How Small Steps Toward a Goal can REALLY help w/ Big Goals

If your goals feel too big to accomplish or too far away, you’re not alone. You’re a natural dreamer and there’s nothing wrong with that! It’s a good thing.

It’s a beautiful thing to have aspirations and big goals for your life. But they can feel overwhelming sometimes. Maybe you have no idea where to start. The key is taking small steps toward a goal.

Taking small steps toward something you want and breaking a long-term goal up into short-term goals that feel more doable is not a new concept. It’s common sense. But it’s the HOW and the actual taking action that trips you up, I bet.

By the end of this post, you’ll learn how to take small steps forward toward success so you can reach your biggest goals. We’ll talk about super actionable, tangible steps you can take to ensure you’re on the right path.

Say goodbye to overwhelming goals and hello to small progress EVERY DAY.

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Table of Contents hide

1) 12 Tips for Harnessing the Power of Using Small Steps

2) Why You’veGotten Stuck or Failed at Achieving Your Goals

3) Why Small Steps Instead of Big Jumps

4) The Real Power of Smal Steps Toward a Goal

5) Taking Small Steps Quotes

6) Let’s Bring it Home

12 Tips for Harnessing the Power of Using Small Steps

There are small steps you can take that will ensure you’re actively making real progress toward your big goals in life. You’ve heard of SMART goals, right? Well, we’re taking the SMART goal framework to the next level with these 12 doable things you can do to make sure you’re making progress.

Be Specific About Your Big Goal

Be as specific as possible from the outset. Before you do anything else, you should have a clear vision of what EXACTLY you’re working toward.

Include things in your goal like:

What
How
How long

This is where the SMART goal framework comes into play. Your goal should be:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound

Instead of your goal being: “I want to learn to surf.”

Your goal should sound more like this: “I want to learn how to stand on a surfboard and ride a wave without falling off. I want to make this happen by next summer so I can enter the beginners level of the East Coast Surfers competition.”

Notice how the second wording of the goal hits all of the SMART goal requirements?

The simplest small step you can take toward your goal is to actually write down your goal. Write it in a journal or on an index card or in your phone.

Do Research if Needed

As you construct your big goal, you may find that you need to do a little bit of research. Don’t shy away from this!

Look into anything necessary for you to construct a solid goal. A little casual Google search never hurt anyone, right?

Research necessary tools or things you’ll need to complete this goal, the required schooling or training, important skills you’ll need, and so on.

Write Down Your WHY

It’s crucial that you know exactly why you’re working toward this big thing. Discovering your why is a simple, small step you can take to ensure you reach your goal and don’t lose motivation halfway through.

In the goal above, the why is likely because you want to compete in surfing competitions. Or maybe you feel your best out on the water and you want to incorporate more joy into your life.

Write down your WHY right under where you wrote down your goal, so you can refer back to it when the going gets tough.

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Make a List of What You’ll Need to Be Successful

Taking small steps toward a goal requires you to have what you need.

Don’t overcomplicate this. You don’t have to go out and buy a bunch of stuff BEFORE you start working on a goal. Don’t get caught up in that consumerism mindset.

Maybe all you need is a notebook, or an empty room, or a day with no plans. I don’t know what you need, because your goal is very specific. But you know what you need.

Explore Your Challenges and Barriers

Odds are, you’ll have some roadblocks in the way of you and your big goal. That’s okay and normal! Don’t let roadblocks scare you away.

If you explore the possible challenges at the start, you’ll be better prepared for them.

Again, don’t get too caught up here. The last thing you want to do is lose momentum because of a potential barrier. It may not even be a barrier once you get to it!

girl sitting at desk with head down on laptop

Break Your Goals Down into Smaller Steps

This is where we get into “small step inception.” We’re talking about small steps you can take to work on big goals, and these small steps include all the things we just talked about:

Defining your goal
Developing your WHY
Making a list of what you’ll need
Exploring challenges
Breaking goals down into smaller steps
(and all the headings below this one)

But this small step is about making small steps.

The best way to accomplish a goal is to break it down. Take baby steps.

What is a baby step in terms of moving toward a dream? A baby step is something that can be accomplished in just a few minutes. A baby step is an actionable step that you don’t feel overwhelmed by.

One small, doable, achievable, manageable action after another. Each day, take one baby step- one step that just takes a little bit of effort, but not too much. It should be so small that you don’t have a reason not to do it.

Take a Small Step Every Single Day

I loooove the method of taking tiny action consistently. Do something small every day that brings you closer to the end goal.

Your actionable step here is to put small actions in your calendar. Maybe at the start of the week or the month, you outline what small task you’ll do each weekday that will bring you closer to the big goal.

This is my secret to accomplishing my dream of becoming a digital content creator. I started from scratch, with no knowledge of how to create content online.

After breaking it all down, I worked tirelessly for a few years to build a website, a following, and authority in my field. Now, I’m the owner and author of my very own blog. I get to write about and create content about topics I LOVE.

And I got here by doing small tasks every single day.

Here’s my blog planner. The proof is in the pudding. I write down a few small tasks I can work on each day so I know how to best spend my time and ensure I’m making progress.

