The Power Of Incremental Goals

September 29th, 2009

Alot of people find goal setting hard one of the main reasons being that people tackle too many goals at once. Another reason is that people set enormous goals, which is fine, but expect to acheive them instantly or without massive effort on their behalf.

This is why I propose incremental goal setting. Setting goals that start tiny and grow larger rather than suffering burnout at the start.

For example, when setting a new years resolution to go to the gym daily. If you are starting from no exercise weekly, its going to be hard to do a 30 minute workout a day instantly. Try doing a 5 minute run daily, next week do a 20 minute run each day. Before you know it you will be in the gym pounding the treadmill for miles daily.

The hardest part is holding yourself back and thinking, i will just do a little more today, in that way of looking at it, its an exercise in self-control.

I can honestly say that this is the best way to acheive goals, it removes all the stress because it starts small and isn’t a huge thing initially, it slowly becomes one, only if you want it to. You can metaphorically dip your toes into the water and if you don’t like it, then at least time spent is minimal and it wasn’t burnout that caused it.

This can be used in areas such as:

Diet – If you’ve thought about going Vegan then try doing it for 3 meals a week, then one meal a day, feel free to stop whenever.

University Classes – Try taking one new class each term, if you enjoy it carry on, if not, drop the class and take another.

Joining a new club (social or sports) – Go to one lesson, usually they have a free trial lesson for you to see if you enjoy it enough to pay, and then if you like it go again the next week and ask if they are open on other days etc.

All things in nature are built and occur slowly, just watch a sunset or a plants flower opening,and by going slowly you are aligning yourself with the pace of nature, after all Rome wasn’t built in a day.