Many people have some goals they want to accomplish but are not sure how they will achieve them. Learning to speak another language, starting a website, or attaining a new skill are just a few examples of the kinds of goals people have. The problem is that only a small percentage of these goals every become a reality. How many people have you heard say “I would love to learn [Insert language/skill] someday” but never even come close to accomplishing their goal? Probably a large majority.
If you look at the picture above, these books symbolize the skills and knowledge that I would like to attain and/or improve. In my current job as an accountant I do not have to know how to automate processes through visual basic, I do not have to use Access very often, I do not have to understand SQL, and I do not have to know how to make amazing dashboards and reports, but having these skills can’t hurt and could very well help my career by opening up doors and giving me an advantage over other applicants.
The main problem with my goal of improving these skills is this: They are “nice to have” not “absolutely necessary” which makes me put them as a low priority on my list.
So the question becomes: How can I reach my goals of improved technical skills when it’s not a high priority?
The Solution: Break it up into small, achievable goals
When you need to learn or improve a skill, but it’s not a pressing need, consider breaking it into small, achievable goals. For example, with visual basic I made a goal of going through five pages of Excel 2010 Power Programming
The same can be said about other big goals. Another example from my own life is reading the entire Bible. Despite reading hundreds of other books, I have never read the entire Bible. Earlier this year, I started a year-long plan on an app on my phone. It only requires 10-15 minutes of reading each day to keep up with the ultimate goal of finishing the bible in one year. By doing a little each day I can avoid becoming discouraged about not immediately reaching the larger goal.
This system of accomplishing small, daily or weekly goals can be applied to a wide variety of “daunting” goals:
- Learning a new language
- Writing a book
- Launching a website
- Losing Weight
- Learning to play an instrument
Whatever big goals you have that you want to tackle “someday” consider making a plan of smaller, achievable goals. Make these small goals a priority in your day-to-day life and you will one day be able to say you accomplished a big goal that most people only achieve “someday.”
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Photo by Victoria Carlson
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Great post! I totally agree that breaking things up into small goals can help you get to your final destination!!!
Great post! I totally agree that breaking things up into small goals can help you get to your final destination!!!
@Holly at ClubThrifty Thanks, I’m a big advocate of slowly grinding away at big goals.
Nice post! I could not agree more with you on this. Having such a big goal can be daunting and could cause you to give up as a result.
@FrugalRules Definitely, which is why I think most people give up right away.
I think people do look at eventual outcomes as too daunting and give up. If you want to have a catering business you don’t have to buy an industrial kitchen, start by aiming for a few gigs a month. I hope I do that with most things, but I have given up on ever learning Spanish. It’s hard enough to get the Southern twang out of my English.
@Eyesonthedollar Very true, you would need to comply with a TON of regulations if you were going to start a catering business, which I could see people giving up before they even start because of those alone. Taking it one step at a time could really help in most cases.
Absolutely agree. This actually reminded me how I started running. About 18 months ago, I started running and naturlly, like most runners, the ultimate goal is to complete a marathon. This takes time and a heck of a lot of training. I started small. I started with a few local 5k races. Then I upped my mileage to 5-6 miles and did a 10k. This summer I did a 15k. Now I’m registered for a half marathon in November. I hope to compete in a marathon in 2013. Are there people who can train for a marathon n 4 months? Absolutely. But fore me, it was way too daunting and this method of setting smaller goals has helped tremendously.
@DebtKiller Nice! I trained for a half marathon this summer but unfortunately they cut it down to a 5k the day before because it was going to be extremely hot : ( I did get a 12 mile run in tho during the training….
Not sure if I will do a marathon. I don’t think my body could take it. I was wearing a brace on my knee for most of the training, and actually really messed up my foot in the training but of course still ran the 5k : P Had to take over a month off after the half marathon…
@DebtKiller Woops meant after the 5k
I have a dire desire to learn Ruby on Rails, but can’t seem to bring myself up to actually starting somewhere. There are paid seminars that are supposed to be really great, but some are quite expensive – upwards of $10,000 in San Francisco. I can’t count how many times lack of programming knowledge has stopped me from transforming an idea into reality.
Maybe we can set up a sort of virtual competition where we motivate each other by seeing how far we got through our learning material (book / website / tutorials, whatever it may be :)
@Veronica @ Pelican on Money Dang $10k? That is pretty expensive. Must be an in-demand skill with shortage of ppl who know it?
I would be way into a virtual competition where you post your progress! On a side note I got my 5 pages in today ;)
@DC @ Young Adult Money @Veronica @ Pelican on Money Ruby programming is highly in demand in most start-ups. Many people have ideas for apps and such, but few have the knowledge to actually make them happen.
Ugh, you’re ahead of me already! I’ll catch up this weekend, I swear lol.
@Veronica @ Pelican on Money Hmm I would consider learning Ruby programming for sure, too bad it has no application to my current job : (
But don’t worry, I only do the 5 page rule during the week so if you do ANYTHING this weekend you are a step ahead of me ;)
Most people will fail to meet large goals because the work involved is too much. If you break things down into smaller tasks then it is easier to complete the large goal at hand.
@OneSmartDollar Agreed!
I actually took an excel class online through my work and the videos were a great tool. Much less boring than reading haha!
@Money Life and More Haha nice! I have not found very many good videos on visual basic tho, unfortunately.
Couldn’t agree more! I’ve got to break those huge goals up into smaller goals or I’ll freak out, get overwhelmed, and maybe even quit. Our consumer debt-free goal is March 1st. We started in January of this year. That’s 14 months of debt-fighting awesomeness! That just sounds like a ridiculous amount of time. Actually, my daughter is 14 months old…and I had her a long time ago! She’s not a newborn anymore. Anyway, great idea…and now I’m slightly depressed about how old my baby is! :-) Have a good weekend, DC!
-M
@seedebtrun Yikes looks like my post in the end made you depressed :0 But seriously, anything worth accomplishing usually takes a long time frame. Staying motivated through accomplishing small goals is really the only way to go.
Right on DC! Great post. One of my favorite authors on leadership is Jim Collins. He wrote a recent great book called “Great by Choice”. He tells the story of Roald Amundsen, and how he became the first man to reach the South Pole and make it back safely because he followed a principle called the 20 Mile March. 20 miles each day. That’s all he and his team did. Each day he had one smaller achievable goal and the end result led to him accomplishing the big goal, just as you talk about.
It’s a great read if you ever if you ever get the chance.
@bensollie Hey Ben thanks for stopping by and thanks for the comment! I have heard of Jim Collins but have not read his book yet. I will add it to the list!
This is very motivating. Small steps towards your goal can be made in to small goals towards that big goal. I am inspired to do something.
@One Cent at a Time Good to hear!
I’ve got a big goal I want to achieve in the next 3-4 years (it involves going back to work after my youngest is in kindergarten), and I figure my first step to get there is to start networking and volunteering. It’s a small step,but all that matters is that it’s on the right path!
@Elizabeth_SimpleFinance That’s great! It’s good to think ahead and to start accomplishing those small goals.
I don’t think I would achieve anything in life if i didn’t set goals. It’s become ingrained into my personality.
I try to use the SMART method of setting goals as I find I am more likely to complete a goal when it is set to that standard.