We all love big goals.
You know that feeling when you watch someone's success story? The documentary about how they built their company from nothing. The interview where they talk about their creative process. The post where they share their journey.
It's inspiring as hell. You close the video thinking, "I want to build something like that."
And then what happens?
You open your notes app. You start planning. You think about what your version of that could look like. You sketch out the big picture. The full vision. What it could become if you really went for it.
And the bigger the vision gets in your head, the smaller you feel. Because the gap between where you are and where you want to be looks impossible to cross.
So you don't start. You keep waiting for the moment when you feel ready to actually go for it.
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Big goals are supposed to motivate you. That's the whole point, right? Dream big. Aim high. Shoot for the moon.
But, you get so focused on the end result that you can't see the first step. The finish line is so far away that starting feels pointless.
You want to build a real business, but right now you don't even have an idea that feels good enough. You want to create something people care about, but you've never made anything public before. You want to be actually good at something, but you're still a beginner.
The goal is clear. The path is not. So you stay stuck in the space between wanting it and doing anything about it.
And the goal isn't the problem. The problem is you're trying to match the size of your first action to the size of your ambition. You think if the dream is big, the first move needs to be big too. It doesn't. It can't be.
This is the part that trips people up. You want your first move to feel meaningful. To look like it matches your ambition. To prove you're serious.
But your first step isn't supposed to impress anyone. It's supposed to get you moving.
The first move is just proof that you're capable of moving. That's it. It needs to be real.
When you finally take that tiny, not-so-exciting first step, something interesting happens: you learn. Perhaps your initial idea doesn't pan out. Maybe it's simpler than you imagined, or maybe it's more challenging. Either way, you've gained some knowledge that you didn't have when you were just in the planning stage.
And that information tells you what the second step should be. Then the third. Then the fourth.
Achieving your goals is all about taking consistent steps forward and making progress with every action you take.
Motivation gets you excited about the big goal. But motivation fades the second things get hard or boring.
Momentum is different. Momentum is what happens when you've already started moving and stopping feels harder than continuing.
When you take one small action, the next one gets easier.
You posted one thing, so posting a second thing feels less scary. You had one conversation, so having another one feels more natural. You made one sale, so going for a second one doesn't feel impossible.
Small actions create momentum. And momentum carries you further than motivation ever could.
But you only get momentum by starting. And you can only start by doing something small enough that you can actually do it today.
Your dream doesn't have to shrink. You don't have to lower your ambitions or settle for less. The vision can stay huge.
But your next move needs to be small. Small enough that you can do it today without needing more time, or more preparation.
What's one thing you can do today that moves you slightly closer to what you want to build? Just one small thing.
Send one message. Make one thing. Post one piece of content. Learn one skill. Have one conversation.
That's it. Just one small move. Then tomorrow, another one. Then the day after that, another.
Big goals will always inspire us. They're the reason we dream in the first place. But if you only focus on the finish line, you'll never take the first step.
Just start somewhere.
This week’s wallpaper
See you on the next stair,
Alastair