Mini Goals

Ok, so everytime I saw this thread, my brain read "Mini GOALS".

What do you think my psyche is trying to tell me?

What is a mini goal anyway? I think we would all agree it's important to have overarching "big" goals, but what about medium sized ones? What a tiny goals? Are they helpful?

Discuss.

I think tiny goals are important. Helps get you closer to getting to the big goal.

For example - Our biggest goal right now is to find us a block of land that we can build a house on. For this to not completely consume me, I focus on smaller tasks. Organising DD2's birthday party. Saving up to buy a new bed.

In the time it has taken to organise these smaller tasks, I feel closer to the bigger goal. And the bigger goal is within reach, we are actively looking for our future home. But the smaller ones keep me busy and keep my head out of real estate dot com!!!!

That's my spin on it!

It keeps me focussed to have minigoals. I look at it like a workflow chart. I am teaching Liebling to break big tasks down too, as it makes things doable.

Eg: learn guitar. 1 find guitar. 2 find "learn guitar" book. 3 tune guitar. 4 learn to read tab. 5 play guitar.

I did this last month. It works.

Oh dear I read this thread and thought it was the other one floating about Mini Goats.
Must put my glasses on....

Of course little goals are helpful. These are some mini goals that have got me through today
Get some food for my children before they turn on me and eat me.
Get off the sofa and make a coffee before it is too late and you never get off the sofa again.
Pick stuff up and put it down for an hour and you can have a shower.

I think that both mini goals and mini goats are good, and can be helpful and useful in the right context and when used appropriately.

I think mini goals are essential in life. If you think of big life events - in early high school I decided I wanted to be a teacher. That goal would take many years to eventuate so I had to set mini goals (eg completing each year level satisfactorily, getting into Uni etc). I'd love my mortgage paid off. As mini goals I set a certain amount I want to pay off the total each year to keep me focused.

I love mini goals, they're pretty much the whole reason I can get out of the house these days. Set mini goals for everything and ignore the end goal. Then, once you get to the last mini goal, the end goal isn't so intimidating.

Some days my end goal is just to have a shower because it has been a week and, despite my irrational terror, I'm pretty sure I won't be attacked by a shark while showering. Other days my goals are bigger because my capacity to meet them is greater. I think the important thing is to keep making the goals though, and don't compare your goals to other people's goals, because you don't know what kind of equipment they're working with.

"Break your dream down into smaller wishes, then break those down into wish-able actions."

I learn all my life lessons from the Simpsons.

Truth though, a whole bunch of small steps run a marathon and all that. Mini goals make big goals more achieivable.

See, I quite like the idea of the mini-goal as a tool for progress, but my actual problem is remembering what they are! I write lists but then I forget to look at them, and plus I never tick enough things off to really feel like I'm making progress. Whipped, by a list.

If someone has some really kick-ass mini-goal tools, I'd love you to share.

Any goals, I tend to go by the rule of SMART:

S - Specific (be specific so you know what you're aiming for)

M - Measurable (that which is measured improves ... enough said?)

A- Attainable (don't set yourself up to fail - even a very basic goal can be built upon, rather than an unrealistically ambitious one which causes you to stop trying)

R - Realistic (do you actually have the resources, time and otherwise? or do you need some micro-mini goals to equip yourself?)

T - Timely (set yourself some time parametres - like with the measurable ... )

And then go for it ;)

When I'm really struggling, I'll start my list with 2 items: 1) Write goal list, 2) Check off first item. Straight away I've done 2 things, and even though they're tiny, they give me a huge boost! So my best tip would be the following -

Write out your end goal
Write out the steps to obtain it
Break each step into 2 smaller steps so you cross them off faster

I keep mine on my smartphone, and set reminders for when each step should finish. It keeps me honest, for the most part :)