At around 4:30am every morning, the first message pops up in a small-step group chat. Soon, a picture is uploaded in the chat room. It is a picture of stars in a dark night before the dawn. The person who sends the message climbs a hill in his neighborhood and takes a photo as a proof. And he sends the picture with a link to the video of a lecture he listened to while hiking. Then, the chat room starts to get busy. What follows next is a picture that captures a scenery of Gwangyang city in Jeonnam province at dawn. I share a nice phrase from a book I recently read. Someone uploads pictures of his meal and weight and a blogger shares his daily post. People then leave reviews of the writings, pictures and videos all morning. The energy at the dawn wakes people up from sleep and their thoughts and bodies are awakened as well. This chat group began with only a few people.

 After experiencing a boost in confidence and rewarding feeling through lecturing on small steps a few times, I offered a free lecture on one Saturday afternoon for 5-6 people who had applied. The meeting naturally led to a group chat and people started sharing their daily small-step practices in the chat. As time went by, more than 100 people joined the group. Within the chat, changes would begin from such a small thing. One of the participants uploaded pictures he had taken while hiking and shared a small step planner that he was using to document his daily practice. People started to share their records of various small steps. It was around that time that the chat room started to have its own rules. A separate group chat was created to share small step planners and a new set of rules was made to document each participant's small step practice by number as someone proposed. It was all voluntary, so it was spread to other members of the group organically. Friends and acquaintances of the participants were also invited to join the group chat and the small steps based on individual's various backgrounds began to be shared.

 One of the small steps was a lecture by an English teacher. The chat member, who teaches English mostly to the executives of a company, began to upload English sentences through a video clip. It included colloquial phrases that could be used in daily life, and other participants in the chat room started to study them. Someone even uploaded a video of him repeating the pronunciation of the sentences in the video himself. Of course, it became a small step for other people too. The English teacher was thrilled. Upon the request of the students(?), the teacher shortened the length of a video from 20 to 5 minutes. It was because of the principle of ‘small step’ that should be small and simple. Such a virtuous cycle was soon spread to other group chats. A small effort by one individual stimulated others and that led to a bigger practice or idea, which created a repeated virtuous cycle. Then, I realized something. That a small change by one person can have a huge impact on others. I witnessed firsthand an amazing phenomenon – a small and trivial change by a person called small step can spread to people around the person.

 Malcolm Gladwell, an American author, wondered one day why some ideas, messages and fads are 'ignited' while others do not. He named the starting point of such a dramatic change 'tipping point' and summarized three characteristics of a contagion that enables the ignition. First, highly contagious behaviors cause a huge sensation. Second, small behaviors or changes bring a significant result. Third, such contagion happens at a rapid pace at some point. I experienced the tipping point myself by observing various changes through small steps.

 I did not begin small steps to show them to other people. Rather, I started them because of my small ambition to change my life. I wanted to escape from a lethargic daily life and began practicing them with a simple goal to gain confidence. But, as I slowly realized its benefits, people around me began to notice changes first. A list of simple practices anyone could do was contagious. It consoled and encouraged people as it was something anyone could easily follow. More than anything, the message that I, an average person, was able to do it made people act. A series of requests for lecture came in and people left reviews voluntarily. On Facebook alone, dozens of reviews were posted without me asking them. Sincere reviews were repeatedly shared. Many companies, book clubs and organizations asked me to deliver lectures. I was baffled but also happy at the same time. Of course, it made me practice and promote small steps even harder.

 Nevertheless, all of this process was never artificial. I never intended to change people or trigger them. I was simply enjoying the benefits of small steps and changes they brought. Some small steps, like memorizing English vocabularies, brought concrete results, but many of them did not cause any visible changes. However, I began to enjoy amazing results created by small changes. A daily stroll made me listen to music and podcasts while taking a walk. I naturally started to read books introduced on the podcasts and look up the lyrics of English pop-songs that I listened to. And I started to spread those changes to people by words and in writing. Then, people slowly showed responses. Even before I knew, I had become a preacher who was spreading the advantages of small steps.

 I began something similar to small steps about 5 years ago. It has been only 3-4 years since I started recording them systematically. To be honest, no change was visible for a while. But, after a certain critical point, the experiences began to burst out into the world by words and in writing. My posts on blog led to a book published, which was then led to various lectures and meetings. Looking back, it took a long time to reach that point. But, once I started to enjoy changes in myself, it was accumulated one by one within me. When I practiced it for 3 years continuously, the benefits of those practices became visible. And the changes surpassed a critical point and spread to other people. For this reason, I value the very small practices that I do today.

 We always want to change something. Sometimes, we are caught in a strong desire to change our selves, family, an organization or a company. However, it should begin from something very small, and the small change should begin from yourself. You have to be able to enjoy the benefits yourself. Also, you need to be able to look forward and wait for the results. If you are experiencing the benefits of changes over time, it will definitely spread to your surroundings. When small contagious changes are accumulated over and over again and surpass a critical point, it becomes a 'tipping point'. At a tipping point, the main agents of the changes become not just you but also others around you. Then, the changes are not in your control any more as they will evolve into bigger changes by other people. The expectation for these bigger changes will fill your day with excitement. When these changes pile up for another three years, what other changes will it bring? Even just imagining and looking forward to those changes makes me pleased and happy. And I will change along with the changes.