There are times when the routine takes on a monotony that is hard to shake off. The goals may be set but the path feels too long and the rewards too far away. The excitement of the chase is great when the goal is close at hand but when it is a marathon and not a sprint how do you stay motivated when the tiredness sets in? How do you maintain the drive when the dream of the life you want feels more like a fantasy in the context of your current reality?
This is where micro goals become almost more important than the perceived “endpoint” or macro goal. Setting specific time frames for personal goals will invariably fail to calibrate all the unknown elements waiting to derail and slow us down. If we aren’t careful this simply leads to frustration and worst of all the nagging self-doubt that can make us give up on what we are striving for, if those arbitrary time frames are not met.
To counter this, I have made a point of setting mini-milestones for myself in the form of achievable targets that connect the dots through to the larger goal. Some of these require more effort (and at times even bravery) than others but by building my weeks around these mini milestones, I can easily track and hold myself accountable to the ultimate goal itself. Like trekking up a mountain, it is so important to periodically situate yourself and acknowledge how far you have come, even though you may not yet have reached the summit.
This “mini-milestone” approach has given me a new-found respect for the process of the journey, the effort it takes to stay committed and the knowledge that is required to build something new and achieve something great. It has also given me the steadying self-confidence that each proactive step I take is one step further along my own personal growth and development journey. When I do finally arrive at the destination, I hope I will do so well-prepared to welcome that change into my life.
