The Obvious and Simple Method to Achieve Nearly Any Goal
When it comes to pursuing difficult goals, over the years I’ve made the same mistake multiple times without realizing what I was doing wrong. My basic 3 step process was the following:
- Set a goal
- Create a plan to achieve that goal
- Start executing the plan
I achieved many goals in my life using this process. This process does work on easy to moderately difficult goals. However, my most difficult goals remain unfulfilled. What happens with these goals is usually after I spend a good bit of time creating the plan, I enthusiastically start executing the plan. Then as I execute the plan, I find my path to success grows steeper and steeper as time goes along.
Ultimately, after facing multiple obstacles along the way I abandon my pursuit of the goal with not much to show for my efforts other than experience. Fortunately, experience is a wonderful and valuable asset. What’s more, it took these experiences for me to stop overlooking the obvious and simple method to achieve nearly any goal.
I think the fact that this method is so obvious is the reason why I skipped over it so many times. The simple method to achieve nearly any goal is as follows.
Always break large, difficult goals down into smaller, easier goals that allow you to create a series of small wins on your path to the big win.
I wrote about this last month in an article titled Goal Progression for Long Term Goals. It’s easy to read about goal progressions and write the concept off as obvious. However, you must be mindful that although the concept is obvious, the execution of this concept is not.
Executing The Small Win Method to Achieve Nearly Any Goal
Imagine a steep stairway traversing up a skyscraper. At the summit of each level is a doorway into the building. Breaking down a goal into small wins is a lot like climbing a stairway like this. On each level the door represents an entryway to your small win. In addition, inside each door is a party waiting for you to arrive to celebrate your win.
Surely, climbing a stairway is easy as long as you have the stamina. However, the difficulty with executing this simple method is both in building the stairway (defining the small wins) and in maintaining stamina (taking a moment to celebrate the small win).
If you are in a rush to achieve your goals, it’s convenient to skip these steps. When you are in a rush, you just want to execute and achieve your goal as fast as possible. This is the fatal error. In the famous words of Coach John Wooden:
Be quick, but don’t hurry
This simple method to achieve any goal is almost guaranteed to work. But only if you remain disciplined, consistent, and patient with the process.