Use Mini-Goal Setting to Get Stuff Done

Have you ever gotten frustrated trying to efficiently complete a major task? 

If you’re like most, your home is a place where there is always something that needs to be done. Creating mini-goals along the way is the easiest way to accomplish complicated and arduous goals. It is easy to become overwhelmed when a task seems momentous, overly complex or time-consuming. However, when you break the desired outcome down into smaller more easily doable tasks, you will set yourself up to accomplish those tasks and consequently motivate yourself to continue until you achieve your ultimate goal.

This concept is applicable to so many aspects of life, including in the home. For instance, let’s say that you have decided to cook a healthy dinner each night next week. If you’ve never turned on your oven before, this will not be a simple feat! Planning, shopping, prepping, and cooking all take time and effort. If you fail to grasp the full scope of this task, or you fail to allocate the right amount of time to accomplishing this task, you will soon become frustrated and revert to your previous mode of operation (i.e. fast food or other unhealthy but convenient food options).

Repeatable, Time Efficient and Motivational

The successful outcome is much easier to accomplish time and time again (and become habit) when your mini-goals are repeatable. Additionally, mini-goals should not be time consuming, and achieving each one should motivate you to progress to the next step.

Here is a sample of mini-goals that will lead to the outcome of having healthy dinner meals every night for a week.

Thursday

Mini-goal #1: Create a Plan (30 minutes):

If you are new to cooking, the key is to have a few easy recipes that only have a few ingredients. Do not become frustrated that you aren’t a gourmet chef, you will improve!
Also, make sure you have the basic cookware that you will need to cook each of the meals.

1. Write a list of 5 dinner meals that you would like to prepare
2. Find the recipes for the meals
3. Verify that you have the proper cookware for your meals
4. Write out a grocery list of the food and cooking items you will need

That’s it for the day. Congratulations, this is a great step towards successfully accomplishing your ultimate goal. You have done some research and are now prepared for the next step tomorrow.

Friday

Mini-goal #2: Shop (1 hour):

Take your list and go shopping! This should be straight forward, but some people get overwhelmed by food shopping options (i.e. using coupons, shopping at certain stores, buying organic, etc.). If you are new to meal prepping, DO NOT get stuck here. For now, just stick to the one store you are most familiar with, and aim to shop within your budget without using coupons (I know, the HORROR!! LOL). Once you get into the groove of things, you can modify your shopping trips to account for these options later.

Saturday

Mini-goal #3: Prep (1 hour)

This step involves cleaning, chopping and storing the food that you brought home. For instance, if you purchased onions and bell pepper for meals early next week, it would be very helpful if you chopped those up and stored them in the fridge for quick and easy use when the time comes.

The 2.5 hours you spent planning, shopping and prepping for meals should have greatly reduced anxiety and put you in position to cook and serve healthy meals each night with ease, which is the ultimate goal. Each of these mini-goals along the way are repeatable, time-efficient, and motivational. Imagine the disastrous outcome if you had tried to do all the aforementioned AND cook dinner on Monday evening after work? If you successfully achieved all your mini-goals, you should feel confident that you will achieve your goal of cooking healthy dinner meals each night of the upcoming week. By achieving measurable and doable mini-goals along the way, you will have set yourself up for success.

What goals are you aiming for, and how can mini-goal setting help you achieve them?

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