Small shifts, big ripples.

"Find your passion."

"Live your purpose."

"Align with your values."

At face value these statements can feel like a confusing, pressure-filled huge pile of work. Or just ridiculous platitudes. Even more so if you are employed in an organization where you're not the one setting the direction or copywriting the "vision statement."

And, to be fair, I've added my own voice to the cacophony along the way (quite recently, in fact ).

But what if...

What if it were easy?

What if we focused on amassing a lot of very - very - tiny but positive actions and shifts in attitude?

Here's a great article on "Purposeful Leadership " by the former CEO of Best Buy, Hubert Joly (and thanks to Parachute Executive Coaching teammate Jane Gaynor for posting it this week). While the 5 tips are helpful and definitely good guidelines, there's one line in this article that jumps out for me. It's from the incoming CEO:

"Corie Barry, my successor as CEO of Best Buy, once shared with me that her personal purpose is to leave something a little better than when she found it, which she connects to the company’s mission to enrich lives through technology."

Leave something a little better than you found it. That's pretty manageable, isn't it? Plus, imagine the ripples...

Be kind. Another small idea with the potential for great impact.

Tony Robbins has a suggestion when it comes to dealing with burnout, which I think is related to the concept of choosing a "small" purpose. He says that rather than try to conserve energy when we are feeing burned out, we should double down and create meaningful connections - and we should do that by focusing on what small thing we can to do contribute to the betterment of those around us.

Tony's invitation is to not EXPECT meaning, but rather to BRING meaning, which by extension will create impact which is really what we all want. I think that's what Corie Barry's quote above really means.

There's one particular area of my life where I've gotten a bit grumbly. A bit focused on what doesn't work. Determined that low expectations are my only safety net. Recently it was pointed out to me that I might be actually CREATING poor results BECAUSE of my negativity. Not to mention being a little annoying for other people to be around. So my commitment to something small is to shift my attitude in this particular realm. Focus on being positive, kind, open-minded and possibility-oriented. At minimum it will eliminate some dark energy from my day. And who knows what else might shift, for me and around me for others? I'll likely be a little more consistently better company at the very least!

Let's face it - our day to day lives, both inside and outside of work, would be infinitely better if each of us chooses a small positive shift to make such that we are contributing more kindness and positivity to the world. I'm not suggesting we need to all be spewing rainbows and fairy dust, but even the most optimistic of us can probably admit to being a little grumbly these days.

So my challenge - invitation - to you is to pick one small thing where you can change what is pretty much the only thing your really can control - your attitude. Your outlook. Your belief about what "is."

As for my own commitment - I'll keep you posted.