The First Step Changes Everything

How One Small Action Rewired Your Brain For Success

This is not another one of those, “if you can see it, you can be it” blogs. 

This is a question about what happens when we take the first step towards the life we actually want, rather than one we might be tolerating.

The reflection comes from my experience of taking the first step before seeing the full picture on a few occasions in my life. 

Some examples include:

• When I cycled solo from London to Birmingham in 2017, I did not know how gruelling it would be.

• When I ran my first London marathon in 2019, I had no idea about the difference between running 10km vs 26.2 miles.

• When I enrolled onto an Executive MBA with Cranfield University in 2020, at the height of the global pandemic, I had no idea what it would take to graduate.

• When I bought the domain name in 2023, I had no idea that the www.thecurio.online would become the U.K’s most respected over 40’s Men’s Fitness online publication.

• When I took part in an ultra-white collar boxing match in 2025,  I hadn’t previously taken part in any combat sports, had no idea who my opponent would be and had forgotten what it felt like to be punched in the face. 

These are just a handful of professional & fitness related goals that are in the public domain. There are several more significant private examples where the patterns were very similar.

“Write The Vision, Make It Plain” - Habakkuk 2:2

When we are really clear on the desired outcome, it gives us a roadmap. A direction of travel or at the very least, we can see when our actions are not congruent with what we say we want.

Breaking a goal down into actionable steps makes logical sense from an objective perspective but as the saying goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry”. So, I’m more intrigued by what happens when things are not going to plan. What causes some of us to pursue the outcome we set out to achieve? What can we do to take a step in the right direction, even when the roadmap is unclear?

“He Who Has a Why To Live For Can Bear Almost Any How” - Friedrich Nietzsche

The best illustration I can think of is this:

It was the 1st of December 2018. 18,000 fans packed into the Staples Centre, Los Angeles. Millions more watch globally via pay-per-view. 

It’s the final 12^th round and two world class heavyweights have already pushed themselves passed the known realms of existence in a boxing ring.

Deontay Wilder delivers a crushing combination culminating in a devastating left hook, knocking Tyson Fury onto the canvas.

By his own account Fury said,

• “I was out cold. I opened my eyes and saw the referee going ‘4, 5,’ and I thought ‘f*** I’ve been knocked down here! Get up! I got up and I was bulletproof that night, It wasn’t my time to lose and there was a bigger plan for me."

How did he do that? Why did Fury get up?

Was it his belief in a bigger plan for his life? Could it have been his identity of fighting, not for titles but to prove his ability to comeback after his experience of drug abuse, suicidal ideation, weight gain and mental depression?

Was his inner why, more powerful than the visible how?

The Multiplier Effect Of A Well Established, Why 

According to the neuroscience, dopamine is not just the happy chemical of our brains. There are two significant scenarios’ where the hormone shows up. 

• Liking - the reward for obtaining something we desire.

• Wanting - the motivation to sustain the pursuit of a desirable outcome.

According to, What Is The Role Of Dopamine In Reward? Berridge et al, dopamine has a stronger link to wanting.  When a goal has a strong significance to who and what we identify ourselves as, it helps to reinforce actions that push us towards the desired outcome. 

We know that a lot of mental activity is happening subconsciously. This means that we are not always consciously aware of what is driving our behaviour and actions. According to the Expected Value Control Model, Botvinick et al, the brain is constantly doing a simple calculation:

• Expected Effort - Expected Cost = Continue or Quit.

So, it looks like the Cost Benefit Analysis isn’t  reserved for business managers and MBA students. Our ancestors were doing it from day one, instinctively. Furthermore, so are you and I.

The brain doesn’t ask, “Can I continue?” It asks, “Is it worth it?”

When a goal is strongly correlated with meaning & purpose, the brain assigns it a higher value, signalling persistence.

This may explain the author of Can’t Hurt Me, David Goggins, 40% rule I.e. when the brain is signalling to stop….. [fill in the blanks], we still have 60% left in the tank 🫣😳😱

Perhaps it’s the repetitive reinforcement of this idea that has enabled Goggins to achieve some remarkable feats of endurance. Check out his resume.

Another helpful study is author of Thinking, Fast and Slow author, Daniel Kahneman’s work on automatic vs deliberate thinking. The work suggests that in high stress situations experienced individuals draw on well-established habits automatically rather than deliberate cognitive reasoning. This may explain, Fury’s immediate response to his thought on waking, “Get up!”.

Taking The First Step Makes All The Difference

Rather than simply stating, “if you visualise it, the universe will respond and you will achieve it”,  there are a few practical, science based pointers we can all consider:

• Action Focuses The Attention - the brains reticular activating system is responsible for blocking out information we don’t need. Acting enables us to focus on what matters. According to author of Atomic Habits, James Clear, “Every action is a vote for the person you wish to become.”
• Action Reduces Uncertainty - the brain doesn’t like uncertainty because it has to use more energy to predict what happens next. Acting signals to the brain what is happening. This is supported by Albert Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory which states that “an individual's belief in their own capability to succeed in a specific situation directly dictates their motivation, resilience, and actual performance.”

Action Creates Evidence - Neuroscience suggests the brain is constantly deciding what deserves its attention, energy and effort. Every action you take sends new evidence about what matters. You don’t have to know exactly how you’ll get there.

Tyson Fury didn’t become the man who rose from the canvas in twelve rounds. He became that man over thousands of small decisions made long before the fight began.

The same principle applies to all of us. So, with that:

• Try on the watch.
• Test drive the car.
• Book the house viewing.
• Go to the gym.
• Make the phone call.
• Apply for the job.
• Start the business.
• Sign up for the race, challenge, fundraiser 

None of these guarantee’s success but every one of them tells your brain, “This is important.”That single action changes what you notice, what opportunities you recognise and, ultimately, how you see yourself. Most people take the approach that they will think then believe then act. The science suggests that to act causes us to  believe and that drives us to become what we want to be. 

Making the move signals an intention to our brain and as the old saying goes, “fortune favours the brave.”

With that I will conclude with a quote from my favourite author, Charles Haanel:

"We must be before we can do, and we can do only to the extent which we are, and what we are depends upon what we think." 

Over to you:

What is the smallest action you could take today that your future self would recognise as the beginning?

Further Reading:

Botvinick, M. M., & Braver, T. S. (2015). Motivation and Cognitive Control: From Behavior to Neural Mechanism. Annual Review of Psychology.

Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow

David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

James Clear, Atomic Habits