Think Small

To achieve big, you will need to think small

• Create an actionable plan

One of the most surprising pieces of advice to come out of the wellbeing literature perhaps is the importance of developing your curiosity. At the simplest level, this is about actively seeking to ‘take notice’ of the sights, sounds and sensations around you and to savour these moments.

We usually assume that when we set ourselves a goal we will probably pursue it with focus and attention, drawing heavily on our slower, reflective system.

It’s a curious and wonderful thing about the human condition that we are often a mystery to ourselves

Think Small is not a checklist.

trengthening your social relationships;

getting healthy and active;

learning something new;

being more curious; and

giving to others.

More broadly, ‘when’, ‘how’ and ‘where’ questions play the roles of situational cues, which encourage you to take action by cognitively linking the situation (having your breakfast) with the action (going to vote).

The Obama voting example was a stronger version of exactly the same idea. Would-be voters weren’t just asked to confirm that they were going to vote on election day. They were encouraged to think about what they would be doing immediately beforehand, and where they would be coming from

They both derive from an idea developed by Peter Gollwitzer, a professor of psychology at Ne w York University, which he calls ‘implementation intentions’. Gollwitzer’s research focuses on those situations in which individuals seem to have an intention to do something, but then fail to implement the actions required to fulfil their goals. He realized that we are more likely to follow through on our intentions if we are able to make a cognitive connection between our anticipated future situation and the actions needed to fulfil our objective