Growth That Sticks: How Small Habits Build Big Success

Let’s get real. Remember that Individual Development Plan, or IDP, you did in December or January? Yeah, me neither. But that got me thinking. First, where IS mine? Second, why do I do that? Spend the time creating one just to forget it a month later.

Work continues to be “crazy busy,” and new priorities take all your focus. But now that I work at Kane Learning, I know I have to do better and actually use my IDP to improve myself in the areas I identified. So, I’m sharing a few insights with you – helping you while I help myself – in hopes you’ll look back in the late fall and be proud of yourself for achieving some, if not all, the goals you had for yourself.

According to Harvard Business Review, it’s the systems organizations put in place like onboarding, development, performance management, and more, that retain top talent. That made me realize maybe the problem isn’t the goals. Maybe it’s that I don’t have a system to actually follow through and make the actions I need to achieve my goals part of my normal routine. The goals we create for ourselves mean nothing if we don’t pull them out of that folder (found mine under a stack of papers on my desk) and think about how we can tackle the steps needed to meet our goals.

Sometimes just starting is the hardest part. Working that “new thing” into our already jam-packed day. It reminded me of the concepts I read in Atomic Habits, the best-selling book by James Clear. He made it abundantly clear that the way to truly make a lasting positive change in our lives is by making small changes that result in daily, repeatable habits that then compound into major life changes. He emphasized getting “1% better each day” rather than trying to make a huge, unsustainable change all at once.

With habit-based development in mind, here are four small habits that build consistent growth:

1.    Identify HOW you are taking action every day/week. If the goals are in your IDP, they are likely already “SMART” goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound), but you likely didn’t break them down into HOW you’ll take action on any given day or week. For instance, on Monday, look at your week and block 30 minutes four times a week to focus on each goal – 30 minutes each. And some weeks it may be two 30-minute blocks instead of four. That’s still progress, and it still counts.

2.    Break that goal into micro-actions that move you forward. Within those 30 minutes, map out what you can do to work on that goal. Any action toward that goal is positive. So, for example, if one goal is to become more adept at using AI in your work projects, one 30-minute chunk could be researching various AI agents such as Claude, Copilot, ChatGPT (so many to pick from) to see what they are like.

3.    Keep it consistent. This is what makes it all come together. Those 30-minute chunks and small actions might not feel like much in the moment, but over time they add up in a big way.

4.    Focus on application. Rather than saying you’re going to listen to a TED talk or read an article in HBR, instead focus on writing down at least two takeaways from that TED talk or article that you will apply that week. This is what turns learning into actual change.   

At the end of the day, it’s not the plan that creates growth. It’s what we do with it. Small actions repeated consistently and applied in real life make the difference. I think you’ll see that the momentum you gain from achieving the small actions will build confidence in achieving the goal, and that leads to real results.

So, dust off that IDP, pick one goal, and give it a shot. Here’s to making it happen!