Start Small. Yield Big.

We’ve all heard Zig Ziegler’s quote about choices in some form or another: “Your life is a result of the choices you have made. If you don’t like your life, start making better choices.” If you take a moment to think about some of your own choices, I’m sure you first consider the defining ones: your spouse, your career choice, maybe the college you went to, or the subject you studied. What about the choices you make on a daily basis, the ones you often make out of habit?

My daughter, who is now pushing two years old, loves to wave at people. We go on a lot of walks and never does one pass by without getting a wave from a tiny hand of a girl sitting proudly in a Chicco stroller. It’s entertaining for me to watch. I’ve seen her light up faces on even the most unapproachable-looking people.

A Small Act of Kindness That Changed a Day

Sierra Lou was hanging with me at the office one Friday afternoon when a client stopped in with his daughter to sign some documents. His wife had just gone to Heaven a few days prior. As we were saying goodbye, Sierra Lou gave his daughter a hug, then turned to him and stretched out her arms as to say, “come on, you too!” His daughter reached out later to share the pure joy that hug brought him, even during a difficult time.

I think I’m doing an okay job teaching Sierra Lou some things, but I’m pretty certain showing kindness toward others is something she does simply because she chooses to—because she’s always chosen to. It makes me wonder what positive habits we can start, simply by choosing to do the small things a little differently. I wake up well before the sun rises every day to get my heart rate up. My motivation for this is always in the fact that I’m a much better servant to society if I start my day with a workout—ask my husband, he knows. Regardless of the motive, it’s a choice I made a long time ago and now a habit that I hardly think twice about.

Incremental Choices That Compound Over Time

What I’ve come to realize is that the incremental choices we make often compound and set the foundation for the more significant ones. What are the areas in your life you need to start analyzing your choices on? Is it choosing kindness, choosing health? Choosing to save and invest, or give, more than you spend and consume? Last one, what about choosing grace over frustration? Start small, it’ll yield big.

Galatians 6:7
Hebrews 12:1

March 2026