One step at a time. One lift. One note. One day. One battle after another.

Then make it two. Then three. Each new year begins with the promise to be better. To do better. We like fresh starts. This year I’ll lose that weight. I’ll start that business. Finally clear out the clutter from that hallway closet. 

By this time of the year in mid-January most New Year’s resolutions are at the bottom of the trash. 

We look at the macro of goals and life. Running a marathon. Writing the great American novel.

However, that isn’t where the work is done. The work is done in the little moments. Subgoals are the key to reaching the finish line. Getting better one moment at a time – and those moments add up. Which is more important, consistency or effort?

My two cents. I’ll take consistency over effort. Showing up is more than half the fight. Showing up in some way for you and your goals, no matter how small, is progress.

I’m inspired by my son. Within the last year and a half, he started playing tennis. 

He loves it. It is his mission to be the best he can. 

If it is cold. He is out there. If he only has 30 minutes, he is there. He often doesn’t feel it, but the act of these incremental and small practices will pay off. 

Atomic Habits by James Clear is a fantastic book that I drew a lot of advice and direction from. I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to improve their life, develop a skill, stop doomscrolling, or write that book. 

The core ideas from the book I took away was that success is tiny incremental steps, systems over goals, and finally do things that support the identity you want to be. 

Stacking a new habit with a current habit is a great way to build new habits. If your goal is to drink more water, have a glass ready to down while your coffee is brewing (because let’s face it…coffee is almost the first task of the morning).  

Another idea that made me step back; become all right with boredom. Going to the gym 4-5 days a week is what trips up a lot of people’s health improvement goals.

Playing the same scales on the guitar. The same songs. The same tennis serves. But these repetitions build memory. They build pathways to the next step. 

That is the key. We look for the big moments. Crossing the finish line. I’ve had so many minor setbacks already in 2026. Yet, I persist. I’m writing. I’m playing music. I’m doing the things that I always said to myself, “when I have time.” 

Some days are frustrating. It feels like I’m pressing on the gas and the tires are spinning. I wrote this blog, not only so it may help someone, but also to remind myself that each day progress is made. 

And as a reminder that it is an ever changing process that may fizzle from time to time.

In 2025, I started a health journey to bring down some numbers (including the scale) that had been creeping up for a few years. And I did it. It took several months of consistent progress. But I made progress. I dropped my LDL cholesterol by 30 points in a four-month period. My clothes were fitting better. Slept through the night. I had more energy.

Somehow, I put those pounds back on. But I got new running shoes in January. 

Time to start again with what I’ve learned. And that is progress.