Most people talk about the big decisions that change their life.
The big moves.
The big risks.
The big moments.
But the longer I live, the more I realize something most people overlook.
It’s not usually the big decisions that change your life.
It’s the small ones.
Small decisions don’t feel important at the time.
They feel random.
They feel insignificant.
Sometimes they even feel like accidents.
But when you look back years later, you realize those small decisions were the very things that led you to the biggest moments of your life.
I know this because my entire life has been shaped by small decisions.
The message that changed everything
Almost 24 years ago, on February 2, 2002, I was on a Christian singles website just looking for someone to talk to. I was bored more than anything else, and I usually wouldn’t even message someone unless they had a profile picture.
That night I made a small decision that didn’t seem important at all.
I messaged Sandy even though she didn’t have a picture.
On her side, she made a small decision too.
She was only on the site at that moment because she had logged in to delete an email someone had sent her.
Two small decisions.
That’s all it took.
What if I had stuck to my normal rule and not messaged her?
What if she had logged off five minutes earlier?
What if either of us had decided not to respond?
We never would have met.
Sixteen days after we met online, we set our wedding date.
Yes, people thought we were crazy.
But we knew God was in it.
That one small decision led to a marriage that has lasted decades, two kids, a life we never could have planned, and a story that is still being written.
People think the big decision was getting married.
But the truth is, the big decision never happens without the small ones first.
The decision that saved my life
Another small decision changed my life in a way I never expected.
After 19 years of addiction, I reached a point where I knew I couldn’t fix myself anymore. There wasn’t a big moment with lights flashing and music playing. There was just a quiet moment where I finally said, “God, I can’t do this without You.”
That was a small decision.
It didn’t feel dramatic at the time.
It didn’t feel powerful.
It just felt honest.
But that small decision started the process that led to my life being rebuilt.
Looking back now, that moment was bigger than any decision I ever made in business, relationships, or anything else.
It proves something I believe with all my heart now.
Every miracle in my life started with a small act of obedience.
The show that almost never started
Years later, another small decision changed everything again.
In 2020, Sandy and I decided to start a show. We didn’t have a plan. We didn’t have connections. We didn’t have money coming in from it. We just felt like we should do it.
We almost didn’t start.
It would have been easy to say we were too busy.
It would have been easy to say no one would watch.
It would have been easy to wait for the perfect time.
Instead, we made a small decision to try.
That small decision turned into hundreds of interviews, conversations with people from all walks of life, and a platform that ended up shaping our future in ways we never saw coming.
Today, so much of what I feel called to do traces back to that one simple choice.
Not a big decision.
A small one.
Even the hard moments can lead somewhere
Recently I had to delete hundreds of videos from YouTube after getting a copyright strike. It was frustrating, and honestly I didn’t even know exactly what mistake I made.
But after I cleared everything out, I realized something.
All that clutter had been slowing me down.
Sometimes the small decisions that change your life don’t feel exciting.
Sometimes they feel like loss.
Sometimes they feel like starting over.
But even those moments can create space for something new.
Looking back, so many of the things that felt like setbacks were actually turning points.
Small decisions build your future
We like to think life changes in one big moment.
But most of the time, life changes one small decision at a time.
A message you almost didn’t send.
A prayer you almost didn’t pray.
A step you almost didn’t take.
A conversation you almost avoided.
A risk you almost didn’t try.
Those small choices stack up.
They lead you to the big moments.
You can’t go from big decision to big decision.
You go from little decision to little decision,
until one day you look back and realize those small steps led you exactly where you were supposed to be.
Trust the small steps
If you feel like the decisions you’re making right now don’t matter, they do.
If you feel like the step in front of you is too small to make a difference, it isn’t.
Every major turning point in my life was preceded by a series of small choices that didn’t seem important at the time.
So take the step.
Send the message.
Make the call.
Have the conversation.
Pray the prayer.
Try the thing you keep feeling led to try.
You never know which small decision God is going to use to change everything.
The person you are today was built by the small decisions you made yesterday.
And the person you become tomorrow will be built by the small decisions you make today.
— Chris Benton
Latest posts by Chris & Sandy Benton (see all)
- Can Small Decisions Change Your Life? - March 17, 2026
- Behind the Mic — The Conversations That Changed My Life - March 16, 2026
- Success Principles for a Stronger Marriage - March 16, 2026
