In amongst everything we do day in and day out, it is pretty easy to lose sight of the little wins you’re having on a regular basis. Life is pretty hectic for most people now, especially those of us who are working, running sometimes multiple businesses on the side and still trying to maintain some semblance of a normal, socially well-adjusted life with our friends and families. With all of that going on, we often get lost in the bigger picture.
The people I speak with on a regular basis because of the things I do with Casual Marketer all have one thing in common – they have larger goals of some description. That might be financial, personal, professional or some combination of all three, but pretty much everyone I talk to has their eyes on some greater prize.
That was me up until about a year and a half ago. I wanted a whole bunch of stuff – more money, less time spent at work, more vacation time with my family… The only thing I didn’t want was to quit working a regular job and just run my business – those of you who know me, know that I am a rare bird in that I like having a job. Aside from that, I was like everyone else I speak with – lots of big lofty goals.
Then something changed. It was pretty subtle. It wasn’t like I suddenly woke up one morning and had a great purpose or some kind of moment of clarity. I just looked at things a bit differently.
I started looking at what I was doing in my online businesses less about some long-term plans or aspirational goals and more about simpler things.
I’m usually pretty good with words, but it’s somewhat hard to describe. There was less concern about aggressive growth targets and strategies to grow into new markets or whatever. I started thinking about whether I enjoyed what I was doing and could those activities give me a reasonable return on my time.
Let me be perfectly clear with you, this is not some “I started pursuing my passion” nonsense that the fluffpreneurs and Hopium Dealers peddle. I hadn’t had a stroke or a lobotomy if that’s what you’re thinking. I just started to think about the value of my time that I spent working on the business a bit differently.
There are some people out there who are shooting for the moon. They have big, audacious goals and are shooting for the moon. They want massive seven and eight-figure businesses online and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
To those people, I wish you well, but I’m not one of you. My goals and ambitions are just much simpler now.
As part of that, I’ve started focusing my attention on achieving and celebrating smaller victories. I set shorter term goals for myself that are achievable with some effort and when I have success, I enjoy the moment.
And the funny part is, since making that change last year I’ve really enjoyed what I do within the business much more. More importantly, I’m stacking up the wins. I find myself iterating through having small wins that lead me to bigger cumulative success.
The secret though is celebrating and savouring those small victories. When you set yourself a target and you reach it, you need to take time out to make sure that you give acknowledge your win. That reinforces the good habits and is a great way to stay motivated.
Too often we have huge plans and grand visions for what we want to do. Unfortunately, life and a variety of other things get in the way, so while I encourage you to have a big hairy ambition for yourself, my advice is to break those goals down into smaller, lightweight and achievable things that lets you have a series of small successive victories more regularly which take you to the bigger ambition you have.
Remember, the best way to eat a whale is one bite at a time.