A personal event review from a trainer’s perspective
What it was about
The topic of the evening was 1% thinking: how can we take big goals seriously without overwhelming ourselves? And how can mini-steps be designed so that they actually change something – in everyday life, not just in our heads?
It was important to us, especially at the beginning of the year, to create a light entry point. Many come from Decembers with open to-do lists, half-finished projects, and the feeling of needing to catch up first. This is exactly where 1% thinking starts: big ambitions provide direction – small steps create movement.
The (conversation) space makes the difference
The evening did not thrive on the method alone. The real added value emerged from the exchange. Different people, different life realities, different themes of change – and yet similar patterns kept appearing: too many goals at once, saying yes too often, too little recognition of what is already working.
Even in the opening ritual – the Dialog Walk – it became clear how much clarity emerges when you speak your thoughts out loud. The question was simple: Welche Veränderungen möchtest du dieses Jahr angehen – und warum gerade diese? Viele merkten dabei schon: Es gibt mehrere Ziele, aber nicht alle sind gerade gleich wichtig.
Small steps are not trivial
In the collective gathering, it quickly became clear what mini-steps are made of:
- Sie sind machbar und schnell umsetzbar.
- Sie erzeugen sichtbares Feedback – sonst nehmen wir sie gar nicht ernst.
- They are motivating because they enable action rather than just formulating intentions.
- Small steps are easy to forget if they aren't appreciated. That's why goals and directions need to be roughly defined. A vision board is sufficient for this.
One participant captured it with an image: a ladder with enormous rungs is intimidating. A ladder with small, irregular rungs may look less “perfect,” but it actually gets you to the top.
Besonders spannend fand ich die Diskussion darüber, dass Veränderung oft nicht durch mehr Tun, sondern durch Weglassen entsteht. Ein Beispiel aus der Runde: Wer weniger Auto fahren will, könnte bewusst keine Winterreifen aufziehen – und zwingt sich damit, Alternativen zu nutzen. Provokant, aber wirksam.
Thinking with your hands: LEGO® Serious Play®
With LEGO® Serious Play®, we created the transition from talking to grasping. The assignment was clear: Build a model that shows a small but real step that brings you closer to a change.
No end state, no ideal image – just the next step. The models that emerged told very different stories: letting go of baggage, conscious pauses, clear boundaries, small rituals for focus or relaxation. Some celebrated their start into the year, others showed how much old baggage still lingers. There was room for both.
Naming the models was almost as important as building them. One word, a short sentence – something that captures the core. This condensation helps you find the step again later, when everyday life gets louder.
How do you sustain small changes?
In the large sharing round, similar questions kept coming up:
- How do I do a self check-in?
- How do I track progress without controlling myself?
- Why do I give a trusted person the mandate to ask me uncomfortable questions?
- How do I keep the big goal visible while taking small steps?
- How do I prevent new tasks from steamrolling old intentions?
The answers were varied: journaling, visual tracking, random rewards, accountability partners, filler phrases to buy time (“I need to think about that some more”). What mattered wasn't the perfect method, but the conscious shaping of one's own change process. This also includes manifestation: I imagine the desired end state. What does it feel like when I've reached my goal?
The real added value
In the end, it was clear to me again: the greatest effect of such evenings comes not from input, but from collective thinking. People throw their topics into the room, others think along, mirror, add. Everyone goes home with something different – but nobody leaves empty-handed.
A nice detail on the side: our school intern Samira was there and was amazed that adults use their free time to reflect on personal development. This observation alone shows how special such spaces are.
“Two thoughts from yesterday evening that have stayed with me: 1) The bigger the goal, the smaller and more deliberate the steps I should take. 2) Dealing with and overcoming human inertia takes energy. How much energy do I have right now — how many goals or changes can I tackle at once? What has priority — and what can wait until later?”
Genau diese Fragen sind es, die für mich den Kern des 1 %-Abends treffen. Mein Fazit: Minischritte sind kein Rückzug aus Ambition. Sie sind ihr Betriebssystem. Und manchmal reicht 1 %, um wieder ins Gehen zu kommen.
