Using micro-goals to write my book.
Q: How do you tackle an elephant for lunch?
A: One bite at a time.
What once began as a joke has become a mantra in my home.
I knew I wanted to turn the story in my head into a novel. But as a mom with a full time job that seemed impossible (and super overwhelming).
But I had this theory- even one sentence a day would be a step closer to my goal. Sometimes that’s literally all I was l able to write. It took me years, but I did eventually publish my first book last year! Lost: The Other Realm (Book 1).
By setting a micro-goal, I was able to make progress, slow as it was. Eventually I turned a sentence into ten minutes, then twenty minutes. Ten words to five hundred. I was able to build momentum and used that to get to the finish line.
I’ve used this same strategy to manage every large, daunting project, both professionally and personally. When, I unexpectedly became responsible for my elderly uncle’s care (from 1000 miles away), complicated by the devastating effects of dementia- “one bite at a time” became the guiding principle as my mom and I navigated the countless tasks and phone calls.
Here is what I did to break the “Elephant” into “Bites.”
Identify the elephant.
a. What feels overwhelming?
b. What are the components?
c. What can be done today to take one small step?
Create a SHORT list for today.
a. Just three items.
b. If the three tasks have multiple steps, add those to the list.
c. When it’s done- cross it off. (It feels so good!)
Celebrate the achievements!
a. Acknowledge the accomplishment today and aim to push a little further tomorrow.
b. Allow for grace if things turned out to be tougher than expected.
c. It's okay to move tasks to tomorrow's to-do list once in a while.
As a long time mentor always said, it's about progress, not perfection.