You toss a small pebble into this bigg body of water. As it splashes into the water, it creates a ripple – a ripple that flows out from the center where the rock hit the water in all directions.

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The same thing can happen in your schedule. You have your day all mapped out. Then something unexpected hits it. It ripples out and can affect your whole life, for the day or longer.

In our interconnected world, it may be a ripple in someone else’s schedule that creates a ripple in yours. Your spouse has to work late so you need to make dinner.

A co-worker has a sick kid so you need to double up on a project. A client calls and you have a great opportunity but the work has to be done right away.

That’s exactly what happened to us recently. We had too many projects on the table already. We had another who needed a proposal revised.

Work can affect home. Home can affect work.

If you’re not careful, a little ripple in your schedule can create a tidal wave in your life.

If you schedule yourself for every minute of every day, a little ripple can create a tidal wave. Plan for the unplanned. Allow time in your schedule to react to the inevitable situations that will arise.

Similarly, if you don’t allow for extra time on every project, a little ripple in your schedule can create a tidal wave in your life. Plus X your schedule. Budget more time than you think it will take.

Bigg goal-getters tend to be a pretty optimistic bunch. We think we can do more than is humanly possible. Try to discover your natural optimist bias.

For example, you may find that you think it will take two hours but it actually takes three. You think it will take two days; then you do it in three.

By tracking expectations and comparing it to the actual, you’ve learned that you need to plus 50% your schedule. If you get done earlier than you thought, you know you won’t have any trouble finding something to do.

If you don’t give yourself some down time, you can expect a little ripple to create a tidal wave. Rest and relaxation are extremely important. Variety is invigorating.

Give yourself some time to recover. Even so called wasted time – just pure do-nothing downtime – is valuable sometimes.

Similarly, if you don’t take care of yourself, a little ripple in your schedule can create a tidal wave in your life. Do something, anything, physical. It can make a tremendous difference in your ability to deal with ripples.

If you’re like us, we often grab a quick bite to eat while we keep working. You may do that now and then, but force yourself to get away from it all once in a while.

And give yourself some time to wind down before you go to bed. Otherwise, it’s hard to shut the brain off.

If you don’t tend to all areas of your life, a little ripple can create a tidal wave. If you’re so busy doing everything you do, you may not be tending to important relationships.

When a little ripple comes along, the connection is missing that keeps it a ripple. So it turns into a tidal wave.

There will be ripples on your path to bigg success. Ripples make calm waters more interesting. Keeping them from turning into tidal waves leads to bigg success.

How do you deal with ripples?
Tell us by leaving a comment, e-mailing us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com or leaving a voice mail at 888.455.BIGG (2444).

Thanks so much for reading our post today!

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Next time, we’ll discuss finding rhythm in life. Please join us. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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(Image in today's post by ilco)