Skye Sauchelli's calendar planner with daily tasks scheduled to help accomplish a goal

Taking Action is KEY for Success

Remember these two truths:

Progress over perfection
Done is better than perfect

To find success, you just have to take action on something. If you sit around and hope and wait for things to change, they won’t! You have to take action. Be an active participant in your life!

Start Right Where You Are

When I talk about taking small steps toward a goal, I want you to hear this:

Take action, and take that action from RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE.

You can take a mini step. It should take less than two minutes to accomplish. Starting is the hardest part, so make starting easy by minimizing the work involved in whatever step one is for you.

You don’t need to buy anything special or change anything about yourself first before you start in on the baby steps. Start right where you are.

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” -Arthur Ashe

Quote by Skye Sauchelli, "You don't have to go out and buy a bunch of stuff before you start working on a goal. Start right where you are."

Develop Helpful Habits

I can’t tell you how insightful the book Atomic Habits was for me.

Habits are CRAZY powerful. Habits have the power to shape your days and your entire life. And they can be really influential in you working toward big goals, and especially the lifestyle you want to live.

Develop habits that help you work toward your big goal.

| Related Reading: Habits for a Great Morning

If your big goal is to learn to surf so you can compete, develop the habit of listening to a surfing podcast every Thursday when it comes out, or develop the habit of getting in the water every day before work.

Track Progress Toward Your Goal(s)

When you’re taking small steps every day toward your goal, you’ll need to track your progress to see how you’re doing.

You can ask yourself questions like:

Are the steps you are taking bringing you in the right direction?
Are you making faster or slower progress than you expected?
Do you need to change course at all?
Is what you’re doing sustainable?

Depending on what your goal is and how technical you want to get, you could even create a spreadsheet to track any relevant numbers.

I track a bunch of metrics for this blog, and Google Sheets is the perfect tool for this.

Set and Stick to a Timeline

Give it your best guestimate for how long accomplishing your big goal will take.

Let’s say that your goal is, again, to learn how to surf so you can compete in a competition next summer. Your timeline would be however many months between now and next summer.

Once you’ve established a timeline, you know you have that long to fit all of your short-term goals and their smaller steps.

It’s okay if your timeline needs to be pushed back. It’s just helpful for reaching a goal if you have an “end date” of sorts.

Give Yourself Grace When You Fall Short

No need to beat yourself up for falling short. Regroup and move forward.

You’re not always going to accomplish what you set out to do on a given day, and maybe you completely miss the mark on a short or long-term goal. Try your best to be patient with yourself.

I’ve missed the mark plenty of times. You’ll survive. You just need to go easy on yourself so you feel capable of getting back on the horse and trying again.

Celebrate your Accomplishments and Wins

Recently, I genuinely celebrated a small win by taking myself out for a chai latte. It felt sooo good to actually acknowledge what I accomplished!

Whether you celebrate by taking a break, taking a walk, buying yourself something small, or something else, make sure you take the time to recognize all of your hard work.

This is how you’ll have the excitement and drive to keep moving forward!

Find Your Groove and Repeat it

You can harness the power of small steps toward a goal by figuring out your groove and repeating it.

You’ll develop your own system. You’ll feel what feels good and natural and doable and sustainable. So run with that! You know you best. Find your groove and stick to it!

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Why You’veGotten Stuck or Failed at Achieving Your Goals

In the past when you’ve gotten stuck and weren’t able to make progress, you likely lost motivation because you forgot your why or you didn’t give yourself grace when you messed up.

You’ve failed at previous goals because you’re scared to mess up. And you’re scared to start over.

All of these reasons have to do with fear. Acknowledge your fear. Hold a little space for it. Then work through it.

Try this fear setting exercise.

Why Small Steps Instead of Big Jumps

Let’s bring it back to the basics. Way back to when we learned how to take our first, tiny steps. Picture a baby’s first step. What does it look like? How big is it? How much ground does each wobbly step cover? Not much at all.

Each step in and of itself hardly covers any ground at all. Yet, somehow, with slow, and consistent steps, baby makes it across the living room and boisterous cheers ensue.

The same way a baby can’t go from crawling to running, you can’t (or shouldn’t) try to take huge steps that you can’t sustain. You’ll kill your motivation if you try to take too big of steps forward.

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The Real Power of Smal Steps Toward a Goal

The journey toward that goal can seem so far, so you surmise that the most productive way to make progress is to take these mammoth jumps toward what we want.

These massive strides forward appear intimidating so you either decide not to move or we attempt movement half-heartedly with the preconceived notion that we will fail.

Unfortunately, both of those decisions end badly.

The secret sauce of progress is found in the size of your steps.

Taking Small Steps Quotes

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” -Confucius

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty to accomplish small taks as if they were great and noble.” -Helen Keller

“We rise to great heights by a winding staircase of small steps.” -Francis Bacon

“The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but on significance- and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning. -Oprah Winfrey

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” -Mark Twain

Let’s Bring it Home

There you have it. Use the 12 tips above to harness the power of small steps toward a goal. Your best friend will be breaking big goals up into smaller ones, and breaking those smaller goals up into super actionable, tangible steps that you then schedule on your calendar daily.

Go get ’em, tiger.