When I was in grade school I wanted to learn how to spin a basketball on my finger. Learning how to do this takes focus, time, and includes thousands of tries. These thousands of times trying to spin the ball on my finger compounded on each other to finally allow me to spin the basketball on my fingers at any given moment for basically any length of time I want. Little did I know that the experience attaining this skill would help shape the way I achieve things today.

In the grand scheme of things this skill is small but is large in the lessons that I learned. Below I’ve outlined these lessons and how they apply to my life today:

Break Down Large Goals Into Smaller Incremental Goals

In the beginning of learning or doing something new there’s a big gap between where you are and where you want to be. By breaking down goals into smaller more manageable ones allows you to clearly visualize success of them. Smaller goals are much easier for your mind to start on them. Buffer has an excellent post on goals and how it affects the brain.

Fueling your mind with smaller goals that are easily achievable gives you the satisfaction of progression.

Building Confidence

Knowing that you are achieving your smaller goals will give you the confidence to realize that things are working. In turn, you’re subconsciously injecting patience into your process of achieving your larger goals by allowing them to compound on each other.

Be Flexible in Your Strategy

You see results faster with smaller goals which will allow you to quickly validate that what you’re doing is working. Adjusting your strategy will be much more manageable because you’ll have less to evaluate.

In Summary

Next time you want to achieve something big, outrageous, crazy, and awesome, think about chipping away at smaller goals and get to your first win which will build your confidence to keep on moving forward.