The Power of Small Choices

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy.

Hey yo, what up, what up, what up? So listen, I hope you enjoyed the first episode of season 8, and now we're gonna kind of move in like just a different direction. Like I say, we bounce around here, so I do deal with some stuff that's a little bit more like real deal in the faith, uh, and then I deal with it like an approach more of like a personal help, self-help type approach, uh, for lack of better terms there. So this one, we're gonna jump straight into it again, once again, and follow that same cadence, uh, and we're gonna call this one The Power of Small Choices. The Power of Small Choices. And, uh, just being straight up with you, uh, Jim Rohn, I haven't studied him as much as I used to. Like I said, I'm 34, I'll be 35 in December. Um, but early in my 20s, after I kind of, like I said, picked up Rich Dad Poor Dad, Dave Ramsey, Darren Hardy, uh, Jim Rohn was up next because he had influenced a lot of Darren Hardy. Uh, and man, just the wisdom and wit that this guy had was so amazing, uh, to me. And so I started to like just go listen to a lot of his material on YouTube. I believe I got a book, The Power of Ambition, by him, and then some like audio thing or whatever, like something dealing with character. So this episode was inspired by that as I was looking through my notes. And actually what triggered it was actually something from— I said actually twice, three times now— uh, something from, uh, what's the pastor name? Greg Groeschel. Greg Groeschel out of Oklahoma, um, Life.Church. Of course, one of the biggest, fastest, like just in general churches, especially when it comes to just how they integrate technology, in my opinion. Uh, but yeah, like I said, this one is The Power of Small Choices, uh, and we're gonna like just really kind of unpack a little bit of how small choices, uh, shape our lives. You've probably heard it said, we, we make our— um, let me back up— we make our choices and our choices make us, or we create our habits and our habits make us. A lot of people interchange it, just like in the space I work in, in agile, like a lot of people use the same stuff. It's really nothing new under the sun. It's just all about how we package it up and communicate it in a more impactful way. Uh, but our small choices, like real deal, shape our lives. And, you know, we can often overlook like just the little things that we do each day, and they don't seem to add up in like big ways that we might realize. Because oftentimes we think like when it comes to success or failure or whatever, we think that it's like a one time, like, oh man, I made one decision, I failed. And some people can do that, like in certain contexts. You heard it also say, uh, like, okay, it takes like 15, 20 years to build something and then one decision to tear it all down. And I believe that that's true, like I really believe that that's true, uh, but in this context we're talking about how it doesn't necessarily impact in one decision, uh, because we don't pay attention to how this all comes down to little choices compounding into just these gigantic successes or failures. So point number 1, we're going to keep following this. We're going to follow this point thing a lot now because I've been asking Copilot and a little bit like ChatGPT to help me a little bit. But I've been kind of like, I've been like really, really feeling the whole Copilot thing on Microsoft. More than I'm an Apple guy, but I like the Copilot feature as of right now to kind of help me shape up and clean up my podcast. So that being said, Let me get out of rabbit hole. Uh, point number 1, the impact of small mistakes. The impact of small mistakes. Now let me just say something, uh, most of the stuff that we call mistakes, not mistakes. And I'm gonna go extreme here, uh, like if you're gonna get in somebody else's bed that you know you don't need to be in, that wasn't a mistake, that was a decision. If you are sitting up and you're intentionally going to go fight somebody, that wasn't a mistake, that was just a flat-out bad decision. Uh, that, that's not a mistake. Uh, if you go cuss somebody out, like I'm talking about willfully go cuss somebody to go upside somebody's head, to go rob somebody. Those aren't mistakes, those just are bad decisions, and a lot of us have made them a lot. Um, I will say a mistake is, you know, say if you're driving down and somebody cuts you off and you drop a certain word that you know you shouldn't be using, you can say, oh man, that was a mistake, I shouldn't have used that word. Or, you know, a typo or something like that sent out, or just little things like that. And, um, like, I'm just trying to like draw a thing of— because we, we often misuse that word Uh, but I want you to— I want us to think about our daily actions. Like a small mistake or a bad decision, whatever, whatever it is, uh, or just like an hour a day, or just eating a bag of chips a day and candy and not working out. Like, just in these little things, like I said, it might not see results right in the moment, uh, but if the— because it seems very, very insignificant, but if these things magnify, if we don't notice like an immediate consequences immediate consequence, we keep repeating the same thing over and over and over. To quote Jim Rohn, he was like, man, if, if people smoked one cigarette a day and they got cancer and dropped dead, I guarantee you'd be a lot— a lot— you'll get a lot of people to stop smoking quickly. Probably wouldn't even try it. But it's the fact that it's an addiction, you know, most people are addicted to it that started and they don't have consequences right away. And some people might say, listen to this podcast, say, I've never had consequences. And hey, great, but it on the label and things like that, it's a lot of people statistically that have developed all kind of cancers or just had, you know, significant health issues because of they were a long-time smoker and they didn't pay attention to those