PRODUCTIVITY

You Don’t Have To Eat The Elephant All At Once

How I used the power of incrementalism to change my life.

You want a piece of me? (Photo by Geran de Klerk on Unsplash)

I’m not usually a big fan of self-improvement porn, but sometimes I run across a podcast or an article that’s actually helpful.

Not often. But sometimes.

I have a second job as a transcriptionist where my goal is to make $10 a day. I know that sounds insane, and sometimes I don’t even make that. Sometimes I tell my mom, “I have to go home and make another $5,” and she says, “I’ll just give you $5.”

But that’s not the point.

If I make $10 a day, that’s $3,650 a year. Doesn’t that sound better? But I get there by making $10 one day, $5 another. And sometimes I even make $20 and I get to slack off for a little bit.

It all adds up.

I don’t remember where I heard it or who I was listening too, but some Tony Robbins wannabe kept repeating, “You don’t have to eat the elephant all at once.”

He talked about running a marathon that he was completely unprepared for by focusing just on the person in front of him, passing that one person, and then fixing his sites on the next person, and the next, and so on.