Tell me if this sounds familiar.
- Step 1: You set a goal and consider all of the steps.
- Step 2: Set out to achieve your goal.
- Step 3: You start to feel overwhelmed.
- Step 4: You find excuses and/or look for a way to ditch the goal.
…Just me?
It took a while for me to figure out what I was missing. I set myself up for success with great accountability partners, a clear path, and a worthy goal, and did my best to power through, but the steps to complete the goal seemed way too challenging.
But what if you broke everything down into mini, manageable, micro-goals? A micro-goal is a simple and short goal that can ensure you make steps towards achieving larger goals, and/or build momentum to accomplish additional goals. Starting small can provide inspiration when a large-scale goal feels intimidating!
Here’s one example of a micro-goal to make steps towards larger goals:
| Example: | |
| Focus | Behavior Management |
| Micro-goal | Work in more check-ins with students to improve classroom engagement |
| Rationale | Because relationship building is so important, I need to make sure I have enough time to connect with each student. |
| What do you need to be successful? | A list of all students, with days of the week listed, and a system to track classroom participation. I will also schedule time each day where I can connect with each student. |
| How will you know you are successful? | When students demonstrate more contribution to class discussions and classroom activities, based on my attacking of classroom participation from the beginning of the one month to the end. |
| Target date for meeting your micro-goal? | Everything will be set up to implement on Jan 15 and measurement/assessment will be on Feb 15. |
Notice how the language is based on the micro-goal instead of the “Focus”? This allows each step to feel more doable! Doable=success, and success=rewarding yourself on a job well done. Maybe with cake. Be sure to download our template to set some micro-goals for yourself, and pat yourself on the back- you are setting yourself up for success!
