Tiny steps to big dreams
I have been trying to write this post on goals for months now. It’s a large topic with so much incredible information. It’s just too big. Instead, I’ll go into my goals and how they help me.
Right now, one of my goals is to publish my book(s). This goal is helpful in that it gives me a sense of direction and purpose, but it is an overarching big picture goal that has so many steps and nuances that it makes it feel impossible. Plus, these days you can publish fairly easily, but having your book sell well is a challenge and my ultimate goal. For me, this is more of a dream—as in I hope to achieve it, but it’s so misty and far out that I can’t figure out how to accomplish it.
This is where smaller goals are helpful. And goals that are less outcome driving and more practice based driven. Think about the different between these statements. I want to learn to play the guitar and I will practice guitar thirty minutes daily. Which mindset is more likely to accomplish the goal of learning to play the guitar.
Starting today, I’ve set the goal to write 1,000 words a day, five or six days a week. This could be in a manuscript I’m working on, writing query letters, or working articles for this blog. I’m starting with 1,000 because I believe it will stretch me, but I believe I can do it. It will prioritize writing in my life while also providing a bit of wiggle room for weekends and such. If I find that 1000 words daily is too much, I might scale it back to 750. I’d like to push myself while remaining realistic. I have four kids to get to their various activities and my youngest is with me all day, every day. You don’t get to clock out of motherhood. Things come up that require a certain amount of grace for myself and my family situation.
I may also borrow a tactic from Andrea Isabella Lucas book Own it All. She talks about doing the bare minimum. What is the bare minimum I need to do to feel I’m progressing? In this instance, my goal is to write 1000 words a day, but if I manage 500 that’s the bare minimum. This may take some trial and error to see what’s reasonable and what I can do to push myself a bit further.
Creating the goal, making it attainable, these are important pieces to the process, but following through with that plan is how actual progress gets made. Making yourself do what you have set out to do is not easy, but it builds a sense of accomplishment. Small, measurable and attainable steps are so vital because they allow us to experience the little dopamine rush of achieving what we set out to do. Anyone else write something you’ve already finished down on your to do list just for the pleasure of crossing it off? Totally worth it. These small, practice-based steps help us get we want to go. These steps are what ultimately improve our craft, or our health, or whatever habit or goal we are looking to achieve.
My book is not published. This could discourage me, but I’m working on the little pieces that together lead me to my final goal. Seeing the progress bar move, helps maintain momentum for the big dream. Goals keep us from meandering aimlessly in the sea of life. Making realistic goals is essential helps maintain momentum. Persistence is important as most dreams require more than a single setting to achieve. Getting healthier, learning to crochet, or play an instrument all require time and effort. Decluttering your house takes repeated, consistent work. Writing a book demands time, focus, and energy. We need time to fail, to be bad at it. Time to get better and time to excel. Setting small steps that feel like big accomplishments can be the difference between trying something out once, and truly getting there.
Set these steps up with the intent to let yourself win, but if you don’t ‘win,’ if you miss, offer yourself a moment of love and recognition. I didn’t meet my goal, I missed my bare minimum today, but I will try again tomorrow. Focus on the positive. Focus on how far you’ve come. Let the failures and the missteps teach you something. Maybe make the step smaller or change your schedule around. Setting goals is a slippery slope to achieving your dreams. You may slide off in a direction you weren’t expecting, but it will get you to a better place. It doesn’t have to be all uphill. One or two positive changes accelerates improvements in other areas.
You are worth the time and effort it takes to get to where you want to go. Let the journey be part of the fun. What is the tiniest step you can take in the right direction? Take it and then take the next step. Step by step, you’ll get there.