The Surprising Power of Small Bit-Sized Money Goals

Lao Tzu said, “The journey of 1000 miles begins with one step”. Many times we have heard this but we seldom take it into deep consideration. 

The saying goes to tell us that that big goal we might have set for ourselves has to start small. All big successes started small at some point.\

How would you devour a whole cow? We start with the first bite, then another.

The same principle might as well apply to your financial goals. You’ll have to start small no matter how big your dream is.

Think about it, assuming you are on a journey to lose weight. How would you lose 10 kilos in 3 months? While there are hundreds of solution paths to take, to get a true shot at this feat you have to start by actually cutting down on say junk food, following a stepwise workout regime etc. 

Starting slow is how big goals are met. Here’s how powerful small bit-sized money goals can be.

1. Every goal is attained through baby steps

What You have to realize is that any big goal is achieved through numerous little steps. There isn’t a shortcut to it.

It is impossible to get that dream car, house, job etc. without passing through the process. 

In fact, the best way to realise any grand goals you have is to break them down into small milestones that you can tick off as you go. 

For example, if you want to own a home at some point in the future, after calculating the estimated costs, deciding on the ideal location and design, you can create a breakdown of how to work towards that goal.

This may include; a savings plan, land acquisition timeline, identifying the right contractor, periodic purchase of materials, basically creating a timeline of small timelines. 

2. Dividing your goal into small bits gives you better focus

Yes, setting big goals is ideal but do you know that sometimes large goal-setters who chase their biggest dreams and so far into the future, could also easily be setting themselves up for failure? 

It’s much easier to focus on what you can do on this day than to focus on what you want to do within a year.

Setting a goal too far into the future can be a little disorienting. You might lose your confidence, your momentum, and you might be unable to focus on it because of your environment and circumstances.

You might be distracted by all that’s happening in your life. It is for this reason that it is strongly recommended you to set shorter time frames for your goals, like quarterly goals..

When the time frame for the target you would like to hit is shorter, you tend to focus better.

3. They build confidence and strengthen your beliefs

When you break down your longer-term goal into small steps and hit a milestone, your confidence grows. 

The progress or your win is what gives you that confidence and makes you grow your beliefs that you can achieve it.

And when you build more confidence, you might even take more action and make better progress.

This is the reason why people say, “success brings about success”.

Successful people get extraordinary results in life because they primarily focus on making progress.

When progress is made, they feel good. They become confident and they grow the belief that their financial goals are attainable and they can do it.

Consequently, they act more and make even more progress.

4. Small wins develop momentum and create habits

Another good reason to start with bit-size goals is to gain momentum and to nurture the right habit.

We all know success doesn’t come immediately. Mostly, it takes some time to build into something big.

And since it takes time, we cannot depend only on our motivation to act. We need to depend on habits.

When you focus on smaller goals, such as saving Ksh200 daily, it could become a habit as compared to planning on saving Ksh20,000 once every month.

It’s what you do consistently that will determine the results you will get. People seldom achieve their goals in a day or two, they achieve their goals in years.

This is why nurturing the right habits that will get you the right results is extremely essential to your success.

So, set off with small goals. Invoke the power of small goals to push you into acting and making daily progress.

As you progress and grow good habits, you’ll eventually develop the character that you require to attain your money goals.

WRAPPING UP

What usually prevents us from taking action is the starting process. How to start. And to reduce your laxity to take action, you need to kick off with smaller goals. 

While it is right that setting big goals and big dreams get you motivated, it’s the small actions and small goals which we accomplish every day that gets us to those big dreams.

We must start small and build from the ground up. This is why it is often suggested that you break your financial goals into smaller goals. Steps that can be acted on immediately.

So ask yourself what that small step is that you can take and act now!