Last week I finally managed to cross a long time goal off my bucket list, when I took the skies in a plane.

I’m sure most people reading this will have had some kind of experience of flying on a jumbo jet but let me tell you being up there in a two seater semi acrobatic plane is a completely different experience.

It’s both exhilarating and a little terrifying at the same time. I mean, there just a few inches of plastic and fibre glass holding us up in the open air!

Whilst up in the clouds getting used the flight controls, my instructor asked me to turn the plane to the right and that’s when something happened that I wasn’t quiet expecting.

I pulled the control to the right and was really surprised at how little I need it in order to change direction.  Just the smallest of shifts from left to right and the aircraft would respond.

It was surprising because  intuitively I thought I’d have to pull harder on the controls and make a bigger movement  to get the change in direction I wanted.

Why am I sharing all this with you?

I’ve found that often when people or businesses are looking to create change, they get fooled into thinking that in order to get what they want they have to make massive action.

It’s kind of a cliche in personal development world, so many coaches wax lyrical about taking massive action.

I don’t disagree with them.  I just think that sometimes taking massive action is actually counter productive and there’s more to be achieved through a number of small changes.

The problem with taking massive action is that once the initial excitement has subsides the enormity of the tasks ahead can create a sense of overwhelm. Suddenly, the minds of those involved begin to come up with stories as to why it’s not possible – budget, resources, knowledge etc

What I have found is that a series of small adjustments with 100% commitment behind them can deliver greater rewards than going for one massive change.

I recently shared a similar message with a national public transport company when speaking  at their conference focused on improving customer experience. It would have been easy to fire them up and get them thinking about making radical changes to what they do. People would have gone away inspired with big ideas but the likelihood is that very quickly that would have turned into a bunch of conversations about why the ideas weren’t viable or why they couldn’t work.

Instead we spoke about the power of small.

We spent time discussing the small things that they could commit to doing better every day which, when added together across the company would significantly improve their customers experience.

Delegates left the conference feeling empowered to make a difference with something that would be easy and simple to implement the next day.

On a personal level, I’ve found that making small changes has had greater impact in my own results than some of the bigger things I’ve tried.

My life isn’t picture perfect but here are some examples of what I have implemented.

Waking up one hour earlier than I used to and committing to some form of exercise for 20 mins each day has 2 years on turned into consistently working out 6 times a week, listening to spiritual learnings and drinking 2 litres of water on waking all of which has transformed my overall health.

In the past I’d have tried to make massive changes to my diet and gone all out on the exercise which would have lasted all of 2 months before I’d have thrown in the towel.

At home little things like a “no phones during dinner’ rule and always eating at the dinning table with out a TV have meant we have better conversations and feel greater connection as a family.

In work, I committed to sharing a simple personal quote every day to my networks, this has opened up more relationships and interesting opportunities with people I would never have got a around to talking to.

Get the idea?

Now let me ask you, what are the small adjustments you could make tomorrow which would start to take you, your business or career in the direction in which you want to go?

Please share you thoughts, experiences and success stories in the comments section below.