How to Break Down Goals into Actionable Steps: A Simple Guide | Leave a comment

Are you sometimes daunted by big objectives that leave you ambivalent about where or how to take action?

You set lofty goals, but the goal seems so big that rather than taking action, you become stuck, which eventually leads to procrastination (or even worse, thinking you can’t become successful).

You’re not alone. The reason that so many people struggle to realize their dreams is they didn’t learn a trick for taking a goal and breaking it into smaller actionable steps.

So…what if you could rethink your game, with a handful of productivity hacks and simple success strategies that not only allowed you to master a goal, but master it enjoyably?

What Does It Mean to Break Down Goals—and How Does It Work?

To break down a goal means to take a large objective (potentially a daunting one) and break it down into smaller chunks, or actionable steps. This is the foundation of effective goal setting, and is simply necessary to help transform nebulous global objectives into clearly defined action items.

When you break down big goals, you create a direction to help you move from A to B—rather than facing one massive mountain of a goal, you now see hills to ascend one at a time. Doing so alleviates anxiety, fosters excitement, and enhances your ability to track your performance, which are key components to achieving success.

Research shows that if you approach goals this way, you are more likely to take action and maintain momentum. Goals established with specific action steps improve the likelihood of achieving them. Breaking down goals is a proven productivity hack that can take you from intention to action.

The Hazards of Negative Self-Talk When Engaging with Big Goals

Most people fall into the trap of negative self-talk when they set big goals and don’t see progress right away. It’s easy to think “I will never get this done,” or “This is too hard for me.”

If something feels too hard, or you have the sense you are never going to finish, it erodes confidence, making it even more likely you will procrastinate or give up.

Research has shown that negative self-talk increases stress and reduces performance. For instance, research published in Frontiers in Psychology shows that self-critical thinking is positively related to anxiety and negatively related to achievement. If you think of your big goals as impossible odds, you are more likely to feel stuck and less likely to take action.

Conversely, when you break down goals into actionable steps, it is much easier to change your thoughts. With each completed action comes a small victory, which reinforces your personal confidence, diminishes your sense of overwhelm, and cultivates positive self-talk. As a result, you are much more likely to stay on track and be successful.

How to Break Down Goals into Actionable Steps: Your Step-by-Step Plan

1. Be Crystal Clear on Your Big Goal

Before you can break down goals, you need to know exactly what your goal is. Keep in mind that vague aspirations, such as “get healthy,” or “be successful” will not be enough—you need to identify a clear, specific outcome.

Action Steps:

• Write your goal in one sentence. Make the sentence as specific and measurable as possible. For example, instead of writing “get fit,” write “run a 5K in under 30 minutes by December 1st.”
• Visualize the outcome. What does success look like? Consider that you have accomplished that goal. What do you feel like? What are you doing?
• Define your “why.“ Why is that goal important to you? The deeper you get at defining your motivation, the more committed you will be when it matters.
• Visualize what success looks like. Is it a number, a feeling, a skill, a habit? Be as precise as possible.

Example: Rather than simply put “learn to code,” you could say “complete a beginner’s Python course and develop a simple web app by June 30.”

The first step in mastering goals is to clarify your goal, which will lead to all of the tangible steps that come next. If you have a defined goal, then you can easily track your progress and know when you have actually accomplished it.

Another method to help you “visualize” your goal is a visualization board. Here are some posts to help you with this idea:

2. Identify the Primary Milestones

Once you’ve gotten your goal written down, you want to identify the major milestones or phases. You can think of these as major indicators of progress toward your goal.

Action Steps:

• Brainstorm any of the key phases or milestones in between your current performance level and the goal.
• Write down the 3-7 major milestones or achievements you want to complete and try and order them logically.
• For each milestone, ask yourself, “What can I accomplish here that will help me feel like I’m actually moving forward?”
• Make milestones meaningful. Each one should feel like a significant achievement, not just a small step.

Example: If your goal is to complete a 5K, the milestones might be: (1) develop a running habit, (2) run 2K without stopping, (3) run the full 5K (time doesn’t matter), (4) run the full 5K at the desired pace.

Value: Milestones allow you to break down your path and give you waypoints to stop and celebrate along the way. They give you a sense of order as well as keep you inspired by showing you that change is possible, before you even arrive at your final destination.

3. Break Each Milestone Down into Smaller Chunks

Next, take each milestone and break each down into smaller bundles of achievable things. Each of those things should be small enough that you can do them in a single session or over a few days.

Action Steps:

• For each milestone, make a list of every single thing, or mini-goal, that you have to do—not just write a project plan—to get to what you want to do.
• Make each step defined and concrete. Don’t just say, “work on the project,” rather write, “write the project outline,” or “find three sources both pro and con for research.”
• Make a rough estimate of time needed for each step. Knowing how much time each step takes will help you to plan, but it will also give you a better sense of how much support from others will be needed or if you underestimated the effort needed to accomplish the goal.
• Identify and group together similar tasks. If there are two or three steps that are related, throwing them in a bundle will increase your efficiency.

