We all need motivation to accomplish great things.

There’s a problem, though.

Oftentimes, motivation waxes and wanes. Awesome if you’re in a highly motivated state and you’re ready to tackle the world. If you’re not feeling motivated or even demotivated, getting over the inertia to start moving presents a high hurdle.

Behavioral change begins with motivation. Because most of our behaviors are habitual, doing something against those habits requires extra mental, emotional and often time spiritual energy.

Extensive research into the science & even art of motivation have found 4 proven hacks to help get you motivated to make a change. What’s more, these hacks can help keep motivation high.

Over the coming 4 weeks, I’ll highlight one of the researched-back hacks for getting and staying motivated. This week, we’re taking on the importance of starting small.

From the basement to a career

A newly minted certified coach took on her first client – pro bono at that – and was excited to help the person get unstuck. The client was a younger guy and was feeling directionless, living at home with his parents and had basically become a hermit in his home.

In their first coaching session, the client complained that his parents were pushing him into careers that he didn’t want. He felt stuck and didn’t want to have that conversation with his parents. He was avoiding them and that friction was causing him to stay to himself in the house, so he reported.

The new coach knew exactly what the immediate remedy was for this situation… The guy needs to talk with his parents. Pretty simple. She listened to him, did all the coaching techniques she learned to help him self discover that he just needs to talk with Mom & Dad to get things out into the open.

So, at the end of the call, the coach asked him what action steps he’d take this week – believing he realized the convo with his parents was the thing to do.

He thought about it for a second and said – I’m going to walk around the block for 5 days this week.” “WHAT?!?” thought the coach. He acknowledged that he needed to have that conversation, yet just wanted to walk.

Semi-defeatedly, the coach agreed to his actions and encouraged him to start that day.

To her shock, by the next week, the client not only did the walking, he also had the conversation with his parents. It went great. He laid out what he wanted and they supported him. He began moving forward and she helped him land a job.

The coach learned a great lesson. People need to start where they are to get to where they want to go.

How to start small

Create a goal – like the client above: get unstuck and into a job. Then figure out where you are now in relation to that goal. The reality of today will inform you of the next best step.

Make the game a winnable game. Small steps immediately get people into action with a game that feels doable. This is true for team members who – for example – agree to making 100 calls this week when the most they’ve ever done is 10. The art is to manage that expectation and set them up to win.

Starting small creates motivation because we know we can accomplish the activity. All-to-often, we are discouraged by the gap we see in where we are and where we want to be. The small step takes our focus away from the gap and puts it into some piece of action that we believe we can do well.

Always come back to starting small. Even on the path. The moment you feel stuck, start small from wherever you are that day. It will keep your momentum moving and your motivation high.

Join this post over the next 4 weeks as we unveil 3 additional, research-based motivational hacks to get you motivated and keep you going.