Happy 2024!
If you’re anything like me, you welcome the new year with open arms. For many, it’s a time to reflect on what worked and what didn’t and to devote at least a day or two to deciding what’s worth taking into the new year.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog and what I want my writing life to look like in 2024. While I wrote everyday last year (I have the journal to prove it!), I knew that heading into this year I wanted to be more intentional about what gets shared in this space. To that end, you’ll be seeing some changes. For one, each month will encompass a theme aimed to help you—and me— be more intentional with the work we do. I promise the content will be short, yet helpful.
January’s theme: Goal Setting and Motivation
This week: Think Small
The 1960s ushered in the Creative Revolution in the world of advertising. Bill Bernbach spurned traditional advertising theory and urged marketers to think differently. He said,
“Let us blaze new trails. Let us prove to the world that good taste, good art, and good writing can be good selling.”
And he didn’t waste any time. His ad campaign for the Volkswagen Beetle turned advertising on its head by eschewing the flashy pictures and wordy content that had been popular for selling muscle cars for decades. Two words: THINK SMALL accompanied a tiny picture of the Volkswagen surrounded by a whole lot of white space.
This ad campaign, while innovative for the time, might not turn heads today. After all, you and I have grown up in the era of Apple Computers. Minimalism is firmly entrenched, and dare I say—here to stay.
But those words—THINK SMALL—they should cause us to pause. In a world that’s constantly telling us to think bigger, I appreciate someone giving me permission to think small. When thinking big seems overwhelming, take a moment to reflect on the small things that give you life. While you may not be able to spend 2024 going back to school or starting a new business, you might be able to volunteer in a school helping kids to read or maybe you can sign up for a class or workshop to learn a skill you’ve always wanted to try. You never know what big things might be birthed from the little choices you make today.
The Upside of Thinking Small
One of the best things about the Volkswagen campaign was that it was honest. The car was small, slow, and ugly. BUT…it could fit in tight parking spaces, the insurance payments were low, and repair costs were cheap too. Thinking small allows us to be honest about our own imperfections. To be sure, your imperfections are your superpowers!
That last statement may sound trite, but you know how I know it’s true? Because I know people who are facing insurmountable obstacles, who can barely dare to imagine what this next year will look like because of what they already know they are facing down. And yet, by God’s grace, these friends are putting one foot in front of the other and getting through the days, minute by minute and hour by hour. They are thinking small, and by doing so, they are living LARGE.
But I digress.
Why Now
If you wait for the big revelation, just be mindful that it may never come. If you feel like life is busy and that you never have time, chunking down a big goal into smaller daily deposits can be the key to getting you where you want to be in 2024. I know I didn’t do everything I wanted to do last year, but everyday I found time to read one chapter of the Bible, write one page in my daily journal, and practice Spanish for ten minutes. While these small habits won’t win any prizes, they helped me realize that thinking small is about more than habits. Certainly, there’s no shortage of strategy advice about how to make resolutions stick. We don’t need another tip or trick to do that, thank you very much.
This year, when you think small, think about Volkswagen and about how their ad campaign revolutionized the world of advertising. They didn’t do what everybody else was doing, and they changed the world. You can, too.