174-Tips for Success: The Little Things Make the Difference

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 174

Habits for Success: The Little Things Make a Difference

Have you ever wondered why people spend so much time on social media and then get depressed because they compare and despair? Have you ever wondered why 75% of our population feels that it is important to focus on living a sustainable life but they never take the time or put out the effort to make it happen. 

Has there ever been a time in our life that you risk everything in order to accomplish any one thing? When is the last time you stepped outside your comfort zone? When is the last time you set a big goal and achieved it? Yet such things are common place in the lives of successful people. 

So join me for E174 Habits for Success; the Little Things Make the Difference.  

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E174 which is called Habits for Success: The Little Things Make a Difference. 

Sustainability question of the week

Why is sustainability important? 

Good news story of the week. 

And speaking of the little things, did it ever occur to you just how valuable frogs really are to our environment and our agriculture. Frogs eat billions and billions of insects every year, which of course make them economically valuable for agriculture. But they are also a critical source of food for fish, snakes, birds, and other wildlife. Frogs are also important environmental indicators. They are often the first casualties to pollution or other environmental damage. 

Well, there are hundreds of volunteers dispersed around England that are working to make a difference. This group of volunteers literally walks across the roads to pick up frogs and other amphibians, places them in buckets and safely transports them across the roadway. 

One group in particular has reduced the road kill from 60% down to 3%. 

Now you may think it is easy to just swerve around them. But during mating season there are so many of them on the roads it you move over to avoid one you end up hitting another. Not to mention that these small frogs just look like leaves on even small twigs in the dark when it is raining. 

It is estimated that 203 rescue groups saved nearly 115,000 animals last year. If you multiply that by the number of female toads laying eggs, then the numbers are even higher. And believe it or not, there is even a waiting list to join the volunteer group. One group even crowdfunds the 1,500 pound fee needed to pay for the closure of the main road during breeding season. 

There is even a charity group called Froglife that coordinates the mass data collection that these efforts generate. 

Who would have ever thought that such efforts would be undertaken to save the little old frog. So, a round of applause this week for Froglife and the hundreds of volunteers across England that are working to save a valuable resource. 

E173

Okay, let’s get on to this weeks episode and talk a little more about habits for success and how the small things make a difference. 

First off I want to ask a question. Is anyone familiar with the concept of orienteering? If not,  I am certain we are all familiar with GPS because we use that everyday. We have GPS in our vehicles and GPS in our phones. Such technology greatly helps us especially when we are in an area of town that we are not familiar with. And certainly as much as I work in different hospitals having GPS and Google Maps is a tremendous help. 

But I distinctly remember a time when such technology was just not available. I carried a road atlas in my truck and was constantly dependent on road signs. And if I was trying to find something in the dark it was almost impossible. 

I laugh about this now but when Annette and I would be driving somewhere and her son Erik was still very young we used to commonly play a game with him which was “Can you figure out where we are?” The object of the game was to teach him to always be aware of his surroundings. Could he figure out how far away from home we were by just looking at the surroundings such as natural landmarks, road signs, and even the position of the sun. 

No one does this any more of course but this is more or less the basis of orienteering, which is traveling by map and compass. What it requires is a topographical map of your surrounding terrain and a compass to keep you oriented. The object is to travel from point A to point B as accurately as possible. Now if you have ever done this you can appreciate how accuracy is important. If you are off by one degree while traveling over several miles you will completely miss your destination. 

Now imagine if you were on a ship traveling from New York City to England, which is a distance of 3462 miles or about 5571 kilometers, and the navigator miscalculated coordinates by the tiniest fracture of a degree. Over the course of thousands of kilometers that would make a significant difference. Imagine that same sort of an error when traveling from Earth to the moon, which is almost 239,000 miles.  By now I am sure you can appreciate that the smallest little thing makes a huge difference. 

I was commonly confronted with such things during my years of orthopedic surgery, especially when it came to putting on a bone plate. Precisely fitting a bone plate on a curved section of bone is somewhat of an art. But, if the fit is off by one half of one millimeter it puts extra stress on the screws used to anchor the plate. This leads to the screws loosening and perhaps even catastrophic failure of the repair. The smallest little thing makes a difference. 

Think of it this way. 

From the tiny acorn grows the mighty oak. 

Without the tiny plankton, the enormous whale would go hungry. An giant sequoia tree starts as a tiny sprout. 

You may not think much about throwing away a  single use plastic water bottle. But when that happens 60 million times per day in the US alone it makes a difference. 

You may not think much about allowing an apple to go to waste. For one reason or another half a billion apples get thrown away every single year. 

If we all reduced our driving by 10%, it would save 110 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, which is the same as taking 28 coal fired power plants off line for an entire year. 

So as you can see, it is the little things that make a huge difference. 