Example: Example of smaller chunks or components needed to build a running habit might be: (1) buy shoes (2) schedule run (3) run for 10 minutes, three times a week (4) track activity in journal.

Value: A powerful productivity hack for working towards a goal is breaking it down into manageable tasks, which helps the ball keep rolling; and the sooner you can identify and trap any potential barriers, the sooner they will be removed.

4. Prioritize and Sequence Your Actionable Steps

Now that you have your actionable step list, you will need to select the order in which you will take on them. Prioritizing is meant to alleviate the feeling of overwhelm and help you get clear on what is most important to you.

Action Steps:

• Number or order your items. What needs to happen first? And what could be put aside for later?
• Identify dependencies. What needs to happen only after some steps have taken place? For example, you cannot start running if you do not have shoes.
• If you’re really stuck in figuring out where to start, start with the “easiest first” approach to generate momentum, or engage in the most important step where you may get some big wins.
• Use tools like a Kanban board or an online task manager (Trello, Todoist, etc.) to visualize your order and track the sequence for each step.

Example: If, for example, you were writing a project, you might sequence steps like: 1) Pick a topic 2) Research 3) Set headings 4) Write introduction 5) Draft body section 6) Edit/revise

Value: By breaking down the goals into small steps like this, you always will know what to do next, and it’s a more manageable way of reaching the finish line, by only focusing on one step at a time.

5. Set Deadlines and Timelines

Goals without dates can easily get lost in other priorities! Giving a target completion timeline to your steps creates urgency and the accountability needed to make things happen!

Action Steps:

• Assign a target completion date for each milestone and for each action step. Be realistic, while still ambitious; deadlines are meant to motivate you, not scare you.
• Use a calendar or planner to literally block time in your week for each task. Schedule time for goal-related activities.
• If you miss a deadline, change your plan and keep going. Flexibility is part of achieving continuous success.
• Set your own reminders or check-ins. Check in regularly on your planned deadlines to keep things on track.

Example: “Buy running shoes by Friday”, “Complete three runs this week”, “Complete 2K by the end of this month”.

Value: Deadlines are an essential part of goal setting and you keep the momentum alive whilst setting them and then you really solidify your commitment by having a gap to celebrate progress.

6. Track Your Progress and Be Flexible as Necessary

Tracking your progress will not only help keep you motivated but it gives you the opportunity to adjust if you feel you have veered off track to pursue your goal.

Action Steps:

• Develop some means of tracking—a journal of your steps or spreadsheet, a wall chart, or habit tracking app, to capture the steps you completed and visually see your momentum.
• Celebrate the little wins. Each time you check off a completed task is proof that you are making progress.
• If you find yourself stuck, consider the barriers that may be in front of you, and think of potential opportunities you can try to remove or lessen the barrier, and you may find yourself modifying your goal plan.
• Review your list of action steps periodically. Are you still on track? Is there anything you can tweak, change the order, delegate?

Example: If you got sick when you were training and did not run for a week –just lengthen your goal and start where you left off! If one step is taking longer than you originally thought, consider if it is possible to break down the step even further.

Value: Monitoring your progress, and perhaps rewarding or celebrating your success is one of the best success strategies for keeping on track with achieving your resilience goals. It is also a good way to demonstrate that you are flexible in your approach to achieving goals, as you are able to adjust according to unexpected changes as opposed to getting stuck in the pursuit of perfectionism.

7. Celebrate and Consider What You Have Learned

Acknowledging your accomplishment, regardless of how small, will help you motivate for future goals. Reflecting on your accomplishments can also assist you in realizing what works (and doesn’t work) for enhancing your next approach.

Action Steps:

• Celebrate every success, and reward yourself or at least take a moment to acknowledge the success. You might do this by simply sharing your success with a friend, taking a break, or rewarding yourself with something nice.
• Ruminate on your success. What helped you be successful? What barriers did you work through successfully? What barriers, if any, would you change?
• Use your reflections to think about how you might improve your approach when you set your next goal. Each success teaches you something about your own working style and methods of motivation.

Example: After you completed your first way-finding 2K run, reward yourself with a favorite meal, or talk to a friend about the accomplishment. After you completed a big work project – reward yourself with a day away from work, or doing something fun, or just being able to enjoy a good breakfast.

Value: Celebrating and reflection are key components for mastering your goals, and long-term success. Plus, they can contribute to keep you motivated, allow you to learn from what did or did not work, and ultimately enhance the pleasurable experience when pursuing goals!

See more ideas on setting winning goals:

Final Thoughts on Breaking Down Goals

Breaking your goals down into actionable items is the most effective way to turn big ideas into reality! When you chunk your goals into smaller segments, you will be breaking your goals down into do-able tasks, that are less overwhelming, and will therefore enhance your chances of success.

Just a quick reminder that effective goal setting is not about working harder, but working smarter.

Today is a day for action, so take a big goal, break it down, and take your first action step. Accomplish success, one manageable task at a time, and your future self will be grateful!