7 Days to Becoming a More Confident Leader
Day 3 – Reaching Your Goal
Here we are at Day 3 already. You have 6 successes and goal set for the week. Now it’s time to break down your goal. One reason that many people don’t reach their goal is that it seems too big and overwhelming. They aren’t sure where to start or how to keep going with it. Can you relate?
Where We Get Lost in Reaching Our Goals
That’s why we are going to spend some time thinking about the logical steps that you will need to take in order to accomplish what you set out to do. When you break a goal down into smaller actionable items, or tasks, you will always know what the next step is that you need to take. Here’s a simple real life example:
Let’s pretend that you set a goal to take a vacation. There are many smaller actionable steps that you need to complete before you can actually go on vacation. If you are going to breakdown your steps it could look something like this:
- Set a budget
- Choose a destination
- Choose your lodging
- Determine how you will get there and back: plane, train, automobile, boat
- Choose what activities you will do
- What will you eat
Just a simple list like this can help get you started. But, if you look at the list again you will realize that even some of these steps can feel overwhelming. That’s because there are multiple steps that need to be done within each individual step. The list really should look something like this:
- Choose a destination
- What locations would you like to visit?
- List the pros and cons of each?
- What costs are involved with each destination?
- Get the opinions of those that will be going on vacation with you.
- Select one of the destinations from your list.
- Choose your lodging
- Make a list of the lodging options where you will be traveling
- Look at online reviews
- Find out the cost of each option
- Compare and contrast the information you have gathered
- Make a decision
- Make your reservation
Change Your Focus
I could keep going, but I’m sure you get the point. As soon as I break down my goal into small actionable steps, I know what steps I need to take to reach my goal of going on vacation. If I am thinking of vacation and wondering what needs to be done, I can look at my list and see the next step to take. I also know where I stand in the process at any given moment, AND I know when I have accomplished a task that can be crossed off the list. I have a process created that will show me my progress each day.
This is the combination of the long-term goals and short-term goals that we talked about yesterday. Think of your goal that you set yesterday as your long-term goal. That is what you are working to accomplish. The list of tasks that we just talked about are your short-term goals. Your short-term goals help you to achieve your long-term goals. When you are working in this pattern you will be amazed at how much you are able to accomplish. You will start to experience that feeling of confidence when you see that the process you have is helping you make progress towards reaching your goals.
Put It into Action
Now it’s time to break down your goal for the week. What are the logical steps, or tasks, that will need to be completed in order for you to reach your goal by the end of the week? What resources do you need to help you along the way?
Spend several minutes listing out your goal and the actionable steps that need to be taken. Break each step down until you cannot break them down any further. This will create your to-do list to achieve your goal. It will also give you a list that you can find success with every day. Each time you cross an item off your list you are closer to reaching your goal and that is a success for the day.
Now speaking of successes, you know what else you need to do? Document your 3 successes from the day before your head hits the pillow tonight. And, no excuses – if you are reading this from your phone while lying in bed before falling asleep you can jump on the app or grab your notebook (which can be kept by your bed) and get it done.