Breaking Down Your Goals
A wise Chinese sage once said,
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
Wise words? But what do they mean to someone who is trying to achieve their goals in life? That's what we'll be talking about in this article.
I am sure that you have some big goals in your life. Perhaps you want a mansion in the countryside, a sports car, or your own boat.
I am also sure that you may well be looking at this goal and thinking "How the hell am I going to get that?"
And this is where our wise philosopher comes into play.
Pick one of your major goals that you don't know how to achieve and examine it more closely. Think about the goal and you will realize that it is made up of a number of smaller goals, each of which is in turn made up of other smaller goals.
Grab a piece of paper, write down a major goal at the top, and below it, write down the steps you can take to achieve this goal. In effect, each of these steps represents a mini-goal, and each of these mini-goals can be broken down further if necessary into more manageable chunks.
Do not become obsessed with achieving each minor step on your way to the major goal. You may find that some steps can be skipped, some become unnecessary, and that new steps appear. Review these minor steps regularly as they will change often. Now you've just done this quick exercise, and you should never leave the scene of a decision without taking some action, so go do something to get yourself on the path to your goal!
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
Wise words? But what do they mean to someone who is trying to achieve their goals in life? That's what we'll be talking about in this article.
I am sure that you have some big goals in your life. Perhaps you want a mansion in the countryside, a sports car, or your own boat.
I am also sure that you may well be looking at this goal and thinking "How the hell am I going to get that?"
And this is where our wise philosopher comes into play.
Pick one of your major goals that you don't know how to achieve and examine it more closely. Think about the goal and you will realize that it is made up of a number of smaller goals, each of which is in turn made up of other smaller goals.
Grab a piece of paper, write down a major goal at the top, and below it, write down the steps you can take to achieve this goal. In effect, each of these steps represents a mini-goal, and each of these mini-goals can be broken down further if necessary into more manageable chunks.
Do not become obsessed with achieving each minor step on your way to the major goal. You may find that some steps can be skipped, some become unnecessary, and that new steps appear. Review these minor steps regularly as they will change often. Now you've just done this quick exercise, and you should never leave the scene of a decision without taking some action, so go do something to get yourself on the path to your goal!
An example may be that you want to buy a farm in the country. You know nothing about farms. You may break your goal down into something like:
1) Find out about farming – is it for me and what does it involve?
2) What sort of farms are there and which type do I want?
3) What is the best area for the type of farm that I want?
4) How much money do I need to buy the farm
…
…
…
Buy the farm
This is a very simple illustration of breaking down your goals. Each one of these may be broken down further into actions you can take. Now you realize, that the journey towards a goal starts with a single step, and is made up of many steps.
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