“The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably thought and act.” -Orison Marden.
When you starting forming a new habit, it can be difficult. You look at where you are and where you want be and may think, “It’s so far away and there’s so much to do. How am I ever going to get there?”
You don’t have to feel that way.
The first step is to acknowledge this simple truth – To become successful you need to form good habits.
You don’t have to be a machine to achieve your goals.
If you’re one of those people who struggle to follow the advice of plowing through tasks in unbroken sessions of unbroken concentration lasting several hours, then I have another option for you.
The slice and dice approach.
The slice and dice approach is where you break a task or habit into several small steps and just do them one at a time. Brian Tracy in “Eat That Frog” calls this the “salami slice method”. Remember, it’s easier to eat thin slices of salami one at a time, than it is to start chomping into the whole roll.
The same goes for forming new habits. Like Orison Marden said, it’s about adding filament upon filament until you have a habit that’s like a strong cable. Do something once and it’s not a habit; do something twice and it’s not a habit; do something ten times and it’s still not a habit, but do something a hundred or a thousand times and you have a powerful habit as strong a two inch steel cable. Start forming your habit now.
How to slice and dice.
When forming a new habit, just commit to getting through today. If your new habit is to do daily exercise, then just say to yourself, “All I need to do is go for a thirty minute walk today. That’s it.” Tomorrow, do the same thing. Think of only getting through today. Each day you do it, you’re adding thread upon thread, making your new habit stronger.
Conclusion.
The key to achieving your goal is to form good habits. The key to forming good habits is to take it one day at a time by using the slice and dice approach. Don’t try to swallow the whole salami roll in one hit.
Slice by slice, nice and easy.
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G'day! I'm Gordie, founder and editor-in-chief of Lifestyle Design For You. I want to welcome you to the center of the universe when it comes to lifestyle design and personal development blogs. We're a team of ten writers providing you with articles to help nourish your mind and improve your life. Lifestyle design is about designing your life so you can do what you want when you want. 
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
JAY YOU LEGEND!!
Really loved the imagery.
Vivid
big fan of baby steps but at the same time gotta be weary of small-chunking the process because sometimes slicing the steps required for success makes it seem like more of a mission than it actually is.
example: considering going out to meet new people but in your head you slice the process into “i’ve gotta get up and shower and get dressed then drive all the way and find parking and pay cover charge and get a drink and coat check and and and” when a much better approach is to blur the tedium into one step – GO!
really liked the succinctness of the post too.
was dripping practicality.
i’m inspired
keep well and in touch mate
alex – unleashreality.com
Hi Alex,
Glad you found it practical. I agree that there are some things that aren’t worth baby-stepping, such as the example you used. However, at the same time, the example used was just something that can be completed in one day.
Some habits take weeks or months to form and some tasks may also take several months. It’s for those situations, I think”slicing the salami” works well.
uh oh.
just realised i called you jay instead of gordie.
feel so stupid
a thousand billion apologies.
may the buddhas sing in your chilli paste and calm the anger with the tears of a thousand lotion-covered virgins.
keep well gordie
alex – unleash reality´s last blog ..The Beyond Within: How to Expand Your Consciousness
No worries, I’ve been called worse.
My god man, you’re wasting away before our eyes
I am pretty split on this because there have been occasions when the one step at a time method is a good, careful choice and others when leaping in feet first has been the better option. How do you know which is the better choice? Gut instinct, fear, adrenalin …
I suppose after seven years in China you could have learnt how to throw the yarrow sticks and interpret the I Ching!
Kevin Tea´s last blog ..Chrome’s Extensions Complete Firefox Challenge
To tell you the truth, Kevin, the most important thing I’ve learned in China is to carry toilet paper on you at all times.
I really like the slice and dice approach, I will try your advices, I hope it will work
Hope it works out for you.
Good advice and a good post, Gordie.
Small bites work, so long as the bites are large enough to be effective. A person has to weigh this and be sure they are not just kidding themselves or making a half-hearted attempt.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..How Recycling Content Can Boost Your Traffic
Yeah, we can’t take it too slow either. These steps need to be taken with purpose.
Routine is the key for me and keeping it in bite size chunks!
Good post and criticle advice
TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..Ignore the Probloggers
Welcome, TheInfroPreneur,
I checked out your site and really liked it.
Kind of two things going on in this post – both good.
One is taking things step by step – eating the elephant bite by bite, as I say.
The other is forming a habit by repeating behaviour.
Mike CJ´s last blog ..Introduction to Affiliate Marketing
Hey Mike,
Great to see you picked up on both.
