Want to actualize an ambitious aspiration?
The key is to visualize and then incrementalizie — to think BIG and act SMALL.
Our culture celebrates moonshots: those rare, radical breakthroughs. Google even dedicates an entire division, called X, to moonshot research and development. Moonshots are sexy and crazy, and they inspire awe when they succeed.
But here’s the reality: Incremental advancement drives the most significant progress. Putting a man on the moon — the ultimate moonshot — is a case study in visualization and incrementalism. President John F. Kennedy provided the vision, and NASA developed a series of incremental advancements, which we know as the Apollo missions, that culminated in that giant leap for mankind.
Most high-performing professionals have multiple major work and personal goals. Whether it’s landing a big new client or running a marathon, setting and achieving large goals boosts our satisfaction levels and self-esteem and helps us achieve important outcomes that advance our careers and enrich our lives. Entrepreneur magazine cites goal setting as one of six cultivated habits of longtime millionaires.
But let’s face it: Starting anything big or new is intimidating, foreboding. Inertia is a powerful force to conquer. Fear of failure stops many people from tackling or even setting a big goal — but it doesn’t have to. Whether it’s landing that new client or going the distance, your mountainous goal is achievable with the right strategies.
When reaching for the stars, or even something more modest, the key to success is to think big but act small. Put another way, visualize then incrementalize. Here’s what that means.
Visualize Your Goal and the Obstacles in Your Way
However, visualization goes beyond picturing what success looks like in vivid detail. Visualization also anticipates the challenges you might encounter along the way and ways to mitigate such obstacles. The more detailed your vision of the process of achieving the goal, the more prepared you will be to avoid or navigate potential impediments.
Incrementalize Your Goal
Once you visualize, then incrementalize. Work backward from your end goal to determine intermediate milestones that bridge the present to your intended outcome. Take the common goal of weight loss. To lose 15 pounds, for example, this may mean first targeting a five-pound goal, then a 10-pound goal. That transforms a difficult goal into more manageable pieces — the daunting becomes less daunting.
These milestones should be actionable, concrete and measurable (time-based or result-based) steps. Since you’re always trying to reach the next step, and that next step isn’t too far away, you’re motivated to keep going. But only focus on the milestone in front of you because if you fail to reach that milestone, the ultimate goal becomes irrelevant.
Baby Steps
Now take a baby step or two toward that first increment. As you go from milestone to milestone, you move the goal post forward. You progress, methodically. And with each milestone that you accomplish, your rising confidence, motivation and momentum help ensure that you get to the next milestone. Gradually, that daunting goal becomes reachable, doable and then done.
Smaller Actions You Can Take
With this process of visualizing and then incrementalizing, there are some additional tactics you can use to increase your chances of successfully realizing your aspirations:
• Write down your goals and keep them visible.
• Recall the “why.” Why is this goal important?
• Schedule the time and place you will focus on your goals. Put it on the calendar and activate alerts.
• Celebrate your achievements along the way, and reflect on how you got to each milestone and what you can learn and improve from the effort.
• Tell your friends and family about what you’re doing; their encouragement really helps.
• Identify an accountability partner who will make sure you stay on target.
To propel yourself toward any compelling work or personal goal, think big and act small. And take baby steps to get there.
You can read the original Newsweek article right here.