Mon, December 28, 2009 - 3:56:44

2009: The SMALL Year in Review

Last winter, we issued a challenge to make 2009 the year you started “thinking small.”  As we entered into the year, we faced innumerable difficulties as a result of too many years of thinking big.  Big cars, big mortgages, and big debts had gotten us into big trouble, but we believed then as we do now that tackling our problems one by one, with precision and micro-focus could help us dig our way out.  And little by little, we’ve seen that others shared our SMALL perspective, using the same little philosophy to accomplish truly remarkable things. 

From the amazing ways in which SMALL can change to world to the dedicated individuals harnessing its power to achieve success, here are just a few of our favorite SMALL stories from the past 12 months:

Waste Not Want Not:  Think saving the environment requires drastic measures?  Think again. Researchers at Arizona University discovered that Americans could reduce the environmental impact of landfills by 25 per cent just by cutting down on their food waste.

Charities Say Small Donations Make the Biggest Difference: Sure, multi-million dollar donations garner the most media attention, but you don’t have to have a Warren Buffett-sized bank account to make a real difference in the lives of people in need.

The Greatest Generation of Networkers Show us that Online Small Talk Pays Off: Over the months, we’ve examined the many ways in which making small talk can have an enormous effect on your life.  And as the New York Times reports, today’s tech-obsessed teens are taking the power of small talk to the World Wide Web, making them what some call, “the greatest generation of networkers.”

A Can Full of Dreams:  If you think your dreams are out of reach, you might want to change your outlook. Terrerai Trent, a young woman from rural Zimbabwe, shows us all that nothing is impossible when you think small.

Simple Solutions Make All the Difference: We often mistakenly think that the world’s biggest problems require complex solutions, but as Nicholas Kristof’s wonderful New York Times Magazine piece explains,  many times the tiniest changes can have the biggest impact. 

Posted by Linda and Robin