Take One Small Step
thinkhuman.com
thinkhuman.com
One common failure mode of "do the smallest/easiest thing first" that the article didn't address was that sometimes it's so easy to "buy the running shoes" that you end up with a house full of "easy first steps." I think a better approach is to aim to eliminate unnecessary complexity in moving towards the goal. You can do this by aiming for the smallest, easiest, and simplest first step that simultaneously maximises progress towards the goal. e.g. "I want to make a stand to hold my XYZ." Bad first step: Buy a 3D printer. Good first step: Improvise something out of cardboard.
But I think it all still applies; the key is to keep taking small steps toward the thing, not just 'keep taking small steps'. You look at a successful small step and (like I wrote) ask 'what's the next step?' that will build on it.
2025 was the first time I have been able to implement and maintain a series of routines for the entire year (still going strong), and the concept of starting tiny was a key epiphany for me. I wrote about my experiences with it recently on my blog[0], but the point you make about good first steps is a great one.
A phrase I heard some time back that has stuck with me is "don't buy something hoping to be someone." In other words, don't buy running shoes hoping to become a runner.
In my personal experience, a good first step is the smallest version of doing the thing you ultimately want to be doing. "Brush one tooth" is a great example. Doing one push-up is another. For running, maybe just getting dressed, walking outside, and doing some stretching. The idea is that it's the stuff you would have to do anyways if you were going to do a more robust/thorough version of the thing you're trying to ultimately do. Buying shoes, on the other hand, is just purchasing more stuff.
- Doing anything usually involves prep work. Want to take a step? First put on your shoes (literally or figuratively, depending). If your attempted habit is 70% prep, your brain will somewhat rightfully conclude "this is stupid" fairly quickly.
- "Just do X every day for [long time period]" has an inherent falsification problem: You aren't "allowed" to argue against it until you tried it. Stopped after 2 years because you saw no change (and 5 was recommended)? You are still not allowed to argue against the strategy!
- You can actually make steps so small that they're useless. I once set out to have (at least) one github commit online per day (going for that green tile!). This led to my brain finding hacks like rephrasing one sentence of an old blog post. Doing that for 20 days is way less effective than one single coding session, at 20 times the emotional cost.
- Doing something daily for a long time is extremely hard to achieve, especially if it's not the main thing you're doing. It's rare in the wild. You will find piano virtuosos who play piano daily, but not piano virtuosos who also go to the gym daily.
A: Spend a minute stressing about my goal.
Note that this is also something that can be weaponized. Recently I've learned to draw and I found I kept having great difficulty just starting. To get over that I made the agreement with myself that at least once every two days, I would grab a pencil and page through my sketchbook. I'd find myself on the first blank page holding a pencil.
Turns out your brain thinking prep work without actual work is stupid really helps here. Once you've tricked yourself into doing the prep work, you might as well do the work-work.
e.g. for distance running: just make the deal with yourself that putting on your running clothes/shoes/etc and taking one step outside counts as having ran that day. You'll find yourself going for a run anyways once you get outside, because you might as well.
> "Just do X every day for [long time period]" has an inherent falsification problem
Very true, but unfortunately a lot of things worth doing require that sort of investment. When learning to draw I hated every single second for the first ~two months or so. And then like a switch getting flipped I started having fun.
> You can actually make steps so small that they're useless.
You should take the biggest steps you can actually keep yourself to. Maybe that leads to steps that are sub-optimally small, but taking useless steps is still doing more than taking no steps.
> Doing something daily for a long time is extremely hard to achieve
Oh for real, especially once you factor in force majeure. Hence why I went with "draw at least once every two days". That gives you wiggle room to plan around life events.
Turns out building habits is incredibly hard and no amount of seeking advise will do it for you. It's a slog and you gotta overcome that yourself one way or another.
Problem is not starting things, it is keeping up with them. Best thing for me is to make doing the thing easy as possible. Nearer the gym is to your home the better, preferably one without music (impossible I know). Studying is easier when I have my books all the time accessible on ipad. Somehow also the bodybuilder Bob Paris’ motto ”Just do it now” helps to push me into action rather than ruminating over whether I should or not.
Small steps are best taken in private.
But small doesn’t mean “no thought required”. It requires mental power to distill larger projects (or goals) into small steps.
My mistake, for a long time, was thinking that breaking it down into smaller steps was less brainpower.
Better clarity, but also more upfront mental energy to distill what the next physical action to be done was.
That is the most useful sentence I've read recently.
It’s typically the right amygdala responsible for this. Authors often write “amygdala” in an ambiguous fashion. You have two amygdala (amygdalae is the plural term) which have differing-but-related responsibilities.
Good article — taking the micro-steps towards the longer-term habits is wise.
I read Clear’s book, though, and like it. Neither book has new ideas, but they both present old ideas in useful ways.
I don't really think this is the correct way to frame why small steps are effective.
Anxiety is not why I avoid large steps. Even if it was, small steps tend to be slow and ineffective at resolving anxiety anyway.
No, I avoid large steps because they fucking suck. They're too much of a commitment when I know I have other things I could be doing that are more productive in the short term. That productivity seems guaranteed because I'm already familiar and I can bang those tasks out quickly. I avoid work when the productivity gain is long term and I'm not sure it will pay off. This is not anxiety about whether it will pay off. This is rational pruning of bullshit in my way.
What I do instead is schedule small steps towards something I'm unsure about earlier in the day so I at least feel like I'm trying something new, and then do the other routine stuff later in the day so I go to bed knowing I accomplished something. If the small steps are starting to pay off, I have something to look forward to tomorrow. If they are not, I can still look forward to replacing those tasks with something more interesting.
It's important to not waste time and maintain control. Trying new things is productive and educational, but forcing yourself to stick with something is just delusional and bad for mental health.