Using Micro-Goals to Improve Your Life

How tiny steps can lead to big success

If “New Year, New You” isn’t working out as planned, you’re not alone. Most people don’t achieve the goals they set for themselves in the new year.

The good news? You’re not to blame for your failure: your goals are.

The Importance of Setting Good Goals

I don’t mean setting goals that are about health or wellness (though many goals tend to be about improving ourselves in one way or another). Rather, setting good goals means deciding to do something you can achieve.

Take losing weight. Many people have a goal like, “I want to lose 50 pounds” or, “I want to fit into a size 10 by Valentine’s Day.” Pretty lofty, right?

When you set a large goal for yourself like this, you’re setting yourself up to fail. This doesn’t mean your goal is wrong or unachievable, just that you need to go about it a different way.

The solution? Micro-goals.

What’s a Micro-Goal?

A micro-goal is something small that can be achieved today. That’s right. Today. If your goal is to run a marathon, then a micro-goal might be running one mile.

Setting Effective Goals

For a goal to work in the long run, it has to be something you can succeed at. And while you can lose fifty pounds, it’ll take months or a year to accomplish that, assuming you don’t lose motivation and give up.

An effective goal should be two things: it should be easily achieved, and it should propel you toward your larger goal.

SMART Goals

Micro-goals and SMART goals, a term created by George Doran in 1981, go hand-in-hand. A SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Related.

“I want to be a best-selling author” isn’t a SMART goal. Instead, think of this as your destination. To get there, you’ll need a series of smaller, specific steps to make this dream happen.

A good first step towards this goal might be “Write 500 words every day.” This goal is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-related. You know how many words you need to write and when you need to write them.

If your goal is to lose fifty pounds, your first goal might be “Lose one pound every week.”

Micro-Goals Create Realistic Expectations

A goal is only effective if you can achieve it. Micro-goals are about taking a large, imposing goal and breaking it down into easily accomplished tasks.

Motivation follows action, and micro-goals are the perfect way to get you moving.

If your goal is weight loss, losing one pound this week will be very motivating. You’ll feel hugely successful when you step on the scale, and you’ll want to experience that same feeling again next week.

Achieving a small goal makes it easier to tackle another small goal. Over time, your small goals will help you create new habits, like walking every morning or eating carrots instead of chips. What started as a goal will become a habit, and those habits will help you achieve your larger goals.

How to Set Micro-Goals

A micro-goal should get you one step closer to your larger goal. Want to write a book? Start with writing one chapter, or with writing 500 words (or maybe even 100 words).

Your smallest goal should be easy to attain, but not so simple it’s not challenging. If you know you can write 100 words a day, set your micro-goal for 250. Think you have time for a five-minute walk every evening? Set your micro-goal for ten minutes.

If your micro-goal is too simple, you won’t have a sense of accomplishment when you achieve it. If your micro-goal is too hard, you’ll feel overwhelmed. Micro-goals are all about finding the balance that will keep you moving forward.

Let’s take a closer look at creating micro-goals.

1. Set your long-term goal

Think of this as whatever is at the top of the mountain. A few examples could be to lose fifty pounds, write a book, run a marathon, or save money for a vacation.

2. Create your “why” statement

It’s not enough to have a long-term goal. You also need to know why you want to achieve this goal. Maybe you want to feel better in your body, become a full-time author, achieve a challenging fitness goal, or take some time off.

One of my current long-term goals is to lose forty-five pounds. My “why” statement is ‘because I want to feel better in my body and be more active.’

Remembering your “why” will help keep you going when things get tough.

3. Break your long-term goal into small, achievable steps

This is where choosing effective micro-goals comes in. For my weight loss goal, I set my first micro-goal to be losing one pound per week.

When I achieve that, I add a second micro-goal, like walking fifteen minutes every night with my dogs. When I achieve that, I might add something like replacing potato chips with pretzels (and eventually replacing pretzels with carrots).

Every day when the scale goes down, I’ll feel good. Feeling good motivates me to keep trying. Every day when I walk or choose a healthier snack, I enjoy a sense of accomplishment.

4. Reward yourself

Rewards are an important part of goal setting, particularly when you’re starting out. You’re not fully motivated yet, so having a tangible reward can help you start moving.

Lost that pound? Reward yourself with a new book. Wrote 500 words every day? Treat yourself to a matinee. Ran a mile every day? Enjoy an afternoon pedicure.

When choosing your reward, it’s important to remember two things. One, don’t choose a reward that will undermine your progress. For example, treating yourself to ice cream if your goal is weight loss could be counterproductive.

Two, choose a reward that’s not an everyday occurrence. Binge-watching a Netflix show is only a reward if it’s something you don’t do regularly.

My favorite rewards include browsing at Barnes and Noble, seeing a movie, or getting my nails done (I save this for the bigger milestones, like losing five pounds or writing every day for a month).

Track Your Wins

If you’re a visual person like me, you probably enjoy having a to-do list and crossing items off it. Achieving micro-goals can be treated similarly. Create a bullet journal and enjoy checking off each micro-goal you achieve with a fun color, or put a gold star on your calendar for every day you succeed.

Seeing your success can drive you to want more of it. Find a way to make your micro-goals tactile and you’ll be more motivated to achieve them.

Positive Framing

Pro tip: when setting macro- or micro-goals, make sure to frame them in a positive way.

Take smoking. If your goal is to quit smoking, don’t make your long-term goal “Quit Smoking.” When you think about this goal, all you hear is what you can’t do. In the long run, this is very demotivating.

Instead, choose a positive goal, like, “I want to lead a healthier lifestyle.” This goal is all about what you can do, and not smoking will make you healthier.

Parting Thoughts

Micro-goals are a fantastic way to help you achieve your long-term goals. Setting small, attainable goals creates a series of tiny wins that motivate you to keep trying. These consistent wins will help you form habits, and habits are the true road to success.

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