A Little Goes A Long Way

Categories Leadership, Management Articles, Time Management

Estimated Reading Time 4 Minutes

This year I added a new element to my “wellness” program and started doing a daily 10-minute yoga routine.  In addition to the health benefits, the mindfulness training has been awesome.  My teacher Adriene has a great line that she uses encouragingly; “a little goes a long way.”

Why a Little Goes a Long Way

She uses this to instruct participants to start slow and make steady progress.  Us type-A’s have a hard time with slow and steady.  We like fast and instant!  Unfortunately, fast and instant is a recipe for disappointment, and when it comes to physical training, even injury.

What happens when we approach things slow and steady?  We leave hungry for more.  And that’s a key to behavior modification psychology.

She is also wisely advising that it’s better to under-commit up front.  Too often we get excited about something and we commit ourselves to spending huge amounts of time, only to realize we don’t have that much room in our schedule.  The next thing you know we feel like we failed to stick with it.  We end up learning the wrong thing.

Finally, I think she is pointing to a reality that most of us experience.  We think we have to do a lot to make a difference and so we wait until we can do a lot.  The opposite of a little goes a long way is if you don’t do a lot, it isn’t going to matter.  I’ve been wanting to do a yoga class for a long time but I couldn’t figure out how to fit it into my schedule.  Then I realized that YouTube  has great offerings that could be done in just 10 minutes.  I could have said “that’s not enough to do any good.”  But I didn’t.  I started doing a 10 minute daily routine that has become something that I really look forward to doing.

Applications for Managers

So how would your life change if you adopted the idea that a little goes a long way? I can think of at least 7 applications of this for a manager:

  1. A little goes a long way when it comes to showing your direct reports that they matter.  Remembering a birthday or anniversary, sending a quick note to thank them for extra effort, or public recognition at the weekly meeting for their recent accomplishments are just a few ways we build the type relationship that is so rewarding.
  2. A little goes a long way when we attempt to change our own behaviors.  Sitting down and writing a list of all the “new” things we want to do as managers, is often an exercise in futility.  Better to pick one small change and work on it until it becomes a part of who you are.  If you sense you need to be more focused, making a list each day of 3 specific things you want to accomplish is a good start.  Don’t list 20.
  3. A little goes a long way when it comes to training with your team members.  Better to sit with one of them for fifteen minutes and work on an improved approach to handling a recent situation that needs work, then to schedule an all-day training twice per year.  Think about what would happen if you spent 15 minutes on skill development once per week with each of your people.  How much better would they be in 90 days?
  4. A little goes a long way when it comes to your own professional development.  Rather than feel guilty that you don’t spend enough time reading about your profession, what if you just set aside 15 minutes, a couple of times per week to read?  In a year how much could you read doing it that way?
  5. A little goes a long way when it comes to taking care of your health.  Rather than beat yourself up over your lack of discipline, what if you committed 15 minutes a couple of times per week to taking a walk?  Maybe you could even do that during your lunch time.  Invite one of your direct reports to join you and you can multiply the benefit by also getting some relationship building time in.
  6. A little goes a long way when it comes to your finances.  Being distracted by your personal finances, or lack of, will get in the way of you reaching your potential as a manager.  On the other hand, starting a savings habit, and continuing it, will afford you personal financial security over time.
  7. A little goes a long way when it comes to your personal relationships outside of work.  Like health and finances, being intentional about relationships and how you want to grow them, has carry-over into your leadership and role-modeling at work.  When your home life is awesome, it shows.

Transformational Exercise

Identify and write down one new habit that you want to add that reflects the idea that a little goes a long way.

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