Do you ever feel like you’re standing on the edge of a cliff, knowing that you can’t turn back, but wondering how you’re ever going to make it down?

Or maybe you envision yourself at the top of a steep ski slope. You want to glide down the mountain and into the cozy hotel restaurant, but it just feels daunting and undoable.

As my hot-shot skier friend Erica once yelled to me “Just point your skis down the mountain and go!” That’s easier said than done, and in truth it didn’t exactly work out the way I had hoped.

But in taking the first action, making the first move, I began to devise a way to get to my goal. I began to understand the pitch of the slope and the feel of the snow, and I was able to strategically navigate my way down.

Let’s forget the possibility of bodily harm, and just make this about making your way. The same process can happen when you’re contemplating a career move or a life change. How are you going to do it? Or more to the point, how do you get started?

When you’re on the ski slope and it’s 10 degrees Fahrenheit and other skiers are whipping past you, you really have no choice but to take action.

But if you’re unsatisfied or unfulfilled where you are, and contemplating your professional or personal options, making any kind of move can feel daunting.

It’s so easy to figuratively freeze and simply not move forward.

That’s why plotting out your steps in tiny, low-risk increments can often be the best way to get a little momentum going.

And this small step may also ease the stress and anxiety that often accompanies unfulfilled goals.

So how do you get yourself unstuck? I’ve got five steps that can help you jump start the process.

Step One: Get it out of your head and onto a page.

Although there are a lot of great apps for note taking, mind-mapping, and the like, research shows that putting something on paper is often more meaningful and memorable.  Simply pick up a notebook and write out what it is you hope to accomplish: that is, your goal.

Step Two: Next, take a realistic look at this goal and run it through the SMART acronym.

Be sure to write your responses to these questions in your notebook. Is it:

• Specific?

• Meaningful?

• Achievable?

• Realistic?

• Time-bound?

Step Three: Now it’s time to write out your action steps.

What is the smallest possible increment you can take to get you closer to your goal? Each step allows you to move on to the next. There may be 5 steps, or there may be 50. It doesn’t matter. Just write it all out.

Step Four:  Schedule your steps in your calendar.

This is where it may help to use an app like Todoist that will remind you to complete your task. You’ll be rewarded with a satisfying little “pop” every time you click the “complete” box. But this only works if you commit to it. Keep a running list in your notebook as well, so you don’t lose track.

Step Five: Celebrate your wins.

After you’ve completed an important step, or perhaps a series of 5 steps, reward yourself with something meaningful. A fun activity, a cookie, an hour with a good book or anything else that makes you happy. And if you want to enlist an accountability partner, planning to celebrate together may give you both a little extra incentive.

In taking action, you may find that your goals change over time. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it can be an exciting part of the process.

It’s also important to understand that while you have control over your actions, the outcome may not always be under your direct control. That’s also normal.

Ultimately, each purposeful step you take will get you closer to a life that is personally authentic, sustainable, and meaningful. 

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References:

Masicampo, E. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (2011). Consider it done! Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(4), 667–683.

Umejima, K. et al. (2021). Paper notebooks vs mobile devices: Brain activation differences during memory retrieval. Front. Behav. Neurosci., 15. 1-11.