Aim High — Practice Low
“You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.”
― Andy Warhol
Take the macro and get as clear as you possibly can. Then take the micro and get as detailed as you can. Moving towards the micro and developing the discipline to stick to these daily micro-habits allows us to reach the macro; the aim and highest ideal we set for ourselves. If it feels overwhelming it’s because it is one of the most powerful forces known to man.
Farnham street recently put an article out on Habits vs. Goals. You can check that out HERE.
Here is an excerpt of the examples between goals and micro-habits:
We want to learn a new language. We could decide we want to be fluent in 6 months (goal), or we could commit to 30-minutes of practice each day (habit.)
We want to read more books. We could set the goal to read 50 books by the end of the year, or we could decide to always carry one (habit.)
We want to spend more time with family. We could plan to spend 7 hours a week with family (goal), or we could choose to eat dinner with them each night (habit.)
Micro-habits have been used for centuries but the maxim for me began with Dan Gable, retired American Olympic wrestler and head coach. He is best known for his tenure as head coach at the University of Iowa where he won 15 NCAA team titles between 1976 and 1997.
Before coaching, Dan Gable compiled an unbelievable record of 181–1. He was undefeated in 64 prep matches, and was 117–1 at Iowa State University. His only defeat came in the NCAA finals his senior year. Gable was a two time NCAA National Wrestling Champion and three-time all-American and three-time Big Eight champion. He set NCAA records in winning and pin streaks.
And in Gable’s final 21 Olympic qualification and Olympic matches, he scored 12 falls and outscored his nine other opponents, 130–1.
His success was predicated on an insane work ethic among countless other attributes, characteristics, and habits.
If something is important we must do it every day. The kicker is these micro-habits do not need to be extensive. We simply must be focused and do the damn thing.
If it is to read, read 5 pages a day. If it is to exercise, set a morning ritual of 20 push-ups, 20 bodyweight squats, 10 lunges each side, and a 30 second plank. For a lot of you, that may not seem like much but it is not about how hard the workout is. It is about moving your body every day and building upon that.
Where would your knowledge, fitness, writing ability, and any other micro-habit be in one year if you did the tiniest actions each day? In three years? Ten years? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; we don’t know the upper limits to this.
The habits need to be easy to do every day and non-time consuming. Let’s look at daily push-ups as an example.
If we say we are going to do 500 push ups a day it will not be sustainable. Instead, how about one set taken to the maximum?
If you do 50 every day then you will have done 1500 push ups in a month. In three months, 4500. But you don’t need to set a limit. Simply define “one max set” and depending on your readiness level, it could be 30 to personal records of 60–80.
This power starts to manifest as we begin taking micro-action. We want to do great things but we must love the smallest of things. Remember the fundamentals. The basics are essential to practice every day. If we are unable to practice the basics of self-care like exercise, writing, reading, walking, and breathing then we are unable to obtain what we want.
Inch by inch it’s a cinch. Mile by mile it’s a trial.
This sets up our day for positive momentum. So when the time comes to take massive action during the day, it’s nearly automatic to GO because we took micro-action to start the day in several disciplines.
The same must be done with other disciplines. For me it is writing. I have both poetry and article disciplines. I write one poem and one article every morning. It doesn’t have to be the best. It doesn’t have to be a certain length. I simply write, detached.
And this process occurs for each of my disciplines for reading and note-taking, deep breathing, and walking.
So what are the disciplines in your life you have been neglecting? What do you need to act on today? How can you get started with the smallest of habits?
The great thing about micro-habits is you may set a goal of reading five pages, writing one poem, and doing 20 push-ups but the daily momentum of these micro-habits can turn into some days being much more. You may read 5 chapters of a book you simply aren’t able to put down. You may have an exhilarating rush to write 3 poems, and you may do 100 push-ups.
The previous poor habits we create need to be chopped every day. It takes more than one or two swings.

