As we explore the huge expanse of hiking trails in our new home, we found the perfect ‘training’ hike for preparing for the Grand Canyon. This means it’s REALLY steep!
Today, as we headed back up the next incline, again, my husband was looking up and moaning about how crazy we must be. As I told him, “Don’t look up!” I realized that this really is the same advice with any goal that seems overwhelming. Let’s look at six of the steps to overcoming this 7-mile “eternal incline climb” with the same suggestions you’d apply to starting your own business:
1. Break your big goal into small steps. Let’s say you envision a multi-service wellness center. But you may need to start with just YOU, seeing clients, one at a time. For our hike, we literally took each incline section one piece at a time (without looking up).
2. Envision the end in sight. Do you know where you’re going? How will you know when you get there, if you haven’t envisioned the end? See your goal destination in your mind. Ideally, write it down. Set up milestones to achieve at certain times. For our hike, we set as our first goal to walk for 1.5 hours. The second hike, our goal was to pass that first location in the same time. The third time we decided to do the entire trail and documented the time it took us. Next time we’ll try to beat our previous time. And so forth.
3. Set ‘stretch’ goals. What do you know you can achieve? Now, take it a bit bigger! Do you know you can write a blog? What about submitting to write for a magazine? For us, our stretch goal was to do the entire 7-mile trail, both ways. Yea, we felt those 14 miles, but it felt GREAT to achieve that goal!
4. Share your intentions with others. It’s easy to tell yourself a goal and then back off when the going gets tough. Nothing risked! But when you tell others of your intentions, suddenly you feel compelled to ACHIEVE them! For us, just being accountable to each other is enough. Neither of us wants to back out.
5. Get support. As I said above, my husband and I use each other to keep us motivated. Support is extremely important! Who can you enlist to sit in your corner and cheer you on? Family members are the most valuable, but friends will work. A coach is a great support, because a coach is more objective to the outcome and only has your own best interests in mind.
6. Measure your progress. With any goal, knowing how far you’ve come can really help you move forward! When you set your goals, you then have a way to measure where you are compared to where you’d like to be. On our trail, using the guidebook helps us get a sense of where we are in our mileage, so we can prepare for the next part of the trail.
When a goal looks too big for reality, just a few simple strategies can help you turn that HUGE dream into the life you once thought was for others. Take it one step at a time… and don’t look up!
Margie