just small errors in judgment every day. Finances, like I say, eating habits, uh, how we steward over our household, just the little things that eventually add up. And this is why I say like failure isn't usually a sudden event. It's really not in, in this context. It's not just like success isn't, but it's the result of this, like these small errors in judgment, as Jim Rohn would say, accumulating over time. It's a slow process, and before we know it, before we know it, we're off track and we're going somewhere that God, family, friends, and all this type of stuff, even ourselves, didn't even— never intended to. So we, we have to really kind of zone in and be like, man, okay, let, let me not make these small mistakes. A lot of us raise our kids like this. Let me back up. A lot of us treat our spouses like this, just small little things over and over and over, and they add up. Like I said, going back to the kids, we raise our kids like this. We handle our finances like this. We do little little things on our jobs that might end up coming up and saying, gotcha. If you're entrepreneur, like, gotcha. And it's like, oh, where did this come from? Hey bro, sis, look back over your life and say, did I course correct that? Um, so we got to shut that down and really pay attention that, like, to these little small mistakes and make sure that we aren't letting these things accumulate. Because one thing about the compound effect it's neutral. And what I mean by that, it can either work for you, it can either work against you. It is like it— I mean, and we can even go like scripture with this, like what a man sows he also reap. If you're sowing consistently bad things, you might not be a bad person, but you just keep doing stupid stuff, you're gonna reap stupid stuff. Like, that's just the truth of it. Like, this is a principle, and it's a biblical principle at that. And so we want to just, like I said again, pay attention to that. And we can— I can go deeper and find you some more if you want to, but I'm just gonna start there. Like, just go through the book Proverbs, uh, and, and see how like small dumb things over time accumulate. And then it's like, oh, again, gotcha. So, um, that's that. So point number 2, building success through small wins. So this, this is the good news. The middle part of it, point number 2, is, um, that success works the same way. Like I just said, the compound effect is neutral. It doesn't— it, it, you make it work for you or you can make it work against you. Like I said, it's not about making like a huge, huge change all at once. It's not about that, but we can start small, consistent improvements. As an agile coach, agile leader within the technology space, I— this is my thing. I'm always looking for ways to just consistently improve, consistently refine things, consistently helping teams get better. I love it. I, I do it just pretty much— I get to do it every day. But it's, it's well in myself. How can I help someone else improve if I'm not consistently improving? Um, and so that's just something that I believe that we can do. When I work out, like, I'm not trying to be a bodybuilder. Um, I'm just working out a little bit each day, just trying to be healthy, because that's, that's what's important to me. Like, I like other things more than I like being a bodybuilder right now. I might— I'm probably gonna wrap it up this winter though. I'm not even gonna lie to you, man, because I'm a little bit— a lot of people getting a little pull on your boy, and I ain't about to just be no little, little man relative compared to a lot of these people out here. So your boy probably gonna ramp it up a little bit. But nevertheless, um, consistent improvements, uh, when we start practicing new habits, like, it helps us refine our thinking. Like, straight up. Like, we can begin to replace those major mistakes with just positive actions over and over and over. And it's about being intentional. Like a lot of people say, oh, I'm training. I mean, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying. I think I did an episode on this if you want to go deeper into this thought. I think it was called Training, Not Trying or something. But, um, it's about being intentional. It's training. When, when we're trying, we just hide behind— my daughter is real big on this right now. I'm trying, Daddy. I'm trying, Mommy. And you know, it's funny because we look at it and we're like, yeah, she's trying but not really trying to do it. Uh, but in this context, it's like we want to train. How are you setting up your life? To it because training has a level of intentionality. Like, I'm trying to get in shape versus I'm training to get in shape are two different thought patterns. And so we want to train ourselves to make better choices every day. Like, I tell my kids this, they— I'm trying to get better in ball. Okay, if I don't see you out there trying, training, you're not trying. Like, just stop the lying to yourself. That trying is just a feel— like, that trying is just a cop-out. You're not trying to be better in your marriage. You're not trying to help your kids level up if you're not training to. If you're not being, uh, intentional with training to cultivate your household, you're not— I'm trying to be successful. Are you doing the daily things and staying consistent in them? And this is the power about self-discipline. This is where you really get a lot— a lot of people tripped up is self-discipline. It's having the ability to do it consistently when you don't feel like it. Like, straight up with you. Like, and yes, you might get me into moments, but man, like, with me, for example, um, I don't work out one day, two days, three days, and it's like, uh, well, you know, that's not self-discipline, okay? I skip a day, man, eat it. Say for instance two days, hey, but by day three, I— if nothing crazy has happened, I need to be back on it because I need to be training because it's— my mind wants to shift back into it so I could just say, man, I'm trying to get in shape. And it's