The Secret Power of Micro Goals: How Small Goals Can Lead to Big Results

We all set goals in our lives, and many of us start by setting a macro goal. These are big picture goals that we want to achieve. Maybe we want to lose 25 pounds, compete in a ballroom dance competition, pay off our student loans, or buy the house of our dreams. 

Obviously it’s important to have an idea of what your end goal (or macro goal) is, but it’s equally important to set smaller goals (or micro goals) to help you achieve your end goal. One reason many of us fail to achieve our larger goals is that we don’t take the time to plot out micro goals along the way. 

Many people have heard the quote by Lao Tzu: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Or that of Desmond Tutu: “There is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.” And yet so many of us do not start at the beginning. We want to leap ahead to the end!

A micro goal is a very specific, easily obtainable goal that helps us to begin our efforts towards our greater goal. We can set one micro goal after the other, taking us closer and closer to meeting our end goal. 

For example, let’s say you have a passion for baking and your dream is to open your very own bakery. You can see the bakery in your mind’s eye, the open sign glowing in your front window, and customers streaming in to purchase your delicious baked goods. But where do you even start?

One very good first micro goal is to simply go to the library to check out one or more books on starting your own business. This will help you start to learn what you need to know about how to begin this process. Or maybe you sign up for a free business class through your local chamber of commerce. 

Many of us fall into the all or none approach when it comes to pursuing our goals. We dive in headfirst and sometimes shoot off in many directions at once, just trying to immerse ourselves in this goal. But this can also lead us to burn out and abandon our goals.

When we don’t set smaller, easily achievable goals along the way, it is easy for us to quickly feel overwhelmed by the enormity of our end goal. We become frustrated by our apparent lack of progress. When this happens, we are much more likely to give up entirely.

Micro goals allow us to make slow, steady progress towards our macro goal. We gain confidence when we are able to accomplish these smaller goals. They also allow us to keep checking in with ourselves about our end goal to make sure what we’re doing is in alignment with that goal.

Sometimes we have to adjust our end goal when we realize we didn’t define it quite right the first time. Maybe we discover we want to open up a coffee shop that sells just a few pastries rather than a full-blown bakery. Maybe we simply provide baked goods to gas stations or coffee shops. 

Not only is it ok if your overall goal changes, it is common and normal for a person’s goal to change! Modifying your end goal is nothing to be ashamed of, but instead to be applauded. It takes courage, humility, and wisdom to correct our course for something that is better aligned with what we really want.  

I hope you will keep dreaming big. As Tom Bilyeu likes to say,  “On a long enough timeline, you can learn anything.” Just start one bite-sized step at a time and continue to work at it until you achieve your goal. You’ve got this.