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
