One Step at a Time
This newsletter went out a day late, but I figured it’d be better to put one out late than not!
Welcome to the new ~250 readers who have subscribed since last week!
When creating a new goal, it’s almost natural to be daunted by the vastness between where you are now (your starting line) and where you want to be (your goal).
You can imagine how your life would look when you achieve the goal and simultaneously lament the journey to get there. It’s bizarre.
We set the goal because we tend to be romantics. We dream big, and we dream we can become a hero on the other side. It’s storytelling 101.
The funny thing is that, in many cases, the goal is achievable. But something gets in the way: Our natural tendency to lean into instant gratification. But, unfortunately, most goals worth pursuing do not give us instant results.
Nothing worth having comes easy.
The gap between the starting line and the goal is too broad.
As a result of this gap, we feel discomfort. And this discomfort makes it more challenging to get started or to stay consistent.
Luckily there is a mindset shift we can utilize to diminish the discomfort and get us back on track to hit our goal.
We need to change our focus from our goal and focus on our next step toward the goal.
The goal is just a north star, a guiding target.
The important part of goal setting is identifying and performing the steps to get you to the goal.
And so, switching focus in this way shortens the gap dramatically. As a result, the gap between your starting line and the very next step is very achievable and leverages the power of instant gratification.
Focusing on one step at a time makes starting your goal easier. And it’ll be easier to stay consistent and gain momentum.
Try it! Do you have a goal right now? What steps are you taking to get there? Are you focusing on those steps, or are you focusing on your north star?
Reply to this email with your answers, or simply reply if you found this newsletter helpful.
I’ll see you in the next one!
Cheers.
What I’m Working on this Week 🛠
I’m working on two different projects, and this week I’m focusing on an email-based course teaching the framework I use to set goals, how I break them down into smaller chunks, how I identify the important things from the not-so-important things, and how I prioritize them in my daily workflow. This will be a free course for everyone.
Does that sound interesting to you? Let me know! Reply to this email and let me know one thing you would like to see from a course like this.
Click Worthy 🔥
Design Thinking Quick Guide: I first heard Eric Moore on Chris Do’s The Futur Podcast, where Eric Moore brilliantly explained the buzzword “Design Thinking.” I found that I was using many of the principles he explained with my freelance business and thought, “wow, so cool!”. Anyway, I discovered that he has a free “quick guide” on his website going over some of the frameworks he spoke about in the podcast episode, and so I wanted to share it here.
Federal Tax Calculator: I came across a Federal Tax Calculator from Smartasset.com and thought it was brilliant, especially now that the year is coming to an end and we will soon be gearing up for tax season. With this calculator, you can input variables such as marital status, where you live, and gross income to determine how much federal taxes you may need to pay and what your net income is. After all, our bills are paid by what we take home, not by what we signed for in our offer letters.
Book Notes: I’ve recently come across Derek Sivers and his work. I loved what he had to say in Jay Clouse’s Creative Elements Podcast, so I did a little digging. It turns out he has an excellent website where he shares his book notes publicly. This is a great resource if you don’t want to dish out your hard-earned cash to those online book summary companies but need a quick refresher on a book you read a while ago.
Last Word From Me
That’s it, actually.
I have nothing else to say.
So I’ll take this opportunity to thank every one of you for reading my weekly newsletter.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Your friend,
Elliott