Hugh, The Maze MasterHugh's Reviews
Each week Hugh reviews something, anything really, that has provoked a thoughtful insight.Eureka! I am not a patient person. I love eureka moments when something brand new is created. Don't you love a good epiphany? Giant leaps forward in progress come at these moments and I love them.
Incremental change. Small change over time. Many would say the complete opposite of a "Eureka!" moment, but I am learning to disagree.
Most real progress comes through long steady change over time. It comes incrementally, not in one big blast, but through continual improvement.
This slow progress makes my mind say "BORING!" Maybe you feel that way too, but the fact is that incremental change happens. Most frighteningly, it happens whether you plan for it or not.
Incremental degredation. Most bad things that happen to us, happen over a long period of time. No one gets fat overnight. People seldom go broke overnight. Relationships don't break overnight.
It's the long, grinding process of everyday life that ever so slowly wears us away until we wake up one morning and wonder how we got the way we are!
Often it takes a shock, such as a trip to the doctor, to wake us up to truly see reality and see our need to change.
(I know this isn't the normal, upbeat topic, but stick with me...)
Incremental improvement. The good news is that improvement, well-planned for, comes incrementally too.
Investments are the easiest example: Invest $2,600 per year and compound interest will net you over $100,000 in 20 years.
You can make that more incremental by investing $50 per week, but it's easier to come up with $50 per week, than $2,600 at the end of the year, isn't it?
It's the same with weight-loss. Nobody drops 25/lbs in a week, but just 1/2lb per week and in a year you're down 25 lbs! (It's a lot easier to do it that way, I can tell you from experience.)
Time-shifting. The hardest part is shifting your viewpoint from "right now" to the future. You have to be able to see the big change a long way off. You my have to delay gratification, but if you visualize the final reward vividly enough, it will sustain you on the journey.
Plan to succeed over time. In our businesses, we need to plan for success over time. Instead of trying to grow by 50% this year, target 10% per year for 5 years. (You will exceed your 50% goal because of compounding.)
Is 5 years really that far away? Sure seems like it now, but after this season, you only have 4, 3, 2, 1 to go.
Incremental change is where the action is. If you aren't planning for incremental improvements, but holding out hope for a Eureka! moment, you'll miss opportunities along the way.
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