On Incremental Living

Do you want to see 100% improvement in life? Instead of trying to do one thing 100% better do 100 things 1% better. The math does not work– the approach does.

Where do you want to be when you are 80? Too often we only think such a thought in terms of money. What about health? What about family? What about knowledge? What about you and Jesus?

If all goes well, your life in this world will extend for eight decades or more. (If all does not go well, you arrive in glory early.) You have time. And if you adjust your time in small increments early enough in life, over time you will experience great results.

Investment counselors use this principle in with investors. Start early, start small, and over time watch the results. We should apply this to other areas in life.

Start early, start small, and over time watch the results with your health. Try a little more exercise every day. Try a little less caloric intake every day. It doesn’t have to be a lot. A little will do.

Start early, start small, and over time watch the results with your family. Make sure you have some meaningful conversation with your spouse daily. Make sure you have some intentional interaction with your children daily. I once saw a statistic about how much time parents spend really INTERACTING with their children each day. It was less than ten minutes a day. (Watching them play soccer or sitting at the dinner table with tablets and electronic gadgets does not count.) The same must be even truer of interaction with spouses. Make some small changes today and you will reap dividends later.

Start early, start small, and over time watch the results with household chores. Taking care of a house can be daunting. So much to do. So much to take care of. The scope and the press of household management may paralyze you. Start somewhere. Start with a bit. Start small. Have you heard this, “How do you eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time.”

Start early, start small, and over time watch the results with your knowledge. “Readers are leaders and leaders are readers.” Read a little bit every day. Something current. Something in your field. Something out of your field. Something classic. Something for fun. Poetry. Biography. Fiction. Non-fiction. You don’t need to be a bookworm. Some reading daily ends up to quite a sum.

Start early, start small, and over time watch the results with your faith. Increase your prayer time just a bit. Increase your Bible reading just a bit. Increase your generosity and service just a bit. Watch the difference over time… and beyond time. 

Incremental living: it works with things more important than money. A little bit over time adds up to a lot.