One Day at a Time: Why You Should Focus on the Small Picture When Setting Goals
By: Sowmya Sridhar
Tags: Goals, Self Improvement, Resolutions

One Day at a Time: Why You Should Focus on the Small Picture When Setting Goals Sowmya Sridhar May 12, 2020·5 min read

Already given up on your New Year’s resolutions? Here’s a clear action plan to achieve even your most far-fetched goals.

We all have dreams — dreams of landing a coveted place on the New York Times bestselling books list, dreams of becoming the next Michael Jordan, dreams of joining Doctors Without Borders. And our dreams spike around January 1, with millions of people creating New Year’s resolutions. However, around 80% fail to follow through on their goals set at the beginning of the year. In fact, you might have already let go of your resolutions by this time of the year. But why? After all, doesn’t the saying go that creating a goal means you’re halfway to the destination?

Here’s why many New Year’s resolutions are doomed to fail from the beginning:

A year is daunting:

January to December: that’s 12 months, 52 weeks, or 365 days of staying consistent. It’s hard to commit to plans a week ahead for most of us! Dwelling on the months ahead simply overwhelms the mind. When you’re facing such a long stretch, it’s easier to come up with excuses why NOT to begin than to actually commit.

Delayed gratification:

Whenever I go finish a run or an ab workout, I often feel the need to immediately see better muscle definition. However, success doesn’t come on Day 1, Day 5, or even Day 50. It’s the days upon days of drafting, endless balls of paper thrown in the trash, and countless edits that come together to form a New York Times bestselling novel. We all know that no matter what the headlines say, there’s not one secret to success, no simple trick to follow that will make you a master of your craft in a month.

Though this is common knowledge, our inner desire remains to see external results and to see that our hard work has paid off. When this doesn’t happen within a month or so, we disregard the fact that there’s still 11 months of work to go, part of a collective 12 months that will surely culminate in progress and improvement. Thus, when we don’t see instant weight loss or thousands of new subscribers on YouTube immediately after starting our journey to success, a mental block arrives, convincing us that we will never attain the results we desire.

At this point, there’s more media out there on why you shouldn’t make New Year’s resolutions than why you should. So, here’s another option: why not create an overarching theme for a year but then break your goals down per month?

Right now, most of us are stuck at home for the foreseeable future, faced with endless amounts of time to relax, binge Netflix or maybe…work on our goals. All the excuses we’ve been circulating for letting go of our dreams have vanished: no more distractions, fewer outside obligations, just days upon days of complete isolation, and if used wisely, days of productivity and focus.

So, here’s how you can create sustainable goals and track your true progress.

Choose an overarching theme for your long term goals

Before breaking down the steps you need to take to achieve your goals, decide a theme that your goals fall under. If you plan to lose 20 pounds in the next 6 months, start easing into a vegan diet, and aim to gain muscle mass, your overall theme could be Better Health. Focusing on improving one aspect of your life is more manageable than trying to revitalize your social life, physical and mental health, and professional life all at the same time.

2. Break down your goals and the steps needed to achieve them by month and week

First, set aside a journal for the sole purpose of tracking your journey towards achieving your goals. Start off by writing down your theme and long term goals. After all, according to a study by psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews, putting pen to paper and writing down your goals increases the chance of accomplishing them by 42%.

Next, establish some milestones for each month of your journey. For example, continuing with the previously mentioned theme of Better Health, milestones for the first month could be losing 3 pounds, learning how to cook a new vegan recipe, and gaining a pound of muscle.

Once you have your milestones, it’s time to create actionable steps for each week that will help you reach each milestone. Keep these steps small: even just switching to only eating vegan breakfasts for a week or running 5 minutes a day is something to be rewarded. By focusing on the small picture and appreciating the daily actions you’re taking to build a better future, you’re much more likely to stay motivated.

I recently started running again, and keeping track of how long I run and the length of my runs each day motivates me to keep up my streak the next day.

At the end of every week, jot down a quick but honest reflection of the week’s actions in your goal journal. Keep track of what’s working in your action plan but also what actions aren’t conducive anymore to achieving your dreams.

3. Plan ahead for the obstacles that might obstruct you from your destination

We all have our indulgences and distractions that makes us veer off from the path to success. Before defeating your demons, you first have to understand them. In your journal, identify your distractions and why you keep getting sucked in by them. Once you have the list in front of you, all that’s left to do is eliminate those distractions in the time you spend working towards your goal. Personally, YouTube is one of my biggest vices, so when I was working on this article, I made sure to put my phone out of the room.

The Takeaway

Establish an overarching theme for your goals

Create monthly milestones for each goal

Create small, actionable steps for each week

Remove the obstacles sidetracking you from your destination

Reflect upon your journey in a journal weekly

Now, you have a clear action plan for achieving your wildest dreams! Integrate these simple steps into your life, but don’t keep searching for signs of progress. Focus on staying consistent with your actions, and progress will come when you least expect it.

Remember, the positive actions you take today are tomorrow’s results.