I can remember my mother scolding me at the dinner table - “That’s too big of a bite. Smaller pieces or you’ll choke.” Now, I never did actually choke on my dinner, but like every kid determined to fight the power - I thought her nagging was just that. It wasn’t until years later when I began training professionals that I really understood what she meant.
Often when we’re going through setting our goals, we set some pretty audacious goals. “I’m going to double my production from last year,” or “I’m going to have my best year ever.” I LOVE a good audacious goal, but when we stumble, they can sometimes feel insurmountable! Instead of feeling defeated, here are three tips to keep your momentum going!
Take Mom’s advice.
She was right. Quick! Someone call my mom and tell her I finally said it. She’ll be thrilled! But it is the truth. By breaking things down into smaller, consumable pieces - whether a steak or an audacious goal - the sheer size can make all the difference to us mentally. When making your goals, look for ways you can break them down. Set benchmarks. Know what you need to accomplish each step so that you can logically make your progress. The simple act of breaking things down has huge impacts on your psyche. Do yourself a favor and set smaller, more frequent goals and watch your progress soar!
The Compound Effect
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy is a best-selling book detailing the theory of compounding returns. In short, it outlines how little, everyday decisions shape the course of our lives. We often underestimate the impact these small decisions can have on our lives and our productivity, but when you distill down the course of your day, or even more, your week or year - you can see the profound impact they are having. Shift your everyday decisions to build into your success, not the other way around.
Rut Bust
We all get in ruts but the key is how long we stay there. Sometimes, we stay there so long because we don’t know we’re actually in a rut, while other times, we simply don’t know how to get ourselves out of the rut. The first part of rut busting is surrounding yourself with people who will hold you accountable to the things you said you would do and more importantly, the things you didn’t do that need to happen for you to be successful. Next, come up with a list of energizing activities. We often struggle to get out of a rut because we overestimate how much time the energizing activity will take. Simply taking a short walk or calling a friend can pay huge dividends in terms of the energy it will give you. Whatever the act, find things that energize and inspire you and know when you need a break.