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We have all heard how important it is to set goals when we are working to achieve something. The goal could be related to many different things like saving for a large purchase or working to lose weight and regain health. We might set a goal to read a book every month of the year or walk 10,000 steps every day.

Goals are vital to achieving the results we are striving for. Perhaps just as important as setting a goal, is to achieve small wins along the way. What if we wanted to lose 30 pounds in the next 3 months? That seems like a lot of work and doesn’t sound too realistic. Especially for someone that has had difficulty losing any weight at all over many years. Come on now, lose 30 pounds in 90 days, that seems almost impossible.

This is where small wins come in. We break down the goal into steps that allow us to see results in increments along our journey. Rather than looking at losing 30 pounds, why not think about 10 pounds a month? Then think about 2.5 pounds a week. Suddenly the goal starts to sound achievable as we break it down into smaller amounts.

Many times, over the years I’ve talked with clients about getting some small wins. Perhaps this means accomplishing a goal of walking 1,000 steps a day.

Celebrate the small win when we hit the goal of 1,000 steps. Then set a new goal of 1,500 steps a day. Again, we congratulate ourselves when we hit the goal. Slowly we start putting together small wins as we get closer to the big goal of 10,000 steps a day.

• Set a big goal that we wish to achieve
• Break the big goal into smaller, more readily achieved goals
• Celebrate the wins as we meet the small goals
• Develop momentum and enjoy the wins as we work toward our big goal
• Before we know it, we have achieved our big goal that seemed almost impossible when we started

With each small goal we accomplish and each small win we develop more and more momentum in achieving something very meaningful to us. As we win and achieve these small goals it feels good and we are much more likely to continue toward achieving our big goal.

To review: Set our big goal. Then break it down into a series of achievable small goals. Gather momentum and confidence as we gather wins. Keep winning all the way to the large goal. Be Blessed.

- Dr. Zane Sterling