3 Small Steps To Make Big Changes In Your Life

Lots of people think they need a giant explosion in their lives to make the big changes they want. But they don't. As a wise counselor once told me, "You tackle big changes by working on small pieces." I believe she's right. So here are three small pieces you can focus on today to set the stage for big changes.

3 Small Steps To Make Big Changes In Your Life

1. Do One Thing Differently: Sometimes change can be difficult because you're so used to doing things the way you've always done them. That's a habit. To undo habits, find one thing you can do differently today: change your hairstyle, rearrange your bedroom furniture or take a drive in your brother's new red sports car! This primes your brain to think in a new way. What habit can you change today?

2. Change Your Identity: Old habits can tie you to an old identity, and that can stop you from having the life you want. Here's how it works. Maybe your identity is, "I'm the person who doesn't know anything about managing money." Jump into a new experience--like taking a money-management class or joining an investment club--and you shift how you see yourself ("I'm the person who knows how money works!") and that makes big change possible. How is your identity holding you back, and what can you do to change it?

3. Connect with Supportive People: Change often works best with cheerleaders along the way. Just one person who believes in you can make a world of difference. Find those people, and get their support. Who will support you?

The Times They Are A-Changing

Summer is my favorite time in Greenwich Village -- the busy, artsy town just a train-ride from my old home on Long Island.

Every time I return to New York, my friend Erin and I go to the Village, always stopping for a cappuccino at our favorite place, Le Figaro Cafe. The 50-year-old haunt was the original gathering place for the likes of Bob Dylan and the Beatniks, a cultural fixture on Bleecker Street, and a personal landmark for us.

Then we saw the sign on the door. CLOSED. Le Figaro Cafe will become a burrito chain restaurant.

Have you ever lost something you thought would last forever? It doesn't feel too good. Now, in the grand scheme of things, Le Figaro is not groundshakingly important, but for Erin and me, it was a piece of our personal history, and it was gone. As Dylan once sang, "The Time They are A-Changing."

I was stunned, but rather than stay focused on something gone, I thought about the good things that still remain, like the fact that I was walking down Bleecker Street with the same wonderful friend I've known since my first ventures into Greenwich Village. 

"Well," we said, "Let's walk across the street to the Cafe Del Mar and try their cappuccino." And we did.