like, dude, I haven't been to the gym in two weeks. Because I've let one day turn into two to three to five to eight. You like, and it's just, it's just out of whack. So we want to make sure that we're, we're training because this is what helps us build success through small wins. Uh, and point number 3, it's just all about transforming our lives with daily habits. Uh, so, so how do we do this? Like I said, it's not about trying harder, but being more aware of our habits and training for them. Start with the small changes. That's, that's all it takes, just the small changes. And hold yourself accountable. Get an accountability partner that you can be honest with, like, and just do things consistently. And over time, those small actions will add up, leading to a bigger transformation. It's textbook. But we live in a right now society, like, we want to see things instant, and it's just, it's crazy. Like, that's why the BBL culture is so fast now. That's why the mommy tuck and I'm not knocking or shaming on that. But, and it might be some, you know, I don't really know if there's no medical issues to go get a BBL, but it might be some medical issues, you know, to go get some of this stuff. But for nevertheless, most people just don't want to put in the work. And I'm not knocking BBLs, don't, don't get me wrong. If you have one, you have one, because there's some men out here to be doing some stuff now. And it's probably some men to be getting some daddy tucks and stuff like that from here on out, because they just don't want to do the work. And it's probably some men to go get BBLs, and that's a whole nother story, you know. But hey, Uh, whatever floats your boat, that's what floats your boat. But, um, it's amazing how a series of small positive steps can completely change the direction of our lives. Like, that's just it. So just, just stay consistent. And just, if nothing else, at the conclusion of this episode, just remember the little things matter. Like, the choices that we make each day, no matter how small they are, they are shaping our future. Either positively or negatively. And I could— oh man, oh, I can go into that, but I'm not gonna chase that rabbit hole. Uh, but we want to just pay attention to our daily habits and just be intentional about the changes we want to see. Like I said, again, if you're looking for your household to be better, if you're looking for your finances to be better, if you're looking for, uh, just relationships to be better, uh, health, all of that is going to start with being consistent and having a high-level degree of self-awareness. Like, you can, you can transform your life. And I'm gonna say this, yes, you can transform your life through the power of God, but let's not be over-spiritual right now. Uh, you can transform your life without waiting on the Holy Spirit. You can transform your life without waiting on Holy Spirit in this context because I am not talking about biblical and spiritual development. I'm saying if you know you need to lose weight Um, go run, go walk, go in the gym. You don't need the Holy Spirit to help you do that. Like, let's just be straight up. If you know you got a spending problem, you don't need the Holy Spirit to bless your finances. You need to go getting some financial books and go study somebody like Dave Ramsey, or just somebody out here that can help you level up and win with your money. Uh, The Budgetnista, I think Tiffany— go look at her. Like, there's a lot of people. It's another one, I can't think of her name right now, uh, Journey to Finance or Journey to Lunch or something like that. Uh, like, it's some people out here that can real deal help you with your money. You don't need the Holy Spirit for that. You can transform your life in one small step at a time. So stop all that praying stuff. Again, I'm not— I, I am not going around— I love to pray, but listen, you can transform your life one step at a time, but it's something that you're gonna have to do. Like, it has to be a tandem relationship. So I, I pray that this blessed you. I'm being very direct this season. I'm not being condescending by any means. If you know me It's just kind of like I'm like a little dry wit a little sometimes, but nevertheless, um, I'm just being direct, man, because I just really want to challenge myself. And I just— I want to be challenged. I just want to challenge the people that's connected to this and just to really dig in and get into the simplicity of things and just really do the work. Do the work. Do the work. And I think I have an episode out there titled Do the Work, and I need to go listen to that one, uh, because I don't know, it's just in my spirit to go listen to it. Uh, maybe God wants to remind me of some things. But nevertheless, man, um, small changes day by day, and pay attention to them. Because at the end of the day, if you are suffering in this context of this episode, if things are failing all around you and it ain't God allowing the enemy to— to— because everything ain't God allowing the enemy to test you and take things. Everybody is not upright and walking in a way like Job. And we want to point to that book. Now, this ain't got nothing to do with God in this context. This might have everything to do with your lack of intentionality and your lack of consistency, because it is more easier to be consistently inconsistent than to be consistent. And that's what we want to do. We want to pay attention to the little things and the choices that we make each day. No matter how small, because they are shaping us over and over and over. And this is the power of small choices. So listen, man, I love you all. Again, be blessed. If this is helping you in any kind of way, please share it. And man, let's just connect with this Student of Life family, man. So I love you all. Again, once again, I'm praying for you all, and be blessed.

Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to the Student Life Podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothyprattjr.org. Once again, thanks.