Using the whole time to think helps you come up with approaches and strategies you might not have thought of before, because we tend to come up with one or two good ideas and think “that’s it! I’m ready!” Forcing yourself to think longer helps you go places your brain wouldn’t ordinarily go. Try to do your thinking in different settings. For example, you could go for a walk or visit a new coffee shop. Being in a different setting may help your brain to identify different possibilities than you would in your usual environment.
For example, say you like to write. A realistic way of thinking about that might be to say that you want to write something every day. That’s a realistic goal and a realistic way of thinking about your love of writing. Entertaining the impossible means taking what you normally think you can do with your writing even further. Imagine what it would be like to see your book on a shelf at your favorite bookstore maybe even in a fancy display. Imagine seeing your name and your book’s title at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. This is the easiest way to think big. You can also do this by creating a vision board. Get a piece of poster board and use pictures and words from a magazine to represent your goals. Then, place the board somewhere you will see it often to help remind you of your goals.
For example, if you have a speech project for school, but want to think big about it, consider giving a style of speech you’re not usually comfortable with. Instead of reading directly from your paper, work from just a few bullet points and make it sound less formal. You could consider adding music or visuals to increase interest in your speech.
For example, if you’re thinking big about the kind of house you want to be able to afford one day, think bigger than you normally would maybe $25,000 to $50,000 more, or a couple hundred thousand. But don’t think so big that your plan is to be able to afford a home worth millions and millions of dollars. If one day you can, that’s great, but setting more attainable goals helps to prevent you from being disappointed and helps you feel good about what you can accomplish.
For example, if your end goal is to write a best-selling book, an example of starting small might be researching the topics or genres that are becoming more popular (you don’t want to focus on stuff that’s popular now, because chances are things will change before your book is finished). If you’re writing a speech, starting small might just mean making a list of things you want to give a speech about. Once you have your goal broken down into steps, rearrange them in the order that you need to accomplish them.
Keep in mind that you may need to readjust some of your deadlines, so it is important to be flexible. Don’t beat yourself up if some of your goals need to be readjusted.
Know when you’ll need to use other people like publishers or an agent, for example to achieve your goals. Make sure you include contacting such people and whatever they need to do in your list of steps for achieving your goals.
Creating a schedule for when in your day you work on each step toward your big goal can help you stay consistent. Set aside a certain amount of time each day at the same time each day to work. This prevents you from getting sidetracked by other things and guarantees that you stay consistent. Remember that taking action doesn’t necessarily mean accomplishing something really big every day. If you one of your steps for writing a best-selling book is getting an agent, don’t get down on yourself if all you contribute toward accomplishing that step in one day is researching potential agents. You have to take the first step to take the second and as long as you’re taking action, it doesn’t matter how big or small the action is. [8] X Research source
For example, if you’re working on that speech for school, and you’re committed to doing something different with it, ask a friend to listen to what you have and be honest about how they think it’s going. It might be painful to hear that they think what you’re trying just doesn’t work, but it will ultimately make you better. And getting a new perspective helps you stay motivated. You can also ask your support system to help keep you accountable. Share your deadlines or smaller step goals with them and ask them to check in with you. Be careful of becoming overly reliant on others, too. If you spend too much time getting other people’s opinions and following their suggestions, you’ll get really good at helping them think big, but won’t do so well thinking big for yourself. Criticism can be helpful sometimes, but it is important not to base your worth on what other people think. Relying too much on other people’s opinions can be self-limiting.
For example, if your goal is to have a best-selling book, you might celebrate the day you finish your research. Or the day you write a chapter. Or even when you get more than one page written in a sitting. You can celebrate in a lot of different ways, and they don’t have to be expensive. Reward yourself with a piece of chocolate when you check off one of your steps. Or enjoy having a night off and binge a new TV show on a Saturday night. It doesn’t really matter how you celebrate as long as you take a moment (or longer) to acknowledge that you’re making progress. Try placing a calendar on your wall and crossing off all of the goals you have accomplished, no matter how small.
Make a list of the ways that you might fail or fall short, and accept that they are distinct possibilities as you work to accomplish your big goals. If you do fail, remember that your failure doesn’t define you. Assess what led to your failure and start again. Keep in mind that success is not a straight line from point A to point B. There will be challenges and setbacks along the way. Learn about some of the challenges you may face and consider how you will handle them.
