The biggest way to set myself up for failure is to “go big.” The only times I ever really say “go big or go home” are around food 🙂 Otherwise, it’s a terrible phrase.
Going big is so built into our culture. We have to “make a big splash” and be the best ____ and the most ____. Big victories are what matter. Little victories are rarely celebrated.
I have found going small helps me actually meet my goals. Thinking too big overwhelms me, puts me in freeze and then I don’t do anything. But by micro-sizing my intentions, I can actually do them.
Take this journey of daily blogging. I’m used to writing long form – hundreds of words and many big thoughts at a time. I knew that if I set a straightforward goal to write daily I would fail. Instead, I started off with the goal of writing 100 words for each daily blog post. Taking a look at Seth Godin’s posts, I realized one does not need to write a lot to make a point. I challenged my verbose self to write very little. Going small helped me focus and build my momentum. Now, my posts aren’t quite so short, but without that initial limitation, I would have never gotten to 5 posts, much less 203.
Currently, I am going small with my running. I haven’t exercised regularly in a loooong time. Almost two years after birth #3, my body (and mind) finally feel ready to get back into shape. 3 miles was my standard distance when I used to run regularly but there was no way this body was going to be able to do that from the start. So instead, I’ve been focusing on a ~1 mile loop near my house through the woods. Through the woods = interesting terrain and away from people’s eyes that my self-conscious self did not want to be subjected to. A short loop means it is doable and those first couple of trips out where I basically ran at a walker’s pace did not last long enough to discourage me. I took run #4 today and feeling the momentum. I will probably never seek to run daily but I know going small is going to help me keep at it.
Go small, stay home, whatever works for you!
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