7 Steps to Get Started With a Big Change You Want to Create

When you want to create a big change of some kind, it can feel daunting, overwhelming, and like a mountain to climb.

But, if you change the way you see the mountain, it becomes easier to scale it.

Often, we are not seeing big change for what it really is.

Achieving big change is just an accumulation of many small steps taken consistently and persistently over time until you get from where you are to where you want to be. That is all it is.  

When you just focus on that, the change you seek feels way more manageable and achievable.

But, if you keep thinking of the change you want to create as something huge, that is likely to trigger fear, anxiety, worry, and stress. Those emotional states can hold you back and keep you stuck.

When I wanted to leave the corporate world many years ago and, later, wanted to emigrate to new countries, I was thinking of it as such a massive change that it terrified the living daylights out of me. As a result, I didn’t take any action for a long time. I stayed stuck in situations that were unfulfilling and costing me the life and work I really wanted.

But when I created a mindset shift of seeing big change just as an accumulation of small steps over time, it became way easier to move forward. That mindset shift was the catalyst for achieving those big changes successfully.

Here are 7 steps to help you approach big change using that mindset:

Step 1: Write down the change you want to create. Don’t label it “big” or anything else. It is what it is. Just a change you want to make happen.

Step 2: list down everything you can think of that you would need to do to achieve that change. If you don’t know, don’t worry about it. Maybe your first step is just to start figuring it out or doing some research on that thing.

Step 3: put everything you have listed into a priority order or natural sequence.

Step 4: commit to when you will do just the first few steps on that list and schedule them.

Step 5: revise, update and tweak the list at regular intervals as you move forward.

Step 6: create contingency plans. They are your safety net.

Step 7: to deal with any negative feelings like fear, stress or worry, ask yourself “What needs to be in place for this to feel like a safe change for me to take?” Work on putting those things in place.

The bottom line:

When tackling any big change, keep thinking of it just as an accumulation of many small steps taken consistently and persistently over a period of time. Because when it boils down to it, that is all it is. Stay focused on the small steps.