Page 61 - The Magic of Tiny Business

Part II  Let Your “Why” Speak

Exercise: Practice Takes Practice

Change is hard when you try to do too much. Instead, do smaller bits.
Here’s a little exercise to get you in the practice. Watch how your tiny
steps add up to change your brain, change the way you think, and
change the way you are in the world. Try it.

Set a timer for twenty minutes every day for thirty days. Choose
an activity you don’t normally do to focus on intently for those twenty
minutes—for example, write haikus, play an instrument, make
something out of clay, draw, or meditate. Start at the same time and
end when the timer goes off regardless of where you are in the
process. Note how your understanding of the activity shifts over
those thirty days and how you can apply those insights to other parts
of your life.

Tiny Business 80/20 Rule

Moving quickly from the dream stage to the reality of
building a business was, to be honest, exciting, disruptive,
and challenging. My goals of making a living and doing
something that matters were being met. However, my
third and driving intention—to make work work for me
versus being consumed by it—was not happening natu-
rally. I had to figure out how to manage my time before it
started managing me.

One approach was putting start and stop times on my
daily schedule and moving forward with “just fine” and
“good enough.” If I allowed an hour to do tasks in the
morning, for example, I would start at 10:00 a.m. and end
at 11:00 a.m., moving whatever wasn’t completed to the
next day. I was able to chip away at things with consistent
attention. It was the beginning of learning when and what

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