Appreciate the little things in life. Often, people dream of finding the perfect job, marrying “the one”, buying a beautiful home, or traveling the world, but we should also romanticize other aspects that may give more meaning to life. So here are a few small commitments that can provide a sense of accomplishment and may even leave you with a little more than that.

It started with a short story about perseverance, and in it, because of the legend where anyone who folds 1000 cranes will be granted a wish, the writer worked her way to reaching that goal. Then, what started as mere curiosity transformed into something of love and comfort. After collecting about 300, she began folding cranes to represent certain events in her life or to give to her friends when they were sad. So just for fun, my friend and I started our journey to 1000 cranes, and we both found our own significance in doing so. She assembled all of her origami cranes on strings to give at a final tribute to someone she cared for. For me, I’m still only halfway there, but when I get overwhelmed, sometimes folding a couple while listening to music is a nice break from work that won’t distract me for too long. So if you’re up for the challenge, maybe you can slowly see your way toward 1000.

Journaling is another wonderful small commitment to make. It requires some transparency and can allow you to let out your feelings onto the pages. The best part about it though, is that it can contain anything that you want: exciting moments, sketches, angry rants, lists of shows to watch, favorite quotes, 4 a.m. thoughts, and more. Sometimes journaling can help sort out some of your thoughts or it can be a record of things that you did and felt. A year, five years, or even ten years later, it may be nice to remember what you thought about back then and see how you’ve changed over time.

Choosing to spend your time volunteering on a regular basis can also be a valuable experience. Whether it’s in a hospital, museum, humane society, or elsewhere, you may find that through helping others, you’ll form bonds with new people, care more about the community, and learn about yourself. No matter how small of an impact you seem to be making, there is much more meaning behind what you do than you may realize. So try to look deeper and find out why it is that you do and care for things that you do.

Little commitments can come from nearly anything. Attempt growing some houseplants or learn sign language. Read 50 books a year or try cooking for yourself every day. There’s no limit to what you can commit yourself to, but the most difficult part is to maintain them. So when pursuing these, don’t be too strict on yourself, and instead, take them as light goals instead of homework assignments. Let them be enjoyable things that you can do when life gets a little tough, and maybe you’ll find that these little things actually mean quite a lot.