Letters to Myself: Entry Five
Prompt: What’s a small decision I made that unexpectedly changed my life?
Small decisions are always happening. Always pay attention to the small details. It helps ground us back in better ways.
Answer to the prompt:
The funny thing about this question is that I’m answering it at a time when I’ve been hyper-focused on the little details in life. The small, often-overlooked steps that connect the dots between where we are and where we want to be.
For me, that decision was something so simple it almost feels silly to call it life-changing: showing up on time.
When I first made punctuality a priority, I saw it as a minimal-effort habit. Just being somewhere when I said I would be. But over time, I realized how powerful it really was. Showing up on time built trust. It opened doors. It made people take me seriously before I even said a word.
Sure, life happens. Alarms fail, traffic hits, calendars glitch. Being late every now and then is inevitable. But for me, valuing time, both mine and others’, became a guiding principle. If I could reduce my commute, I would in a heartbeat, just to free up more hours for the things that truly matter: exploring new ideas, building side projects, growing into a better version of myself.
The same philosophy applies to my emotional time. I try not to waste hours, or even minutes, sitting in anger or frustration. If something isn’t going my way, I give myself a moment to feel it, then figure out my next step forward.
Time is the one thing we can’t get back. And how we choose to spend it, down to the minute, shapes everything. So, yeah, it turns out that showing up on time isn’t just a small habit. For me, it’s been a foundation. A reminder that it’s never too late to show up, and never too soon to start.
This post is part of my "Letters to Myself" series — a weekly free-write blog where I explore personal growth, curiosity, and healing through simple prompts. Sometimes reflective, sometimes fun, but always real. Thank you for being here.
References:
Photo by Kyle Gare
