Day 148: Big Shifts Come From Small Changes

This morning’s affirmation from Louise Hay was:
Every change in my life can lift me to a new level of understanding.



How could it not? Unless we simply refuse to pay attention.



The whole idea of change is that it shifts our world.



It doesn’t just change one thing, because when you make even a small change in your life, it ripples through other parts of your life as well.



It doesn’t make a difference if it’s something we are adding or subtracting from our life.



Either way, the impact expands beyond that one shift.



I remember when I read about all the health benefits of coffee.



At the time I was only having coffee when I went to breakfast on Saturday, so 1-2 cups a week. I was a green tea drinker.



I had a whole ritual of making my antioxidant tea that over the years I just kept throwing in more herbs and spices to make it even healthier.



I started doing coffee a couple days a week and I found a new ritual I enjoyed. Having a cup of coffee first thing in the morning while things were still slow and quiet.



It added something to my life. I made the change for health benefits. That was the logical part.



The other ripple effects that came with it were things like the memories I have of visiting family in the summer, and my sister coming out to sit on the patio with me to share a cup of coffee before we started our day. We’d take advantage of the early morning to have some quiet time together.



If it wasn’t for the coffee, my old routine would have had me going full speed first thing.

Coffee slowed my morning and gave me space.



The biggest benefit I got as a ripple of drinking more coffee was that it changed the energetic pace of my life.



Just a small ripple from a small change, but overall time, the benefit compounds.



Think about bigger, more meaningful life changes and how they ripple out to make the rest of your life better.



26 years ago when I started writing the daily lessons for Change One Thing, Change Your Life, I wanted those lessons to act as very specific prompts to unlock something in our minds to allow a shift to start to take place, without challenging the part of our mind that keeps things the same.



That part of the mind tends to resist change because its job is to keep what feels familiar and safe in place.



We get to a point where we convince ourselves that staying exactly where we are is the safest thing to do because it’s what we know.



But everything we want is just on the other side of the edge of our comfort zone.



That’s why I’ve always believed transformation works best gently. 



Not through attacking ourselves, forcing change, or trying to become a completely different person overnight, but by slowly opening the mind to new possibilities one small shift at a time.”



One of my favorite quotes is, “Big doors swing on small hinges,” by W. Clement Stone.

You could also say that big shifts come from small changes.



Baby steps, cracking the door of possibility open, one small shift in the way you look at something can change everything for you.



The effects of every baby step compound the longer you do them.



When you begin to live a self-led life of inner peace and self-confidence, living from your truth, everyone in your life benefits from who you become.



Today’s Gentle Practice

Notice today if there is one small shift you could make that might create more peace, space, ease, or alignment in your life.

Not a complete overhaul.
Not changing everything overnight.

Just one small shift.

Maybe it’s slowing your morning down.


Turning your phone off earlier.
Taking a walk.


Saying no to something that drains you.


Giving yourself a few quiet minutes before reacting.

Then pay attention to how that one small change ripples into the rest of your day.

Big shifts often begin much more quietly than we expect.



With you,

Lynn