Tiny Leaps, Big Changes

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**Tiny Leaps, Big Changes**

Tiny Leaps, Big Changes is a personal development podcast focused on exploring the day-to-day behaviors we all engage in that determine the results we gain in our lives. Hosted by Gregg Clunis, the show shares simple strategies you can implement into your life to start moving the needle towards your biggest goals.

Latest Episodes:

568 - How to Work Through Limiting Beliefs Jul 22, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we look at a straightforward approach to working past limiting beliefs.

Buy The Consistency Code: http://consistencycourse.com

Part 1: Presenting the Problem

Everyone struggles with limiting beliefs
Limiting beliefs often come from minor experiences throughout our lives that get reinforced:
Didn't get the job? Maybe you're just a bad interviewer. Failed the test? Maybe you're just bad at math. Always struggled with managing finances? Maybe you just aren't good with money. Always late? Maybe you're just disorganized.
Limiting beliefs have a major effect on our lives
Limiting beliefs however are not impossible to overcome.

Part 2: Diving Deeper

What are beliefs?
"Beliefs are our brain’s way of making sense of and navigating our complex world. They are mental representations of the ways our brains expect things in our environment to behave, and how things should be related to each other—the patterns our brain expects the world to conform to. Beliefs are templates for efficient learning and are often essential for survival."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-purpose/201810/what-actually-is-belief-and-why-is-it-so-hard-change
How do they form?
Through experiences we've had throughout our lives. The more similar these occurrences the more reinforced those beliefs become.
"Beliefs allow the brain to distill complex information, enabling it to quickly categorize and evaluate information and to jump to conclusions. For example, beliefs are often concerned with understanding the causes of things: If ‘b’ closely followed ‘a’, then ‘a’ might be assumed to have been the cause of ‘b’."

Part 3: The Solution

How do you break or replace beliefs?
Beliefs are formed through an attempt to categorize and identify complex information quickly. It's an attempt to save time and energy. An automatic behavior. To change these beliefs you need to interrupt that automatic behavior and replace the connection.
For example, if you hold a belief that you always screw up interviews it's because you have had bad interviews in the past and have connected that to your sense of self. Your job now is to slow down that reaction to the interview. We do this through analysis.
Some ways to analyze:
- Journaling
- Speaking thoughts out loud
- Reflection
Analysis won't solve the problem in the moment. But doing it often enough afterwards can start to shift the automatic connection and provide room to insert a new belief.

Part 4: Daily Challenge

Identify one limiting belief you have
Use one method of analysis to break it down. Speak it out loud, journal, or just reflect on it
Insert a new belief into the mix. One that is more empowering.
Do this today

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567 - Just Make It Up! Jul 21, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, a share a story of starting my first business in college.

Buy The Consistency Code: http://consistencycourse.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/tinyleaps

566 - The Effects of House Plants on Mental Health Jul 20, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we look at the benefits of having a house plant.

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3 ways plants help improve your mental health

Reduces Anxiety and Stress
Helps Boost Focus
Connection to Nature reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression

Tips for adding more plants

Choose plants that like indirect sunlight if you don't have a sunny window.
Choose plants that need less water ( like Cacti or succulents) if you forget to water.
Ask questions at your local stores about what plants fits your life style, how much water they need and the right kind of soil for them.

11 Ways Plants Help Mental Health

Why Indoor Plants Help

565 - How to Build Self-Confidence Jul 17, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we look at how to rebuild your self-confidence after having toxic relationships.

Buy The Consistency Code: http://consistencycode.com

564 - The Mental Health Effects of Going Outside Jul 16, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we look at the mental health benefits of getting outside more often.

Buy The Consistency Code: http://consistencycourse.com

What to do if you're having mental health issues

Try getting outside

Spending time outdoors improves mood by

Interrupting the negativity loop in the brain
Sights and sounds of outdoors is soothing “It's not clear exactly why outdoor excursions have such a positive mental effect. Yet, in a 2015 study, researchers compared the brain activity of healthy people after they walked for 90 minutes in either a natural setting or an urban one. They found that those who did a nature walk had lower activity in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that is active during rumination — defined as repetitive thoughts that focus on negative emotions. “When people are depressed or under high levels of stress, this part of the brain malfunctions, and people experience a continuous loop of negative thoughts," says Dr. Strauss.” - https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/sour-mood-getting-you-down-get-back-to-nature
Promotes movement and physical health

Ways to get more time outside:

Schedule 20-30 minutes a few times a week
Look for nature in local settings – Find trails and parks near by
Ask a friend along – going with others is just as beneficial

Resources:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/sour-mood-getting-you-down-get-back-to-nature

563 - How to Support Yourself While Supporting Others Jul 15, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we look at how to best support yourself while supporting the people who need you the most.