So why do people compare and despair instead of making things happen? Why do people sit and wait for the perfect moment instead of taking a leap of faith and starting something new. Why do people wait for something to happen before they do “their part?” It is almost as if most people are waiting for some sort of validation before they begin a journey that could change their lives. It’s as if most people are waiting for some sort of break through that will magically transform their lives. 

But, I have news for you. It is not typically some sort of major break through that changes most people’s lives. More commonly than not, it is the small little things, the day-to-day habits that eventually make a huge difference. These little habits are often referred to as micro-habits. 

For example, I still clearly remember the day I went to the mailbox and opened the letter that informed me that I have been accepted into the veterinary medical program at Colorado State. It was one of the few times in my life I was so happy I almost cried. While that may seem like a huge break through, receiving that letter was the result of consistent hard work for years. 

I just recently visited some friends of mine that I’ve known for nearly 20 years. They had purchased a new home and I went to see what they had done. I was completely astonished when I drove in front of their house. It was a massive thing that almost looked like a castle. After my visit, and purely out of curiosity, I looked up some information about this house. It was valued at approximately 2 million dollars. 

Most people would look at that and be envious and wonder how did they manage to achieve that. But I remember when they were younger and things were much different. They were starting a family, living in a small townhouse, starting a business and practically living at work literally for years in order to make it successful. The fact that they now live in a 2 million dollar house is the result of 20 years of work. 

Most people would look at the homestead I now have and feel as if I am very lucky. But it wasn’t a matter of luck. I started with nothing, lived in a tent for 6 months, lived without running water or electricity for years. But I slowly kept at it and built a nice homestead that is to this day 100% off grid. 

So, it is not the magnificent break throughs that makes a difference. It is the small little things you do day-to-day that over time produce great success. It is those micro-habits that get you where you need and want to be.  And this is exactly the same process that is needed to live a more sustainable life and literally save our planet.  All of this can happen by simply adopting some tiny little habits. And I am going to give you 12 things you can do to get you on your way.  

1) Follow the one minute rule

What this means is that any task that takes less than one minute to accomplish, do it right away. You will be surprised how far this goes toward cleaning up all the clutter in your life. For example, going through junk mail, hanging up your coat, putting your shoes away, putting things back in the refrigerator, watering your small container garden. 

It is surprising how these little things pile up throughout the week. Before you know it you spend an entire day off justing catching up on the little things. 

2) Set aside some personal time everyday

This can be different for everyone. Take a walk, meditate, sit quietly and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. The point of this exercise is to clear your mind, slow down, and relax. This simple exercise goes a long way toward relieving stress. 

Relaxation and quiet personal time is yet another frequently mentioned habit of highly successful people. 

3) Get up an hour earlier and have a regular morning routine.

The more time you have to devote to being successful the more likely it is that you will succeed. Getting up early is a habit of some of the most successful people in the world. So make it a habit. It also gives you some extra time to do some things for yourself before you start a busy day. 

4) Exercise everyday

The importance of staying fit cannot be over emphasized. It will help to prevent numerous health problems. This can be done in several ways. You can set aside a time everyday to work out. You can park a thousand yards away from work and walk. Get off the elevator two floors early and take the stairs. While at work, every time you take a rest room break do some stretches, do some jumping jacks, lunges, or push ups. Anything to keep you active. 

When you are healthy and fit you have more energy, you are less stressed, and you are far more productive. 

5) Eat Healthy

In our world 70% of the calories we consume everyday is from highly processed foods. That is why the majority of us are over weight. It is also the reason why cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancer are so common in todays world. 

You can eat healthier by making it a habit to carry a snack bag with you all the time. Take things such as nuts, chopped raw vegetables and fruit. When you get hungry you have a healthy option for convenience food instead of potato chips. All it takes is changing some small things so that you focus on eating healthy, watching your weight, and getting regular exercise 

6) Place yourself on a budget

Did you know that most people do not get rich by earning money. They get rich by saving money. Saving small amounts of money can make an incredible impact. You can do this until the day you retire.  

For example, years ago I had someone give me a tip for saving money that I thought was utterly ridiculous. But, I did it anyway. Every time I purchased something by using my personal checking account I rounded up that figure to the nearest five dollar increment. So if I purchased something for $6.29 I recorded $10. After a few years I had so much extra money in my checking account that I was able to put up a down payment on a house. 

So, once again, it is the small things that can make a significant difference. Put yourself on a budget, stick to it, and save money regularly. By doing so, the next time some big unexpected expense comes up in your life you will have the money to take care of it. 

7) Read a little every day

Most highly successful people are always reading and learning. Doing so challenges your mind, exposes you to new ideas, and keeps your mind alive and functioning well. Make it a life long habit to always focus on learning something new. This is one area in your life that you can always control and that is how you use your mind to improve yourself. 

8) Network with other people

Successful people know the value of exchanging ideas with others. They know the value of teamwork and collaboration. All of these things are more likely if you network and talk to other people. 

