“A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct”…from Manual of Muad’Dib by the Princess Irulan…in Dune by Frank Herbert

Have you ever bravely faced a new venture…attempted to learn everything about it…but in the end thrown you hands up in despair that you could ever accomplish your goal?

That was the issue I faced while recently developing a new workshop presentation.

My thoughts kept going to the people who would be attending. I planned to teach this group of writers some social media strategies on being effective with their online presence and still be time efficient.

I wanted them to understand the BIG picture, but at the same time, I didn’t want them to feel overwhelmed at all the knowledge I wished to share with them. How could I help them see their way through and set goals that allowed them to succeed?

We hear it every New Year. Time to set new goals – change our bad habits and become a better ‘us’. We have all the best intentions…create lists…make great plans.

So why do so many of us fail so quickly? Even when we try harder every year…until we give up even trying.

Because we set our sights on the moon, but haven’t yet built the rocket ship that can take us there.

The worst possible thing you can do in the beginning of a new venture is to set your expectations so high that it is near impossible to achieve them.

When you fail to meet your goals…you feel disappointment. You may see yourself as a failure. And if you do this enough times, you’ll defeat yourself. No one else even has to lift a finger to stop you.

So how do we break free of this never-ending cycle?

 We take baby steps.

200424942-001 When we learned to walk, we didn’t start out running from the first day! In fact, most of us crawled around for quite a long while before we ventured to go upright and toddle along.

So when you are beginning a brand new venture, or getting ready to attempt the next step in a big plan…take a moment to think about how you can take baby steps to start out.

Set some goals that you know you can achieve–and achieve quickly. Write them down.

Then when you’ve accomplished those first goals, mark them off and set another goal that you know you can accomplish. Now you’ve reached the toddling stage and you’re moving forward!

Soon you’ll believe in yourself and be encouraged to set bigger goals. And you’ll have the confidence that you can succeed. Now you’re ready to run!

I would love to hear what methods you have employed to set and accomplish goals. What works for you?