I believe that small changes over time can have a big impact in the long run, either in a positive or negative way.  I'll use a graph to illustrate my point: 



Let's say you start at (0,0) and make a minuscule change over the course of a day.  After that first day, you're a tiny fraction off from your original location.  Even after a week, you're still only a few percentage points off, which is hardly noticeable.  Now let's zoom out a bit and look at the bigger picture: 



After a considerable amount of time (140 days in this case), you're a considerable percentage off from your original location (100% off in this case).  The numbers are fairly meaningless, but the concept is valid:  We tend to look at different changes from different perspectives, leading us to behave in some pretty irrational ways. 

In a positive sense, for long-term changes, we often look at the zoomed-out view and only notice how far we are from completion.  Some examples are things like getting a degree, buying a house, and losing weight.  If instead we focused on the zoomed-in view and simply made incremental changes over time, we'd get there eventually. 

In a negative sense, for long-term stability, we often look at the zoomed-in view and only notice how little we've drifted from one day to the next.  Some examples are things like relationships, morality, and spirituality.  If instead we focused on the zoomed-out view and realized how far we've drifted from our original position, we'd realize how drastically small changes add up over time. #psychology