In a recent Substack, Michael Foster beautifully showed how small, faithful habits we do everyday are far more transformative than big, audacious pipe dreams that never come to be.

Small actions when repeated have powerful results, but those results aren’t immediate.

I bought some rocks for my kids for Christmas. I even told them I bought them rocks for Christmas because I knew they wouldn’t believe me. They were geodes—rocks with crystals inside of them. You can open them with a single swing of a sledgehammer, but that’ll often destroy the cool formations inside. A better way to crack them open is to use a chisel and hammer, slowly tapping until a crack forms, then gently opening it. It’s like 99 taps, and you don’t see anything. And then all of a sudden on the 100th tap, a crack forms.

Now, which tap formed the crack? Well, all 100 did. It just didn’t produce the desired result immediately. Whether good or bad, that is how habits work. Their power is realized over time and seemingly come out of nowhere.

Do you want a productive life? I do.

It’s a good goal. But I want to suggest that your resolve be aimed at cultivating habits and not the outcome of the habits, the end goal.

I like what James Clear says in his book:

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Your goal is your desired outcome. Your system is the collection of daily habits that will get you there.

This year, spend less time focusing on outcomes and more time focusing on the habits that precede the results.”

Big goals don’t deliver big results. It’s a consistent system of daily habits that produces results. Funny enough, big goals can actually undermine long-term lasting results.

It reminds me of something Charles Spurgeon said, “The way to do a great deal is to keep on doing a little. The way to do nothing at all is to be continually resolving that you will do everything.”

Maybe instead of doing big things for God, start with small things and go from there. You can accomplish big things through faithful baby steps.