Buy The Consistency Code: http://consistencycourse.com

"In the United States, almost half of adults (46.4 percent) will experience a mental illness during their lifetime. 5 percent of adults (18 or older) experience a mental illness in any one year, equivalent to 43.8 million people."

We talk a lot about managing our own mental health, but it's very likely that someone who is close to you is going to struggle with their own mental health at some point and rely on you for support.

Do not become a sacrificial lamb

Dropping everything that matters to you for the other person
Going above and beyond regularly
Neglecting your own mental health and life

The best way to support someone else is to maintain your own mental health

How to take care of yourself:

Make time to focus on your own physical health to keep your resilience up
Eat healthy
Get out and move
Get enough sleep
Avoid unhealthy coping like drinking or substance use
Focus on your own established Mental Healthroutines. This may not be the best time to start something new, but you can at least stick to what you know works
Avoid Feeling Guilty - Quote from National Alliance on Mental Illness “When you allow yourself to notice your feelings without judging them as good or bad, you dial down the stress and feel more in control. When you feel less stressed, you’re better able to thoughtfully choose how to act.”
Gather Help from Others – reach out to other loved ones, trusted friends, support groups, mental health professionals

Resources

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-health-nerd/201911/when-the-one-you-love-is-depressed

https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Family-Members-and-Caregivers/Taking-Care-of-Yourself

562 - Nobody Remembers Your Failures Jul 14, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we talk about how nobody remembers your failures.

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According to a small 2015 study with a sample size of about 1000. 31% of adults have a fear of failure.

This can lead to:

Inaction
Frustration
Low self-esteem
Negative effects across your entire life

What is failure anyway?

Here's how I look at it:

As long as you keep trying you will never fail.
Being "in progress" is not the same as "I've failed". stop treating them the same.
If you decide a goal isn't what you want anymore and abandon it then you have successfully dodged a bullet
The only way to "fail" is to want something and do nothing about it

With that said, this isn't the commonly accepted view of failure. So let's look at some examples of failures that no one remembers:

Bill Gates: $110 Billion. Started Microsoft and invented computing as we know it. Started a company in 1972 called Traf-O-Data to provide traffic data to engineers. Have you ever heard of it? Of course not, it was a massive failure. Then in 1975 he started Microsoft. What would have happened if Traf-O-Data had worked? The entire computing industry, everything we know as technology may be completely different.
Oprah Winfrey was the co-anchor on a prime-time news station back in 1976. The show flopped and she was fired after a year. She later went on to do...well basically everything. You know who Oprah is.
Usain Bolt was chosen for the 2004 Jamaican Olympic team in Athens. He was eliminated in the first round of the 200 m dash. Then in 2012 he became the first man in history to set 3 world records in a single Olympic Games competition.

The examples are endless

No one remembers or talks about your failures
No one cares about what you "didn't" do
The 3 examples I've given, while they may have viewed each of these events as failures at the time they all did exactly what they should have. They tried again. Bill Gates didn't stop after Traf-O-Data and say "well, I guess running a business isn't for me". Oprah didn't get fired and decide that she just wasn't a good host. Usain Bolt didn't get eliminated and say "well I guess that was my shot. I blew it".
I'm sure each of them were in pain. I'm sure each of them hurt. But they kept going. So they never failed. They just learned and tried again. That's what you need to do.

Resources:

https://www.beingguru.com/2018/09/bill-gates-1st-startup-traf-o-data-was-a-failure-in-70s-failure-is-just-a-word-if-you-look-back-at-your-mistakes/

https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/2011/5/1/when-oprah-was-ours

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/usain-bolt-worlds-fastest-man/0/usain-bolt-a-life-in-pictures/bolt-in-the-first-round-of-the-200m-at-the-2004-olympics-athens/

561 - How to Analyze Your Negative Thoughts Jul 13, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we look at our negative thoughts.

