Setting mini goals is an effective and motivating strategy to propel you towards achieving long term success with goals. These are small, manageable steps that guide you toward a larger goal. They can help to break down overwhelming tasks into more achievable milestones.
How and Why To Set Mini Goals
Motivation
Setting smaller, mini goals can help to keep up motivation. Tackling a huge goal at once can feel daunting or lead to procrastination. Smaller goals help to provide a clear, step by step roadmap that allows us to feel success along the way. This is turn, builds momentum, boosts confidence and motivated.
Measure Success
Setting and completing mini goals allow us to measure our success. Regularly hitting small goals, provides a sense of accomplishment which helps to reinforce positive behaviors and habits. These small victories remind us that we are on the right track.
Flexibility
Mini goals allow us flexibility. Life doesn’t always well go as planned. It is easier to adjust and modify smaller goals to help us stay on track with the bigger objective. Being flexible goes a long way.
Practical examples
Big goal: Eat more meatless meals
Mini goals support this goal: Plan 2 meatless meals for the week and add the ingredients to your grocery list. Pencil into your Calendar which days you will prepare them.
Big Goal: Want to exercise more
Mini Goals to support this goal: Look at your schedule and plan a specific time and day that you will exercise. Make the goal specific: I will walk for 30 minutes on Monday at 3 pm.
Setting mini goals, you create a clear, achievable path toward your larger objective while keeping motivation high. Do you use this strategy?
Thanks for helping to make the Runners’ Roundup a huge success by visiting all of the hosts: Me, Debbie, Jen, Lisa
Great tips and lots of food for thought. I’m gearing up for my Mammoth Trail Challenge in October and will set some mini-goals to help me accomplish the 44 miles I need !
That’s great you are doing that again. These strategies work really well for me and keep me motivated
Yes! I do that too, I’m working towards a marathon in October and I break down my goals to weekly and daily efforts. Sometimes even to a single interval when I struggle with motivation.
It’s a mind-game, but so helpful. Thank you for these tips, Deborah!
It is a mind game but a good one!
Its so helpful to focus on mini goals. When goals are too big or too far off it can be tough to stay focused or to even know what to do each day to work towards your goals.
exactly! They are very motivating
I find that mini goals help me be more specific about what I want to accomplish.
They sure can
Great idea. If something goes wrong with a big goal you can still accomplish something smaller.
They work really well in helping you do the small steps you need to do to reach and achieve the bigger goal
Mini goals are the best way for me to stay on track. It’s easier to mark progress and harder to get derailed!
Of course, I’m all about the mini rewards, too!
Absolutely! Same for me
I am a firm believer in this strategy! I’ve kind of gotten away from doing monthly challenges (temporarily), but they always got me to do specific exercises or try new things. More often than not, these short-term “monthly” challenges morphed into routine rituals/habits that have stuck (daily planking, push-ups, etc).
yes exactly so helpful