“Dream big, but act small. Success is a series of taking the right steps,
at the right time, and in the right sequence.”
– Steve Napolitan
You have a big dream, and you don’t know where to start. This is something I hear from people all the time. They aren’t going for their dreams because they don’t know how to get there, or, whatever it is they are doing, feels like it will take forever.
In this episode and blog post, I’m going to share my 2 simple tips on how to achieve your goals, beat procrastination, and get more done in less time!
Tip 1: If You Want to Eat A Pizza, Eat It One Slice At A Time (P.S. I Don’t Eat Elephants 😊)
The first thing is when you have a big dream is you want to break it into smaller chunks. It’s kind of like going to the best pizzeria in the world and getting that big pizza.
Are you going to put the whole pizza in your mouth? No. You’re going to take one bite at a time.
Same thing with driving anywhere; it’s turn by turn. Your GPS is going to tell you to turn here then turn there etc. It doesn’t tell you all the directions in one sentence and then, okay there it is.
You already know how to do this. Just apply it to your goals and dreams. Do this for yourself, and then everything becomes more achievable.
Take that big goal and dream, then ask yourself this question:
WHEN (in time) Do I Want to Achieve That?
It could be a year, six months, a month, but whatever that is, divide what you need to do into smaller chunks of time.
Let’s just say your goal is to have what you want in one year. That’s 12 months. Divide that goal into 12 monthly milestones (mini goals), so you can look at what tasks can be divided up, and what needs to be done first.
It helps you answer the following questions:
- What do I need to do in month 1?
- What do I need to do in month 2?
- What do I need to do in month 3?
Etc.
But don’t stop there. Each month has 4 weeks. Break down the activities you have to complete on a week to week basis.
- What do I need to do in week 1?
- What do I need to do in week 2?
- What do I need to do in week 3?
Then keep going! Say you only want to work 4 days a week. Then you break it into DAILY activities.
Ultimately, you will get clear on what you need to do today. And the smaller the chunk, the harder it is NOT to do.
But you might be wondering …
“Well, Steve, I don’t even know WHAT steps to take … I’ve never achieved that goal in my life before.” I get it. And that’s what we will address in the next step 😊
Tip 2: If You Don’t Know How Then You Should Ask Someone Who Does
When I wrote my first book that became a best-selling book, I had no idea it was going to do that well. All I knew was I wanted to write a book, I had been working on it for several years, and it wasn’t done yet.
I set a goal to finish my book by the end 2015. Well, the summertime of 2015 came, and I hadn’t completed it yet. I said to myself, “OMG! I only have 6 months left in the year!” I started to freak out.
I knew I had to share my expertise. But creating a book was much more than that. So, I got a mentor. A friend who had helped other aspiring authors write and publish their books. He showed me step-by-step what to do, and how I could do it without sacrificing time with my family.
Why? Because I didn’t want my book to start to consume family time. For me, my business serves my life. And family is a big thing for me.
My book coach Trevor Crane said, “Okay, Steve. No problem. I got you. I’ll tell you what to do every week, so you can spend more time with your family and you’ll be able to accomplish this.”
Now here’s the thing—I thought it was going to involve a lot of work from me! I got so nervous that we weren’t going to meet the deadline, I asked Trevor, “Trevor, I don’t think we’re going to get this done.”
He responded, “Did you do the two simple things I told you to do this week?”
“Yes” I said.
“Well, hang up and go play with your kids.” (Hangs up phone)
Six months later, I had a best-selling book in four countries and 14 different categories. I had a dream. I had a goal. And I exceeded it.
Get Help From People Who Have
Achieved the Goals What You Want to Achieve
I highly, highly encourage you to get a mentor. And if you don’t do that, then definitely use their material (books, videos, articles) as mentors.
Choose Gratitude Create Freedom
Steve Napolitan