Purchase The Consistency Code: http://consistencycourse.com

How Negative Thoughts Happen

"Our overall mind state has a certain tone or flavor based largely on the types of thoughts we think. When the deep limbic system is overactive, it sets the mind’s filter on “negative.” If you could look into the thoughts of people who are depressed, you would find one dispiriting thought following another. When they look at the past, there is regret. When they look at the future there is anxiety and pessimism. In the present moment, something is most often unsatisfactory. The lens through which they see themselves, others, and the world has a dim grayness to it. They are suffering from Automatic Negative Thoughts, or ANTs. ANTs are cynical, gloomy, and complaining thoughts that just seem to keep coming all by themselves."

Takeaways:

Often the negative thoughts we are having aren't conscious. They just happen.
They come out of no where
This is called Automatic Negative Thoughts

How to Deal With ANT's

Use language as a tool to process your thoughts
Describe what you are feeling either out loud to yourself, to someone else, or in a written format
Describing what you are feeling forces you to analyze it.
There's a difference between language inside your own mind and language used to communicate an idea.
This is why you sometimes have such a clear idea of something in your head but can't find the words to describe it
The process of turning your thoughts into language is called encoding.

"In order to convey meaning, the sender must begin encoding, which means translating information into a message in the form of symbols that represent ideas or concepts. This process translates the ideas or concepts into the coded message that will be communicated. The symbols can take on numerous forms such as, languages, words, or gestures. These symbols are used to encode ideas into messages that others can understand."

While encoding a message your mind needs to analyze the information and find the right "symbols" or language to communicate it with.
That process of analyzing can sometimes help you see things more clearly
Think about when you say a word over and over again or read it over and over again and it starts to look weird. You start to question if it's spelled correct or if you're saying it right.
This happens because you are seeing the word as it's individual parts. you are analyzing it. Rather than reaching for the word as a whole
The same thing happens with our Anxiety or negative feelings

Takeaways:

The next time you find yourself having automatic negative thoughts try saying the thoughts outloud to yourself. It just might help you realize how silly those thoughts are.

Resources:

https://ahha.org/selfhelp-articles/ant-therapy/

https://web.njit.edu/~lipuma/352comproc/comproc.htm#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20convey%20meaning,message%20that%20will%20be%20communicated.&text=The%20channel%20is%20the%20means%20used%20to%20convey%20the%20message.

560 - Why "Take Massive Action" is Bad Advice Jul 10, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we look at why "take massive action" is bad advice.

Get The Consistency Code: http://consistencycourse.com

Reasons this isn't good advice

Unclear: What counts as "massive action""? Uncertainty leads to overwhelm and increased likelihood of inaction
Invalidates tiny action: When your focus is on taking "massive action" it leads to discounting all the tiny things you can do now or the tiny things that you NEED to do. This also leads to inaction because it feels like what you CAN do isn't enough
Massive action can lead to burn out and doesn't consider your current situation (empathy). It's a blanket statement that means nothing.

What to do instead

Start your goal setting from a place of Empathy. Figure out what your constraints are BEFORE setting your goals
Set a goal that is contextual to your situation
Create a progressive action plan. Start with the tiniest thing you can do and progressively increase to larger actions
Start immediately

559 - A Better Way to Learn Jul 09, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we look at the effects of learning for examination vs learning to teach.

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Abstract

"This study tested whether students who learned with an active orientation would be more intrinsically motivated to learn and would learn more than students who learned with a passive orientation. The active orientation was created by having subjects learn material with the expectation of teaching it to another student; the passive orientation was created by having subjects learn the same material with the expectation of being tested on it. The results indicate that subjects who learned in order to teach were more intrinsically motivated, had higher conceptual learning scores, and perceived themselves to be more actively engaged with the environment than subjects who learned in order to be examined."

How to use this in your own life

When you need to learn something new for work or for your own life, find someone who is willing to support you and schedule a teaching session with them . Create the expectation that they will ask questions throughout the session.
This will allow you to learn the topic with the additional pressure of needing to explain it to others. That pressure can lead to the motivation required to dive deeper into topics and ask better questions yourself.

The Study

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00028312021004755

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