- You should set big, ambitious, audacious goals … ones that challenge you and inspire you
- You should set small, easy, minimum targets … ones that you can do without fail every single day
Who’s right? I think that both can be. A big goal (like writing a
book, or losing 50lbs) can be really inspiring, but it can also be
daunting. Small targets aren’t so inspiring or exciting … but they are
reassuringly do-able.
Here’s how to combine both for maximum effect.
Ambitious Goals: Shoot for the Moon
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” – Les Brown
Big goals are inspiring. They give you something really worthwhile to
go for: in many cases, achieving one of your biggest goals could make a
huge difference to your life.
And, as the Les Brown quote says, even if you miss your goal, you’ll
still have accomplished something worthwhile. Let’s say you aim to lose
50lbs and you lose 30lb: that’s still a great achievement, and one that
will have huge benefits for your health.
Your ambitious goals might be something like:
- Run a marathon
- Write a book and get it published
- Change to a new career
- Run a successful small business
- Get back into those old jeans
When you’re looking ahead to the long-term, set yourself some big
goals. Don’t make them so huge that they’re totally unrealistic, but do
make them inspiring and potentially life-changing.
Do it: Pick one big goal that you’d like to
accomplish within the next one to three years. That might be writing a
book, losing weight, starting a business, getting a new qualification …
or anything that’s important to you. Write your goal down. (Tell us
about it in the comments below, if you want.)
Minimum Targets: A String of Successes
“Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps.” – Saul Bellow
While big goals can be inspiring, they can also be daunting. You
might get excited when you think about having your published book on the
shelves … but that excitement can easily give way to endless
procrastination when you think of all the work involved.
This is where minimum targets come in. A minimum target is something
that you achieve every single day (or perhaps every weekday), without
fail. That could be:
- Exercise for 10 minutes
- Write for 15 minutes
- Send one email to an old contact
- Read two pages of a book
- Eat two pieces of fruit
…or anything at all that relates to your own goal. Ideally, your
minimum target should take no more than 15 – 20 minutes: the idea is
that you can do this on even the busiest days.
Of course, you may well have days when you go far beyond your minimum
target. The target is there to ensure that you do make progress (and
that you have an encouraging sense of achievement) even when things
aren’t going so well.
Do it: Come up with a minimum target that relates to your big
goal. Get a calendar and put it somewhere visible (e.g. over your
desk). Mark an X on every day that you achieve your minimum target. Your
aim is to create a string of Xs.
You can achieve great things in your life. Even if you’ve
struggled to reach your goals before, you can use straightforward
techniques like the ones above to boost your chances of success. And if
you’d like to share a tip with us, or tell us about your own goals, just
pop a comment below.
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