Your Practical Goal Achievement Roadmap!

Is pursuing your BIG GOAL leaving you feeling exhausted and overwhelmed despite your unwavering commitment? BIG Goals by their very nature have multiple sub-goals and some of them are complex. Are you feeling joyless because the end date feels so far away?
 

Could it be that you are trying to accomplish too many objectives in the same window of time?

I love this quote from Desmond Tutu, “There is only one way to eat an elephant, a bite at a time." I believe in this because focused execution on a single goal at a time has had the biggest payoff for me.

As I actualize my vision, I have found having just one bite-sized goal at a time a lot less stressful for the following reasons:

-         It is a lot easier to direct all your attention and energy toward a single objective of your larger vision. It eliminates distractions and helps you stay on track.

-         Having multiple goals can create mental clutter and increase cognitive load and who needs that when you are already juggling multiple responsibilities?

-         By concentrating your efforts on one goal(trait, skill, etc.), you utilize the mechanics of the Competence Cycle(see blogpost image) to take you from Unconscious Incompetence all the way to Unconscious Competence a lot faster. For example, I have elevated some of my soft skills like “active listening” in as little as two weeks with focused attention. Use late Friday afternoons to mark completions of regular consistent work. You can mark it on your calendar. Acknowledging and celebrating small wins and consistent action is key to enduring success. As humans, we tend to gloss over such wins but without this practice, our ambitious goals are impossible to attain given our natural tendency to throw in the towel when the big vision feels overwhelming and daunting.

-         The added benefit of this approach is that each accomplishment can provide a sense of satisfaction and help motivate you to tackle the next sub-goal with renewed enthusiasm. This approach gives you a consistent stream of small wins and multiple reasons to celebrate. There is a lot to be gained when you can balance immediate gratification moments while waiting on your BIG Win. Wouldn't you agree?

 Not all goals can be single-threaded into smaller sub-goals. In certain cases, tackling multiple goals could be advantageous, especially if the goals are complementary or if they need to be pursued concurrently. A multiprong approach will work in these situations.

Your journey to accomplishing BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS can be fun and not so overwhelming when you can balance immediate gratification needs with the delayed gratification that comes with arriving at your end destination.