How to reach your goals?

Go big or go home? How about going steady and reaching your goals?

We like things that are big and moments that are grandiose. It stands out and we are naturally drawn to it. As an entrepreneur who is starting out, you can't help but wonder how to go big for your business. How to create a flagship product or service that is just magnificent? How to deliver impeccable customer service and build a strong community? How to impress that big-name investor? How do cultivate a unique brand identity and maximum followers on social media?

If we look around us, we are fed a cultural script through movies, books, stories, etc of that one do-or-die situation that transformed the hero's life. We have consumed narratives our entire lives of how that one milestone moment changed the course of the hero's journey, stories of how that one high-stakes decision catapulted the hero to long-lasting fame and success. One can't help but wonder if they can be the next hero. If their journey and their business can be the next big thing.

Overnight success stories sell thus, success stories that have been years in the making, and fraught with pain and mistakes get pushed to the side. Or their core struggles are erased and the story is glorified. But, the universal truth remains - Rome was not built in a day.

So are all those stories fake? They may be, they may not be. But they definitely are rare and reserved for the privileged few.

In this chase for glory, our vision narrows, and our brains fail to realize that a high stakes decision or a task causes high stakes anxiety. If a task has the potential to make or break our business, the mere possibility of failure becomes unacceptable and dreadful. This anxiety can stall us from even starting the task. We keep waiting for a big wave of motivation to hit us before we embark on the journey. Thus, our efforts are suspended.

Our logic becomes flawed and we start believing that monumental success requires monumental efforts, but producing monumental efforts requires a large mental bandwidth. Not having this magical amount of mental bandwidth can soon cause frustration and stress when the effort doesn't seem to be working out.

The steady, incremental effort, on the other hand, puts you in a position where:

a) Your mental bandwidth remains healthy as building upon small but incremental efforts every day is easier than mustering enough strength to do something monumental on a regular basis.

b) Your stress levels are manageable as steady efforts don't create a do-or-die situation. They create space for failing, getting back up, and trying again.

c) Fear of failure-based procrastination can be avoided. Scientifically, it is proven that motivation kicks in after you have started. Doing one average thing a day is still better than doing nothing.

d) Your regular efforts will develop a momentum that will keep you going in the long run. The book Atomic Habits by James Clear explains this phenomenon beautifully.

Moreover, you being in a healthy position can do more for your business than you being in an overworked and unmotivated place. If this doesn't feel enough then remember: Building your Rome will require sustainable, consistent efforts. Not a one-and-done effort.

So, what do steady efforts look like?

1. Celebrating small wins because they deserve to be celebrated.
2. Not banking on a one-hit-wonder success formula and being prepared for a rocky path.
3. Not berating yourself for losses and thinking that all is lost after a mistake. Operating from a mindset that there will always be a chance to rectify and do better.
4. Checking with the space on your plate and then taking on things so you don't burn out in the long run.

We, as a species, are obsessed with the idea of success, especially overnight success. But we can start to think rationally and focus on making small changes every day that will add up.