Small changes yield soulful results

Typically, when a new year commences, the months ahead seem to spread slowly into the future, full of possibility and wonder. We connect with others; we pause to breathe. Yet of late, the world is spinning faster. Throw in a global pandemic and confronting change on a macro level is occurring in dizzying real time!

What can we, as individuals, do in the lead up to our High Holy Days on a less menacing micro level? Let’s cast our gaze back to 1930s India. A story is told of a mother who was frustrated that her son was eating too much sugar. No matter how much she advised him otherwise, he continually satisfied his sweet tooth craving daily and showed no signs of altering this behaviour. She decided to take him to an ashram despite the scorching sun to see his hero, the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

She approached the great leader and said, “Sir, my son eats too much sugar. It is not good for his health. Would you advise him to stop?” Gandhi listened carefully, turned and spoke to her son, “Go home and come back in two weeks.”

The woman looked perplexed and wondered why he had opted not to immediately advise her son to cease eating sugar? Trusting him, they retraced their weary steps and returned a fortnight later. Gandhi looked directly at the boy and gently said: “You should stop eating sugar. It is not good for your health.” The boy promised he would not continue this habit any longer.

The child’s mother turned to Gandhi and asked, “Why didn’t you tell him that two weeks ago when I first brought him here?” Gandhi smiled, “Mother, two weeks ago I was still eating sugar myself. It was only after I abstained for two weeks that I could tell your son that he must too.”

Rosh Hashanah is usually translated as, the New Year, yet the Hebrew word “shana”, year, also refers to the concept of change, as in – a period of changing seasons. It is also a time of year to bring about positive change in our lives and transformation in the world around us.

As Gandhi’s actions remind us: the most effective way to change the world-at-large is by changing ourselves. Yet radical change can be overwhelming – but what about incremental gains requiring minimal shifts? Is that possible? Good news: there is.

In 2003, the British cycling team were – to put it mildly – unimpressive. In the previous 95 years, they had won just one Olympic gold medal. In 110 years, no British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France.

Their performance was so underwhelming that one of the top bike manufacturers in Europe refused to sell bikes to the team because they were afraid that it would hurt sales if other professionals saw the Brits using their gear.

Then in 2003, the team hired a new coach named Dave Brailsford. Brailsford’s strategy was to search for tiny marginal improvements in everything the team did. His idea was that if the team could get 1 per cent better in every aspect of cycling, it would aggregate into a huge advantage.

So Brailsford relentlessly made every improvement, no matter how small:

• He redesigned the seats for more comfort.
• He added rubbing alcohol on the tires for better grip.
• He gave riders electrically heated overshirts to maintain ideal muscle temperature.
• He insisted that the team switch racing suits for better aerodynamics.
• He even tested pillows and mattresses for the best night’s sleep. And much more.

Each change made a tiny, small difference. But put together, the changes were enormous, more than anyone could have imagined.

Just five years after Brailsford took over, the British cycling team dominated the world of cycling, winning world championships, breaking world records, as well as the coveted Tour de France multiple times. At the recent Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Great Britain solidified its position at the top of the medal table with a swag of gold, silver and bronze cycling medals.

This “aggregation of marginal gains” concept also applies to our personal lives: constant tiny improvements make a huge difference. So, don’t fixate on sweeping New Year resolutions. Rather, think of areas within both your personal and Jewish life that you aim to improve this year.

Like a slow dawn, minimal change isn’t immediately recognisable. Yet as time goes on, small improvements compound and there is a large gap between those who make physically and spiritually healthier daily decisions and those who don’t. Add a new mitzvah each day – no matter how minor.

Here’s how the maths works: If you can improve by a mere one per cent each day this year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by next Rosh Hashanah. Massive success does not require massive action. Quite the opposite: small changes yield soulful results.

This New Year won’t be the same as all others, yet we can control one thing: we can endeavour to make it the most improved one yet. Let’s resolve to each be that “one perc enter”. With Hashem’s help – we’ve got this!

Levi Wolff is senior rabbi of Central Synagogue, Sydney.