already overwhelmed life, making it impossible for you to stick to your new habits.

Bitesize steps are easier to manage over the longer term and less overwhelming than trying to make big changes all at once.  When you start small, it is easier to be consistent, which is key to making real and lasting change.

3. Your Body might not be ready for Massive Action

Just because you're ready for massive action, it doesn't mean your body is too.

After all, you’re not hitting PRs or running a marathon on the treadmill on your first day back at the gym… it takes time to build up your strength and fitness with regular training over weeks and months.

And the same applies to the rest of the body. Just like muscles get stronger and better at doing their job the more we use them, many of the other complex physiological systems all become more efficient at carrying out the biochemical processes we need when used more consistently – think about it as the performance of your body’s systems, for example your heart and lungs, metabolism, eyesight and nervous system, becoming “fitter” as you practise a skill or process.

It really is a case of use it or lose it – and if you go too hard when you’re unconditioned, things don’t usually go too well, like getting injuries at the gym.

When you dive straight into a new diet, you might find yourself experiencing headaches, digestive issues, mood changes and fatigue, because your digestive processes need time to adapt to the new food. Cutting out sugar in particular can also be a shock to the body, which responds with sugar cravings that make all your best efforts MUCH harder (more about that in a future article).

Going all in can sometimes ask things of your body that it just can’t do right now, which makes it extremely hard, if not impossible, to carry on with your new habit.

But bitesize changes allow your body to first adapt and prepare for bigger changes further down the road.

4. Massive Action may also be too much for your soul

Making big changes means more load on your time, energy and body, but it also means more load on your already stressed-out soul in the form of shame, guilt and frustration when you inevitably ‘fail’.

And this stress is sabotaging all your efforts to live a healthy, happy life.

This is SUCH an important and overlooked component of almost all healthy living programs.

It is essential that you start reducing your load BEFORE you take on any challenging changes in your life, because stress triggers the survival brain and self-sabotage, making it almost impossible to develop new healthy habits and live a healthy, happy life.

So, be gentle on yourself – don’t set your expectations so high that you are bound to fail… and when things don’t go to plan, just smile and reset… without judgement.

5. The results of Massive Action are difficult to track

Everyone is different, with different bodies that respond in different ways to different food and other lifestyle choices. Which is why you have to be the DETECTIVE in your health journey. When you try something new, it’s hugely important to really notice the impact on your body and how you feel.

You need to track how any changes to your diet, exercise or other lifestyle factors are affecting you, so that you don’t waste your precious time and energy on things that aren’t working for you.

If you’re doing ALL the things at once, you’re just not going to be able to assess which ones are having the most impact.

Starting off with just 2 or 3 habit changes makes it easier to detect what is working for you.

6. Massive Action focuses on a BIG outcome

Another reason to ditch massive action is that it is often focused on one big outcome or success some time in future.

On the other hand, bitesize changes provide quick wins and a sense of achievement almost immediately, which creates more motivation, through an increase in dopamine.

This helps you to sustain your new habit, building up momentum and create a positive feedback loop, where each new success motivates you to keep going.rney.

Now you might feel like you’ve let things go to the point that only massive action is going to fix things.

You’re not going to get anywhere with teeny, tiny changes right? And I hear you. 

But what I want you to understand is that taking massive action, even if you can get it started, is more likely to fail, leaving you with absolutely no forward progress. 

With small changes, you can keep moving forward and as you gain momentum, you get more energy, more motivation and even more time, so that you can better take on the bigger changes.

What I want you to take away from today is that you don’t have to take massive action for real, lasting change.  You can do just as well - and probably even better - if you just start small.

And if you're not one of our Bitesize Hackers already, then to make it easier for you, we’ve packaged up our ten biggest bang-for-your-buck bitesize health hacks into a little Kickstarter program - absolutely free.

It might feel like you’re not going anywhere fast at first, but, for some - especially those dealing with stress and burnout – small bitesize hacks are absolutely the best way to achieve consistency and to stay motivated to keep moving in the right direction… so that you can sustain your new healthy habits and gain momentum and motivation… until anything is possible,  including the massive change that seemed impossible not so long ago!

Remember our quote at the start...“Moving forward requires that one first take a step.”from Chase S.M. Neill...

So what will be YOUR one first step?

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Whether you're battling burnout, struggling with weight gain, or feeling lost in a sea of unhealthy habits, the tribe is your roadmap, guide and travel buddies to rediscovering your health and happiness.