Dividing the goal

- [Instructor] One of the biggest challenges people face when they set a goal is that it seems overwhelming to them. They look at where they are right now and where they want to be in the future, and the gap just seems too large. To help you manage your goals, let's borrow from a concept usually reserved for politics and war, divide and conquer. For goal achievement, this means you'll divide the vision you created into smaller, bite-size targets so you can conquer, or achieve them. You'll find the Dividing To Conquer section at the bottom of the goal achievement worksheet. Begin by rereading your goal summary and the date on which you want to accomplish it. Next, define how you will measure whether you achieved it. Sometimes the things you want to accomplish are easy to measure. For completing my first marathon, for example, that's obvious, I either finish it or I don't. Other goals are also easily measurable, such as what you want your income to be next year. But what if your goal is sort of abstract like wanting to be a more giving person? In this case, you can convert the abstract idea into a number. For example, you might use a scale of zero to 10, with 10 being the most selfless person in the world. And perhaps right now, subjectively you're at a four. And within one year you want to be at an eight. This subjective measurement can help you evaluate progress over time. Once you know where you want to be by a certain date and how you will measure it, it's time to divide to conquer. If your goal date is one year from now, divide that in half and ask, Where do I need to be six months from now? So, using the marathon example, perhaps I'll be able to run a half marathon or in the case of being a more giving person, I'm at a four, I want to be at an eight, so six months from now halfway there would be a six. Now I'm going to divide again to define a shorter distance or maybe a running habit. Or in the example of being a more giving person, a five would be halfway between four and six. And finally, you can move to the one month target where you divide that three month target by three. For my marathon, it might be running several times per week for at least two weeks. Or in the example of being a more giving person, I could move closer to that first mark of five. Don't worry about dividing everything perfectly. The idea is to simply take this very large, very difficult goal and break it down into smaller, more manageable targets. Once you've done that it will be easier for you to figure out the first step to take.