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HOW A LITTLE BECOMES A LOT

Eric Zimmer

The Art and Science of Wise Habits and Lasting Change

This profound guide to lasting change weaves together behavioral science with timeless wisdom. It reveals how to stop fighting yourself and start moving forward.
More than 30 years ago, Eric Zimmer faced a life-altering battle with heroin addiction that left him homeless and facing prison--a turning point that sparked his search to understand how profound change happens, and how we can chart sustainable paths forward while honoring both who we are and who we hope to become.

His book starts with a radical premise: your mind has a mind of its own. Each day, it pulls you in countless directions toward what you value most, what you desire now, away from what you fear, and toward what feels comfortable. Real, lasting change happens when you learn to work with it, one small choice at a time.

Personal transformation isn't about superhuman willpower. It's the result of tiny shifts creating powerful momentum.

Drawing on sources from Zen Buddhism to modern psychology, Zimmer offers practical wisdom you can use today:
· A path to align your daily actions with your core values
· Tools that quiet self-criticism and build the kind of self-compassion that actually works
· Small, achievable practices that create momentum when you feel stuck
· Ways to find balance in a world that pushes extremes

These "Wise Habits" blend outer behaviors with inner attitudes. If you're feeling stuck, trying to change a specific habit, or seeking a more fulfilling life, How a Little Becomes a Lot will work for you.

Eric Zimmer is the creator of The One You Feed podcast - an award-winning show with over 50 million downloads. At 24, Eric was homeless, addicted to heroin, and facing prison. His journey from those depths sparked his lifelong inquiry into human transformation and resilience. His approach blends cutting-edge science with timeless wisdom, offering practical pathways to more integrity and deeper meaning.
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Published 2026-03-31 by Harvest/HarperCollins

Comments

How a Little Becomes a Lot is a powerful reminder that real change happens in small, consistent steps. Eric Zimmer shows us how tiny daily actions can rewire patterns, rebuild trust in ourselves, and create lasting transformation. Practical, encouraging, and deeply humanthis is a guide for anyone ready to create the life they deserve.

How a Little Becomes A Lot is a beautifully grounded guide to meaningful change. Eric Zimmer reminds us that transformation comes from the small, steady choices we make again and again especially after our initial burst of motivation has faded. By combining values-based intention, mindful awareness, and self-compassion, this book helps readers build an inner relationship that supports growth over the long haul. An entertaining, thoughtful companion for anyone learning to change from the inside out.

Eric Zimmer has written a book I wish I'd had decades agoone that understands the quiet alchemy of transformation. In How a Little Becomes a Lot, he doesn't point us toward some distant summit. Instead, he walks beside us, showing how the smallest gestures of attention and care accumulate into lives of genuine meaning. This is a book that trusts the reader, trusts the process, and trusts that we each carry within us what we need for the journey. Eric's gentle, insistent voice reminds us that we don't need to be fixed; we need to be faithful. I found myself returning to its pages not for answers, but for companionshipand that may be the greatest gift a book can offer.

A remarkable manual for discovering what really matters, then building a life around the answer, How a Little Becomes a Lot is loaded with practical advice for what to do next but it's also one of those uncommon books that leaves you more deeply engaged with the world just by reading it.

Eric Zimmer masterfully delivers the definitive guide to profound transformation. This insightful book brilliantly synthesizes the rigor of modern behavioral science with timeless spiritual and philosophical principles to create a unique pathway to lasting change. It is a powerful manual for cultivating 'wise habits' that promise to improve character, loosen the grip of old conditioning, and lead to more peace, meaningfulness, and ease in life.

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Finally. A book about change that's honest. Eric doesn't promise you can transform your life overnight. That's because he actually wants you to succeed. With kindness, patience, and invaluable lived experience, How a Little Becomes a Lot doesn't just show you how to make meaningful change. It redefines your relationship with change itself.

Eric Zimmer has traveled an extraordinary distance from the chaos of addiction to a decade of intimate conversations with psychologists, philosophers, and spiritual teachers. In this book, he brings that journey together movingly. It's wise, compassionate, and will help lots of people.

How a Little Becomes a Lot is a compassionate and practical guide to meaningful change. Zimmer shows how real transformation doesn't come from willpower or grand gesturesbut from small, intentional choices made consistently over time. Drawing on his own powerful story of recovery, Zimmer introduces a framework for aligning your actions and values, building momentum, and cultivating self-compassion.

Eric Zimmer went from homeless heroin addict to one of today's most inspiring voices on change. In How a Little Becomes a Lot, he shares the science and soul behind transformationshowing us that real progress isn't about willpower or miracles, but small, wise actions repeated every day.