Why We Need To Remember That Small Hinges Swing Big Doors
‘Something’s got to change!’ if you’ve said it once you’ll have said it a million times. Do you find yourself wishing things were different and yet thoroughly pissed off that everything seems to stay the same?
Does your life or business feel a bit humdrum? Do you wonder why? Or you do you have a little moan about it now and again and then bore yourself so much you forget all about it (then repeat all over again?!)
What would happen if you drilled down into the specifics about what is it you really want to change about your life? Big picture thinking is fantastic, but it can feel overwhelming when you don’t know where to start making changes.
Small hinges swing big doors
Sometimes the most transformative shifts in your life don’t come from the grand gestures, they come from the tiny tweaks. Local gym owner Dan Moore likes to say ‘small hinges swing big doors’ (adaptation of a quote from American businessman and author W Clement Stone), and that’s the truth!
It’s the little things that we do consistently that make the difference. Look at it this way, if you and your friend went for a walk and you slowly began to veer off one degree to the left consistently, what would happen? Within a short space of time, you’d have a big gap between the two of you (assuming your friend didn’t follow you!).
Change doesn’t have to be about firing your customers, moving house, ending a relationship, changing your car, new hairstyle, new clothes, new pet! All of those things are like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic; different view, same outcome!
If you want to create lasting change you need to start from the inside out. Get clear on the actions that you are taking (or not) every day. Become aware of your self-talk, what are you telling yourself? Have you been deploying the carrot or the stick? It’s our thinking that keeps you stuck, not external circumstances.
Be specific
And MOST of all, get crystal clear on what it is that you want to be different in your life. Waving your hand and gesturing ‘everything’ isn’t the solution, it’s part of the problem.
Do you want to feel different? If yes, how specifically do you want to feel? Do you want a relationship? Do you want more customers or clients? If so, why? What do you think that person can bring to your life or business? And, of equal importance, what will you contribute to their life?
Stop making yourself wrong. Give up feeling guilty for what you want. Want what you want. And forget the parental chant of “I want doesn’t get!” Without action ‘I want’ doesn’t get, but with the right desire, clarity, and willingness to get out of your own way ‘I want’ can become ‘I am ready to make it happen’, and it can be yours. There’s no magic wand, but there is a powerful you.
Get in gear and go.
If you’d love support to stop overthinking, questioning if you’re good enough, deserving enough or worthy enough drop me a message sophia@sophiahanson.com, or why not check this out and hop on a call?
As featured in Executive Magazine, March 2022.