Small Steps Lead to Big Hairy Goal

So as the first week of 2017 draws to a close and we all stop talking about the festivities of the last few weeks our minds start to focus on the year ahead and we start to concentrate and work on the steps we need to take to reach the goals we have set for the months ahead.

This very weekend 4 years ago I took my first step(up and around a big hill)  towards one of my 2013 goals which was to lose weight and improve my health by setting a running challenge target in aid of charity. Over the months of 2013 I would take part in numerous 5k and 10k running events in support of various charities which would help and motivate me to reach my goal by the end of that year.

So a dozen official race events later and 3 stone lighter in weight I had achieved my goal by treating each race as taking a small step along the way which when combined would in turn help me achieve this big hairy yearly goal I had set myself.

What a difference a year makes, start of 2013 compared to the end of 2013.

Similarly last year in 2016 I set my myself a 40th birthday year challenge of taking part and completing my first ever marathon which after achieving smaller training steps and challenges in the many months before the marathon I managed to achieve my goal and complete the Edinburgh marathon.

Whether in business or personal life we need to set ourself various big hairy goals. To achieve the target though we need to break down how we are going to reach our goal by setting smaller achievable targets (mini goals) which when taken lead us to our end big hairy goal.

One of my big hairy goals for 2017 is to complete my second marathon which will be in my home city of Stirling but the only way to achieve that goal is by getting the hard work done in the many months before by setting training targets and achieving the smaller steps through hard work.

No one ever accomplished a big hairy goal by not putting in the hard work and taking smaller steps beforehand.