I can point to numerous times in my life where this has made a difference for me. For example, for as long as I have lived off the grid when I start talking to people that have a similar lifestyle they inevitably bring up a new way of doing something that saves time and money. And it is always something I never thought of before. 

And as much as I love living in the middle of the forest and being independent, I was just recently reminded of the value of talking to friends and neighbors. I was faced with a very frustrating and expensive tax situation associated with my cabin property. I did not see anyway to easily resolve this problem with the county and the state in a suitable manner that would eliminate any long-term financial implications. 

I was relaying my frustration to some good friends of mine when they admitted they had been faced with exactly the same situation. They outlined a plan to resolve this problem that would have a significant positive financial impact on me for years. Had I not been willing to talk to my friends I never would have figured this out.  And it all happened because I was willing to share and network. 

9) Mute all notifications and limit your screen time

This is something I truly cannot over emphasize. We are deluded into believing we have to constantly stay in touch. The only thing this accomplishes is to increase our stress and anxiety. We can’t focus on anything because we are constantly distracted. Furthermore, we can’t stop comparing ourselves to other people’s online profiles which only results is what I call “compare and despair.” Constant exposure to social media has been directly linked increased depression. 

I would recommend checking messages and notifications only once daily. Personally, I look at my social media accounts once a week and then I forget about it until the next week. 

Furthermore, ignore the news media for at least a week at a time. I promise you if the world falls apart when you are not watching you will hear about it.

10) Keep yourself organized

By far one of the most frequently mentioned micro-habits of very successful people is organization. Things such as planning, setting priorities and goals tend to keep you focused. Otherwise our minds tend to wander and we go through an entire week without accomplishing anything. 

I frequently do this first thing in the morning. I am always up early anyway. It is part of my routine to get up early, sit quietly, drink some coffee and mentally organize my day. Even on my days off at the cabin, first thing in the morning I commonly ask myself “What do I want to accomplish today?” It keeps me organized and focused. 

11) Take action

Another frequent characteristic of successful people is that they take action on their ideas. They organize, they plan, they set priorities, and then they take action. They do not wait for some random stroke of luck. They do not wait for some great break through. They do not wait for validation. If they want to accomplish something they take action. 

12) Keep a positive attitude

Many successful people believe that having a positive attitude is the root cause of success. Being grateful for what you have, expressing gratitude to other people, being kind, helping others are all part of staying positive.

In today’s world we are constantly surrounded by bad news. This leads us to believe that the world is a bad place and there is no resolution. Most people overlook the fact that there are so many positive things going on in the world. You just have to look for it. 

One of the biggest reasons I have been so successful in my veterinary career is that I go to work in different hospitals and I almost always have a positive attitude. This reflects on how I deal with staff, how I deal with clients and how I resolve conflict. This is one of the biggest reasons people call me back to work with them again and again. It has truly been the foundation of many things I have been able to accomplish. 

Summary

You know I do realize that we have all been living in a very challenging world in the last few years. Things are changing so rapidly, we hear nothing but bad news, and it is difficult to feel any sense of personal security because our world is changing so rapidly. But you cannot allow all the things around you to discourage you from accomplishing things for yourself. 

People often say, “ What is the world coming to these days?” Well I would contend that the world is coming to the same thing it has been coming to for the last 3000 years. We just hear about it more because we are all connected by technology. 

I know it is easy to get discouraged and focus more on the future and day dream of how things are going to get better. But the future is not a solution to the present. It is a mistake to believe that happiness of success is on the other side of any future event. 

The same is true for the future of humanity. Our future has not yet been decided. It is all of our little wasteful day-to-day habits that have gotten us where we are today. And it is changing all those habits to something more sustainable that will save the planet and our future. 

At this point I hope you realize that it is all the little things that make a difference as to whether or not we are successful in life. And it is all the little things that will lead to a sustainable future. But, like anything else, change takes time. We may fail. We may fall short. We will make mistakes. The important thing is to continue making an effort. This is ultimately what sets successful people apart. 

Legendary Coach John Wooden said, “Little things make big things happen!” Your success is the result of the little things you do every day and over time you will accomplish the big things. True excellence only happens by first being excellent at the little things.

So I want to close out this episode by first answering the sustainability question of the week. 

Sustainability question of the week. 

Why is sustainability important? 

Sustainable living practices focus on using minimal resources, causing little environmental damage, and reducing waste and pollution. Like it or not, we do not live on a planet with unlimited resources. That is becoming painfully obvious.  Consequently, it is important to preserve our resources as much as possible. Think in terms of using only what you need. 

Now, one final comment before I close. And I hope this will make some of you think about how you can accomplish something that is important to you and perhaps something that you have been putting off.

When you feel as if you are stuck, think about this. 

Commit to a goal and focus on actions that are entirely changeable based on results. Don’t just beat your head against a brick wall and keep doing it because one day you expect it not to hurt because you keep on doing it. 

Think about that folks until next week, when I hope you will join me for another episode. Until then, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.