Our ego sometimes keeps us from setting small goals in exchange for bigger, “fancier” ones.

Maybe we aren’t working out at all right now, and have no track record of staying disciplined with a consistent gym schedule. Why would we set our goal to walk on a treadmill for 5 minutes every day? It’s much more exciting to say we’re going to hit the gym for 30 minutes of weight training, 30 minutes of cardio, 4-5 days a week, starting tomorrow.

Most times though, this approach hinders our progress, or stops it altogether. We set goals that are too far away from our present state, and in doing so we are much more likely to quit very soon after starting.

I’ll use myself as an example on this same principle, with a picture outside of the gym. I have a list of self-development books that are on my bucket list to read. One in particular took me forever to finish. I only had about 85 pages of the book to finish, and I figured I should just sit down and finish it in one go. I’ve often heard the “read 10 pages a day” approach, but come on – 10 pages? That’s for sissies. I’d just do it all at once.

So what happened? Well wouldn’t ya know, I walked past that book for about 3 months without cracking open those final pages. Eighty-five pages sounds like a big undertaking when I’m busy going about my day, or when I’m fighting to keep my eyes open before bedtime. 

Finally, I laid my ego aside and committed to 10 pages a day, and…here comes the shocker none of you are expecting. Eight days later I finished the book. The hilarious part is, if I had just started with that approach in the first place, I could have finished 3 books from my list in the same span it took me to finish the last section of one. 

Starting small may feel humbling, but it will take you much farther than forcing on a version of you that’s 10 steps ahead. That person is coming, don’t worry, but develop them with time. Start with step 1. Your foundation will be much stronger this way.