Breakdown Goals

Benefit: Increase progress
Prerequisites:

Description

Most of the time we get stuck in doing something is because we want to achieve a high level, perfection or the finish line. Often times the finish line is far away and our minds work against us telling us, to not even start. Breaking down the goal into the smallest easily achievable piece will guarantee we achieve the small goal and increase our chance of achieving the bigger goal.

I had a friend who went on to run 100k. After 30k he was done. His legs were tired and he slammed to the ground. After 30 minutes of sitting he asked himself the question "Can I get up and walk 100m?". The answer was ofcourse. He got up and walked 100m. When he was about to reach 100m he asked himself "Can I walk 1k?". The answer again was "ofcourse". Before he reached 1k he asked "Can I run 1k?" then he asked "Can I make it to the next station?" and by then he was back on track. Then he hit another bottleneck and asked himself "Can I rest for 15 minutes then walk for 1k?". And eventually he completed the 100k.

By breaking down the problem into guaranteed achievable goals. He achieved the larger goal.

I use this a lot in other areas of my life,

• Can I just look at this task for 5 minutes? I set my alarm for 5 minutes. And by the time my alarm goes off, I'm already in the zone and want to work on it a bit more. Alternatively, I would open up a game on colonist.io and play for 30 minutes. So asking such questions helps me get back into the flow whenever I lose it.
• When I want to do plank for 5 minutes. After 3 minutes I'm like there is no way I can get to 5 and I feel like giving up. But when I ask myself "Can I get to 3:10?" The answer is "ofcourse I can". Before I get to 3:10 I ask myself what about 3:15? Then 3:20 then 3:25 and even if I don't get to 5m. I make much more progress than I would have if I kept my goal at 5m.

This is a skill and needs practice to increase.

The main parts of this skills is as follows

1. Figuring out the guaranteed achievable small goal. If I asked myself "Can I get to 3:30?", I might not have said yes. If I asked myself "Can I get to 3:01?", I would have said yes, achieved it instantly and stopped. So figuring out the right number is a skill and you'll get better at it over time.
2. Keep asking the question. If a person continues asking this question they'll either withness true failure (muscle, mind etc..) or they'll achieve their larger goal. Initially you'll be able to do 1-3 rounds of this. But as you get better you'll be doing this 10-20 or even more times.
3. Asking the question at the right time. Lets say my goal is to get to 3:10. If I ask "Can I get to 3:20" when I reach 3:10 it's already too late and my body will have caved in. So I need to ask the question the right time, ideally a bit before the previous goal is achieved so my mind has enough time to aim at the next goal.

Practice

1. Define a larger goal
2. Start the action
3. Ask yourself "Can I get to X?"
4. Releat 3 as much as possible

Example-1

1. I want to create a blog post
2. Sit down in front of the computer
3. Can I work on it for 5 minutes?

Example-2

1. I want to finish reading a 2hr article
2. Open up the article
3. Can I read it for 5 minutes?