One Thing You Can Do To Stop Giving Up

Are you a serial quitter?

Are you bad about starting a big project and then giving up part way through it unless someone is pushing you hard to finish it? My past is littered with unfinished projects, ideas and goals. It happens to the best of us and it’s not a good feeling to give up. If you’re ready to stop giving up, I have a great little hack for you: baby steps.

Self-Help Hack : Baby Steps

This strategy will sound deceptively simple, but don’t disregard it until you try it. It has gotten me to finish quite a few projects that seemed to take ages. Here it is: Break it down into baby steps.

Simple, I know. And you have probably heard it before. But it works! It doesn’t matter if you’re working your way through a large project at work or are finally tackling that kitchen remodel. Just about anything big you need to get done can be broken into smaller steps. One step in the kitchen remodel might be to pick out a new sink, another would be to tear out the old kitchen floor. You get the idea.

Read More

My most recent example is reading. I used to read every morning. But as summer came upon us and my morning routine changed, I got out of the habit of reading. I made the commitment to finish a book. But I wasn’t making any progress. So I broke it down into chunks. 12 pages a day chunks. Now I’m getting through more than 10 pages a day, but my bare minimum each day is 10 pages. (I’ve completed 3 books in the last 2 months this way).

Get Fit

This also works really well when your goal is a little more elusive. Maybe you want to lose 50 pounds, or get yourself into shape to go on a big hike this summer. For those scenarios you may want to break things up into 5 pound weight loss steps, or set up a training schedule that will have you walk 15 miles each week.

As you complete each baby step you’ll feel like you’re moving forward. Seeing progress is a powerful tool to help you continue and stick with it. .

A big project or goal can seem pretty daunting when you look at it and think about it as a whole. Breaking it into smaller steps allows you to focus on just one small attainable goal at a time. Have you heard of the saying “How do you eat an elephant – One bite at a time”? That’s exactly what we’re doing when we’re breaking things down into baby steps. We’re bringing it down to bite-size. Something we can sink our teeth in and not worry about choking on it.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip- It’s helpful to write the baby steps or mini-milestones down and keep them in plain view. This helps you focus on the next step and being able to cross it off the list gives you a feeling of accomplishment. Also, be sure to celebrate your successes along the way. Each completed baby step needs to be recognized and celebrated.

Coaching Assignment

Here’s your assignment for the next few days:

What is the one thing you have been putting off that really should get done? Break it down into baby steps. Write them down, post the milestones in plain view and get to work.

Come back here and comment about whether this worked for you.

What other strategies and hacks do you use to get big projects done?