Do you ever feel overwhelmed by big goals? That's reasonable; sometimes, there is too much to do to reach the big ones. But if you take a step back, you will realize that setting small, achievable goals is a great way to start on your journey toward success. Focusing on attainable objectives and slowly ticking them off as you go, your motivation and momentum will gradually increase until you have enough drive and confidence to tackle those bigger goals.

Start with something small.

When trying to achieve something in any field, it can be not wise to aim for something big immediately when you are just starting around. For example, trying to win first place in a car race when you had only begun to learn how to drive, wanting to do 150 push-ups a day when you only recently started the habit of exercising, or wanting to save a large amount of money every month when you still have many debts to settle; these are the type of things you can eventually achieve, but when you are only starting, it will be best to start with smaller goals first. Progress must be gradual, and you are more likely to succeed if you start with more manageable and smaller goals before moving to more extensive and time-consuming ones. As you become more familiar and well-versed with smaller goals or tasks, you can do them easier and faster, allowing you to take on more advanced ones. Motivation and momentum also come easier by building them up through small achievements until you feel more ready and confident to take on larger, long-term goals. There are many different types of small goals you can try working on, and many of them can become the building blocks that will help you achieve your bigger dreams and aspirations. The following are some of them.

1. Save a specific amount of money every payday or month

Money is essential for almost everything we need to live. Therefore, securing a good amount of cash for financial security will be nice. Eventually, you may want to save a lot of money to retire early or be financially independent later in life. However, this long-term goal of being financially secure can look out of reach if you are currently having trouble with your finances. One can start by getting into the act of budgeting and saving and turning them into habits. These activities ensure you see where your money goes, so you can plan how to spend your wealth wisely. Along the way, saving some cash is something you may like to do, and one can start small by committing yourself to saving a specific amount of money every payday or month. These savings can begin with small amounts and gradually increase as you clear more of your debts, discipline yourself to use cash and eliminate unnecessary expenses.

2. Clear your debts one by one

Debts are some of the biggest hindrances to your financial goals. They can put a dent in your monthly expenses and get in the way of saving money. In addition, it can get pretty overwhelming when you have several of them, mainly if enormous debts are owed to someone or an institution. To ease your stress, it can be a good idea to start focusing on clearing one debt before moving to another. Of course, this can be challenging if you have monthly dues on other debts, but try to start by settling smaller debts and those that don't have fixed or urgent deadlines. Pay the minimum on others and focus on those that can be cleared in the shortest time possible. Then, as you work on removing the smaller debts, you can move to larger ones until you eventually settle them all.

3. Eat a healthy meal each day

If you have made one of your personal goals to live healthier, one of the ways to achieve it is by eating healthy. However, this can be challenging to do as this requires a lifestyle change and commitment indefinitely. In addition, you may find it difficult to adjust if you get used to eating many different types of food that may be delicious but may be unhealthy for you. You can start small by changing one meal daily into something healthier or removing or replacing food you habitually eat, but it can have a negative effect if too much is eaten. However, you can gradually turn this change of one meal into a habit, and once you adapt to it, you can progressively replace your other meals with healthier substitutes until you can eat healthy food for all your meals in a day.

4. Learn a new skill within a specific period or a new idea each day

Personal development is essential to become more well-rounded and experiencing more of life. To make ourselves grow, it is good to learn about many things and continue to make our minds more open and be more ready to tackle various situations by having the proper knowledge and skills. Developing ourselves doesn't need to be done in one sitting; it can be gradual, and one can start simply by focusing on learning one skill and applying it in real life until one becomes familiar with or good at it. One can also spend time reading an article each day about something, even if it doesn't have anything to do with your current goals and interests. You may never know when a piece of information can be handy and it can be related to what you want to do later.

5. Do a physical activity for a set amount of time each day or several times a week

Another way to live a healthy lifestyle is by ensuring we regularly move and do physical activities daily. It can be challenging to adjust if we get used to a sedentary lifestyle, so we can start with a small goal of dedicating a short amount of time each day or several times a week to exercise or any physical activity we like. Then, as we get used to it, we can start increasing the time we spend doing such action and the number of times we do it each week until it becomes a daily routine or do it several times a week for extended hours. We can also opt to do more intense physical activities as we become more adept at what we do.

6. Get rid of bad habits one at a time

Many of us have vices that we like to do, such as smoking cigarettes and drinking too many alcoholic drinks. Unfortunately, they can become habits that are difficult to break. Some of us may decide to change at some point, but by then, it can be too challenging, but it's possible. One can start by gradually reducing the quantity or time involved in doing a bad habit and improve on it as we become more comfortable in adjusting ourselves to new behavior. For example, if you like drinking several bottles or cans of alcoholic drinks daily, you can start by reducing your consumption to one bottle or can. You can follow this up by limiting yourself to one glass, one sip, and then just occasionally drinking as you become more accustomed to what you are doing to remove your bad habit. The same thing can be done with other bad habits. You keep making the reductions until you eliminate the bad habit or replace it with a good one.

7. Dedicate a set amount of time for yourself each day

We must care for ourselves by ensuring we stay healthy and all our needs are met, including having enough time to rest each day and do things we like outside of work. Sometimes, we lose ourselves trying to achieve our goals and forget to give ourselves free time for rest and recreation. While it can feel good to keep checking tasks on your to-do list, we shouldn't forget to rest and give ourselves time to recharge. This includes ensuring you have a good night's sleep each day and have time to do your hobbies and passions to keep yourself well-rounded. Prioritizing short-term goals means freeing up more time so you don't drown yourself in work and don't end up getting too busy.

8. Make a friend, one person at a time

One's personal life becomes better if surrounded by friends and people one can rely on for support. However, depending on their personality, having friends can be a struggle for some. Despite having people everywhere, it may not be easy to approach and befriend someone. You don't need many friends for support, but having a few trusted ones can do. Of course, having many trusted people in your social circle can be nice, but that can't always be the case for some. If you want to improve your social life, you can start by focusing on one person to befriend. This can be a coworker, a person in your neighborhood, somebody you regularly interact with when going to an establishment, or a former classmate or colleague you haven't talked to for a while. You can reach out and speak with this person and spend time befriending them by talking about similar interests or current or trendy events. You can even polish your communication skills this way. As you regularly keep in touch and speak with this person, you may eventually feel close to each other, and suddenly, they may consider you a friend.

Setting small goals and achieving them is suitable for a start.

Any big or long-term goal or task can feel overwhelming, especially if you keep looking at the big picture in the future and do not focus on what you can do for the moment. The present is where you can do something to hopefully someday achieve something big, but for that to happen, you need to start small. These big and long-term goals or projects can be broken down into smaller parts. Setting short-term goals that form part of your more extensive goals and achieving them gives you a taste of success early, without having to wait for that one big moment of triumph before you start feeling fulfilled and happy. It is easier to get motivated if you keep piling up one success after another, and this is something you can feel if you set short-term goals and work on them first, gradually moving up until you hit your ultimate target.