Do you have a big dream and no time to work on it? You already have dedicated major time to your family, education, and job. These events fill your life. Sometimes they make you feel like there is no time to invest in completing any project for yourself.
When you state your goal, it seems overwhelming. Thinking through the process of what you need to do to achieve the goal makes it seem even more complicated. You can decide not to proceed but don’t stop because of the lack of time.
Never count your dream out too soon! Like me, you can discover that you do have time. It is usually in small amounts and by investing well in our time, it will produce fantastic results. The positive challenge is to rethink how you plan so you have the best investment in your time.
Here are some things to consider when wanting to think small and reach big goals.
1. Project Goal
The project must be well defined with a clear end result in mind. Determine what you desire to achieve and lay out how you plan to reach that goal. Give your goal a deadline. I want to have the project XYZ completed by month, day, year. (Hint: don’t give yourself too much time or you may struggle to even start. I once gave myself a year to write a book and I had not started three years later. A friend challenged me to write it in 90 days. I took him up on his challenge. Approximately 100 days later I had the book written.)
A clear overview of the entire project and its expectations allows you to reach your goals in small steps.
2. Available Time
Do a “Day Map” and discover the available time that you have to invest in your project. Many people have discovered one and a half to two hours of time to invest in themselves by doing the “Day Map. Decide how many minutes a day you will plan to work through ideas, write, study, etc. I will commit ______ minutes a day to my project.
3. Completion Date
Write down the date you intend to celebrate the completion of your project. Develop a weekly calendar that will cover the time from now to the completion date. Then write out: I will work on my project _____ minutes a day for the next _____ weeks.
4. Weekly Goal
On the calendar you developed, write down a goal for each week. You can come back and revise these as needed. At the beginning, your weekly goals may look rather general. As you get better at writing out your goals for the week, these will begin to look more specific.
5. Daily Goal
After reviewing your goal for the week, write down a goal for each day. Since you will have limited time to work on each of these daily goals, they need to be very specific. Write down one to three things that you specifically want to do in that day. Dedicate your time determined by your “Day Map” to working on the project each day. Stay focused on completing the daily goal. You will be able to celebrate reaching your weekly and project goals because you met small daily goals.
I usually put these daily goals on my phone so I can access them when time becomes available.
Watch what happens: Let’s take an example of writing a book. You set a deadline 100 days from now. You mind map the book and begin to put it into a workable schedule. Let’s say that you only had the ability to write about 400 words a day (this article is 787 words.) At the end of your hundred-day period, you would have 40,000 words. That is the equal to approximately a 200-page book on Kindle.
There are many other examples we could use such as: planning out a training manual, developing a step-by-step process, designing a business plan, or sketching out a new invention. The applications are endless.
Use an easy, straightforward method to plan your work. Operate by that plan each day.
6. Gather Information
At a designated point each day, compile your information at a central location. Mark down your achievements on your work calendar. Post it in a place where you can easily see it so it can serve as an encouragement to you.
7. Celebrate
Every day you achieve something toward your goal is a victory. Many days of small wins will lead to great achievements. By thinking small – small goals, small tasks, small accomplishments – you can reach Big Goals.