Sunday, February 27, 2011

Milestones

So last post I talked a little bit about BHAG's and giving yourself something truly Big Hairy and Audacious to aim for. In the corporate world this would be a vision or mission statement but for us it's more akin to your dream. Where you truly want to see yourself.

But Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes...so we next need to break that dream down in to some achievable and recognisable milestones.

So why set milestones?

Heard the saying "a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step".
If you focus yourself on achieving the 1000 miles you could quickly get overwhelmed by the enormity of what lies ahead of you. Conversely if your sole focus is each step you could quickly become bored of the monotonous repartition.

To stay motivate we need that sense of achievement; to keep carrying on we need milestones along the way that are within our ability to reach. They give something medium term and realistically to aim for, while taking you closer to reaching your dream.


Convinced?

So what makes a good Milestone?

  • Aspirational - milestones should be things that you could see yourself achieving with hard work. They need to stretch you but you also need to be able to see yourself getting there.
  • Time - I tend to pick milestones of around three months. I can easily see myself in three months time and it gives me enough time to work around any set-backs etc. I also tend to think of milestones in terms of seasons...eg "right by the end of winter I'm going to be able to run 6 miles on a treadmill".
  • Alignment - probably common sense but your milestones need to support your ultimate goal and carry you towards it.
  • Reward - to underline that sense of achievement treat yourself to something you enjoy as a reward.

Next time we'll get into the detail of setting specific goals that get you to your milestones....

Peace

G

41 comments:

  1. Milestones are important. It's like when people that start working out but quit in a month because they don't see super results. It takes time and dedication. Every journey begins with a single step :)

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  2. I set milestones for my homeowkr, I know it seems silly but homework is the biggest issue in my life that creates stress which puts my real goals on the back burner.. btu instead of thinking of ALL my assignments, I just think of the most important, or the next one coming up

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  3. Hey that's really awesome! I just stopped by to show my support!

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  4. Milestones are great to stay focused and motivated

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  5. i tend to make milestones i cant achieve in time

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  6. One thing to point out that's worked for me--build in some "slack time" into your goals, so you don't get discouraged if you slip up for a day or a week. Life intrudes whether we like it or not.

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  7. Great advice. Showing my support :)

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  8. I should use milestones for some of my goals

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  9. I should also use milestones, but I'd have to retrain my brain to work like that :(

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  10. good tips. I constantly get myself in a rut and consciously have to make milestones to get out of it.

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  11. i always saw milestones as something that sticks out when you look back on your life thus far.

    randomramblingggg.blogspot.com

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  12. i always have a goal, whether it be small or big.

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  13. Learned something new today, thanks.

    Our blogs seem to be similar in purpose

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  14. thanks for the good info!

    http://all-around-toto.blogspot.com/

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  15. milestones? make it till tommorow.

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  16. I will reward myself with some chocolate when I hit 200 followers! :)

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  17. it's good to set milestone. I did it, but i always fail to reach it

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  18. Milestone is the name of the droid in Europe. Now I know what it mean !

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  19. Milestones/benchmarks dictate my life.

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  20. You're completely right about milestones. Planning really is half the job.

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  21. I couldn't agree more with this post. Milestones are what gives us focus and keeps us in the "now". xo

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  22. great idea. you gotta maintain perspective.

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  23. Milestones are definitely a crucial part of living... but I tend to skip all the steps, take the reward, then feel guilty, then repeat... :(

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  24. Thanks for the post! Insightful!

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  25. Great advice. The milestone method definitely works.

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  26. I have such a hard time with black and white milestones... if I haven't reached it by the time I wanted to, I get upset and don't even want to think about milestones anymore. But they do usually get me started on things, which is good I suppose.

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  27. Looking for my life coach. Where are ya?

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  28. I do set myself milestones, some of them I get to and soem of them I never can

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  29. doesn't have any milestones... mhm... thanks for posting.

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  30. great advice... thanks

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  31. Good advice bro. I give up so easily might this could help me.

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  32. What makes a good milestone is the fact that, at one time, you didn't think you could accomplish it.

    That's what makes Milestones that much sweeter.

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  33. Thanks for the motivation. I needed some ideas to change

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  34. thank you for teaching me something i have never cared to think about awesome post

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