Take a Goal and Chunk It Down
AFFIRMATIONS
for
Meditation and Reflection
I am comfortable asking for guidance and advice from people who have already done what I
want to do.
I am using mind-mapping skills to break down large goals into smaller, manageable tasks and I’m accomplishing them one at a time.
I am planning my day the night before, which allows my subconscious mind to work throughout the night on accomplishing my goals.
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.
—SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS
Better known as the American writer,
humorist, and entrepreneur Mark Twain
When you break down large goals into small tasks and accomplish them one at a time, you’ll move forward much more easily. It’s known as “chunking it down.” That’s how big goals are achieved.
One great way to discover the individual steps is to ask people who have already accomplished what you want to do. From personal experience, they can guide you through the necessary steps and give you advice on how to avoid common pitfalls. You can also purchase books or guides, take online courses, or even start from your end goal and look backward. Imagine that you have already achieved your goal, what did you do to get where you are now? What was the last thing you did? And the thing before that? When you find the first thing you did, that’s your starting point.
I am comfortable asking for guidance and advice from people who have already done what I want to do.
Mind mapping is a simple yet powerful process for creating a to-do list for achieving your goal. It lets you determine things like who you need to talk to, what information you need to pull together, what the deadlines are that you need to meet, and more. If you’ve always dreamed of becoming an author and want to write your first book—a breakthrough goal that would lead to an extraordinary new career—you could use mind mapping to help you “chunk down” your very large goal into smaller steps.
Here’s how mind mapping1 works:
1) Draw a circle in the center of a page. Inside the circle, jot down the name of your major goal (write a book).
2) Divide your goal into the major subcategories of tasks you’ll need to do to accomplish the primary goal and draw a mini-circle for each (interview experts, find an agent).
3) Draw several lines radiating outward from each mini-circle and label each line with its corresponding small task (write an email asking for an interview, hire a transcriber on Fiverr.com).
4) Break down each one of the small tasks with action items to create a master to-do list.
I am using mind-mapping skills to break down large goals into smaller, manageable tasks and I’m accomplishing them one at a time.
Once you’ve created a mind map for your goal, you’ll have to transform all of your to-do items into action items. List each item on your daily to-do list separately, along with a completion date. Transfer them to your calendar and schedule them in the proper order, then do whatever is necessary to stay on track.
We recommend that you plan your day the night before—make a fresh to-do list based on the current day’s accomplishments and outcomes. Spend a few minutes visualizing exactly how you want the day to go, and your subconscious mind will work during the night thinking of creative ways to reach the goals you set out to achieve.
Each morning, your plan should be to complete the most important items on your to-do list first. Here’s a tip for making this a success: As soon as you take out your list, identify five things you absolutely must accomplish that day, then number them one through five, with one being the item you least enjoy and five being the item you most enjoy. By putting the item you least enjoy at the top of your list, it becomes your first task of the day. Now, not only won’t you spend the whole day thinking about it, but getting it done first creates momentum and builds confidence, setting the tone for the rest of the day.
I am planning my day the night before, which allows my subconscious mind to work throughout the night on accomplishing my goals.
1 To help you create your own mind map, check out the free resources on my website www.successprinciples.com, or watch my video “Canfield Coaching: Mind Mapping” on YouTube.