Goals Are More Attainable When You Break Them Down Into Individual Parts

Goals - A goal is easily defined as an objective toward which one strives. People have all sorts of goals. They want to lose weight, quit smoking, get a better job, make more money, be happier, and provide better lives for their families. Yet, because their goals can seem overwhelming and unreachable, many of them never even try. After struggling with my weight for years I was utterly amazed whenever my husband just quit smoking one day out of the blue. He had tried a few different times in his past, but it never lasted long. I always assumed that it was just too difficult for him, especially since he had smoked for over 20 years. Then, one day I asked him how he did it. "How, honey, did you manage to quit? What was so different about that time, compared to the other times you had tried to quit?" He told me that he was on his way home from work that day and had just finished his last cigarette. He intended to stop and buy another pack before he got home, but just didn't. And then he told me at first it was so hard he had to deal with the urges almost second after second, then minute after minute and so on. The point is, he dealt with the urges in small manageable parts. It has been almost three years and he is still a non-smoker! It was no different for me when I decided to start a business from home. I had no business experience, I didn't know how to create a website, and I definately didn't have any "extra" money to advertise a business. There were many times I was so overwhelmed with all I had to learn and deal with that I wanted to give-up. Then, one day our car died - for good. We had no choice but to add a car payment and our finances were budgeted already - they were as tight as we could get them. The thought of having to come up with just an extra couple hundred dollars a month practically gave me anxiety. I got sick to my stomach, you could see the stress in my eyes. But, we had no choice... I told my husband he could go car "looking" to see what we were in for, OF COURSE though, he came home WITH a vehicle, yet bigger, an SUV. So, now I had to figure out where to come up with a $300 a month car payment and extra money for gas at $2.85 a gallon! MEN!!! After having a small female moment I realized I had to take action. I figured that in order for us to survive we needed at least $375 extra a month. Remembering what my husband said about dealing with his urges for a cigarette in very small parts I decided to do the same thing. I knew that I wouldn't be able to make $375 my first month - I had no idea how! So, I started with a goal of just $50 a month. My theory was that if I could make $50 in one month I would be able to think of a way to make $100 the next month, then $150, $200, and so on... Once I broke it down into parts it seemed much more doable - and it was! Breaking your goals down into manageable parts can make your life so much easier. If you need to lose 40 pounds, break it down. Lose five pounds the first month and then start over at 35 pounds. Lose five more pounds the next month and then you'll only have to lose 30 pounds. Working in this manner makes more sense than doing absolutely nothing. This type of thinking demonstrates a unique way of seeing the world that can set you apart from - and usually ABOVE - the crowd!