Big ambitious goals simply take too long and, in a society with the need of constant approval and where change happens every single day, chasing the same dream for a lifetime just doesn’t cut it.
Even the new year’s resolutions we all fall into every year’s end is getting quite difficult to achieve and, by the end of each year, there are always unchecked and unaccomplished items which were just too big or simply not planned well enough.
After examining my own habits, routines and series of actions and inactions that lead to my yearly goals remaining unaccomplished, I’ve decided to do something a little bit differently. This year, I’ve decided to set a series of micro ambitious goals on a daily and weekly basis.
Learn from your goals.
Small bite sized goals that can be completed in one day (and also slightly bigger micro ambitious goals that can be completed in one week) can actually allow you to learn in a faster and more profitable way.
Each time you complete a micro goal, you’ve learnt what works and what doesn’t. If you’ve failed at your micro goal, perhaps the task is too big, too hard, too long, or lacking in resources. Each time you succeed, you know what you’ve got to do to make it work.
Micro goals can also become the steps towards your big ambitious goals, if you’re good at keeping your eye on the ball.
When you have a big ambitious goal, it’s often hard to see the end. With micro ambitious goals, you’re building up towards that final goal you want to achieve.
The Japanese call it Kaizen (the act of continuously improving), others may know it as improving 1% every day. In finance, it’s called compound interest and in self-improvement it’s called progress.
To continuously set achievable micro goals, you are putting yourself a little closer towards your desired outcome. Whether it’s your 15 minutes of yoga each day or eating a little less sugar, small and consistent actions eventually add up to large outcomes.
It’s all about adjustment
For those who want dramatic changes in their lives, the transition is often met with failure. This happens because your mind, body and environment aren’t set up for it quite yet. You make the change, but your physical and mental self can’t make the same adjustment and fail to adapt.
Big goals are stressful. They often seem daunting (scary or intimidating) and will power to achieve such a task is not sustainable for a long period time, especially when progress is slow.
Micro goals are small in size and need no further than the current day you are living in to be accomplished. Sure, for slightly bigger micro goals, it may take a week, but nothing more than that. For those of us that still have a weak discipline muscle, the smaller the current goals, the better.
Life doesn’t work in big leaps, but in a series of small and consistent actions over time. If you think about it, there’s a reason we divide our life into more than just years (months, weeks, days and hours).
If we focus on a to-do list, per year, there will be a lot on unfruitful days in that year along with the natural failure prone to big accomplishments. However, if we focus on little things to-do each day, the motivation and the will to do more will definitely be there, once things are easier to achieve since they’re simpler and smaller.
A series of achieved micro goals helps us transition into a new lifestyle, a new mindset and a new way of doing things. It becomes a habit that is built up over time and gears you for success.
So set your micro goals today and do them consistently. It’s alright if you fail here and there, but always pick them back up. It’s better if you fail at your micro goals and know that you can always try again tomorrow, rather than giving up on a big ambitious goal 2 years into it.
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