A friend once told me that it takes a full month; doing something for 30 days straight to form a habit. I’d say no less than that for sure.
From changing the way we eat, to setting a new work hours, forming habits takes time and effort.
Erica Mueller´s last blog ..Rollip says: Have Fun with Your Holiday Photos! – Giveaway
Hi Erica,
Yes, I’d say at least thirty days, too.
Gordie terrific post………. The only way to reach ones goals is to set reasonable sub-goals and take baby steps to get there. Here’s to making change one baby step at a time.
Rose´s last blog ..10 Christmas themes for Blogger
Hi Rose,
Yes, baby steps all the way to completion is the key. If we can, we can try faster baby steps from time to time to increase productivity.
Nice post Gordie, and not only is it easier to eat a slice of salami, it tastes a whole lot better than shoving a whole chunk in there.
Here’s another piece of analogy for you. Trying to consume a whole stick of salami would be more than a mouthful for most people. It is a lot easier by the slice, with maybe something on the side like a piece of bread or cheese or something, that can be likened to advice from a friendly blogger, so to speak. After all, you will retain a lot more when taken in small doses and the goal doesn’t look as formidable.
Sire´s last blog ..Of Gary Vaynerchuk And His Belief That You Can Cash In On Your Passion
Hey Sire,
Nice added analogy. I think advice and encouragement can also be like a nice beverage to help wash it down.
Stop it Gordie, now you’re making me hungry
Sire´s last blog ..Update On Probloggers And Commenting
Lol!
OK, the pic scared me, but the post is great advice.
That’s the same strategy I use when helping people create a 5 year plan and break down goals into smaller steps.
Good Stuff!
Nathan Hangen´s last blog ..The Truth behind a Product Launch
The pic was fun to do. Who knows? One day you may see it on the cover of “Time” magazine. Lol!
Hey Gordie.
I am cooking and sauteing my way to success. If you want to slice and dice your way there, that is fine also. Actually, I will also slice and dice.
I see what you are saying about doing something a hundred times versus versus ten times, and that does seem basically like what a habit is. If I have done something a hundred times, it can’t be tough anymore, as I already have seen most of the difficulties of it and worked through them already.
This is right about habits, as some of the good habits I have give me real advantages.
Thanks for this.
Armen Shirvanian´s last blog ..You Don’t Know What Works Until You Fully Try
Hey Armen,
Yeah, sometimes we have to be on our guard about thinking we’ve formed the habit before we actually have.
Slicing and Dicing is the way … any undesirable habit/state of affairs/etc. don’t get changed overnight – even after doing something new for 18/21/28 (the figures keep changing) days in a row, there is still a bit of the “old” that keeps trying to muscle in, for some things, it will always be a battle.
Best for the coming year and beyond …………valentina
Welcome, Valentina!
Yes, the old habits have to be completely replaced with good habits.
All the best for the coming year too.
HAHAHAH! Oh man, those two pictures are AWESOME!!!
The title of your post is something that would fit right in with my site “Slice and Dice”!
Good work Gordie! Moderation is key!
Financial Samurai´s last blog ..How Would You Spend $500 On Kids This Holiday Season?
Hey man,
Feel free to use the term on your blog.
Another good post.
Yes, slicing and dicing is the way to go, as we form new neural networks to fire and a habit is slowly created. Then we can go on to devour thicker and more savoury slices progressively as our palette becomes accustomed to the strange and enticing new flavours.
Steve
Hi Steve,
I like how you bring in the subconscious mind to mot of your comments. Can you recommend any decent and recent good books out there to help me understand it better?
Nice website design. Not to trivialize the post, but everything is pretty basic common sense – set a goal, create actions that are in alignment with the goals, work at it until they are achieved.
Really like the website BTW.
Glad you like it, Owen.
Yeah, the post is pretty much just commonsense. A lot of personal development should be.
Hey, Gordie,
The pictures are fun and aligned with the message of your post. I agree, your post is full of common sense…
I just wonder what happened to the “widget which shows how many days since your last soda (soft-drink).” I am crossing my fingers and hope that you still have that firm purpose of quitting that “soft” drink addiction…
Hi Boris,
Yes, don’t worry about the soda quitting. I’m still going strong. I just removed the widget when I changed servers and URL a while back. I deleted anything that wasn’t 100% necessary to my site in order to keep it’s download speed fast.
Glad you liked the post, too.
Hi Gordie,
I just stumbled on your site through financial samurai and love your tips! Good advice on slicing and dicing which really inspired me with something i’ve been putting off due to it’s sheer enormousness. So thank you!
Welcome!
Glad you’re able to take something away from the post. Thanks for stopping by.