Break It Down: From Resolution to Habit In our last post, I talked about the idea of breaking down your goals into tasks.   Adding these tasks into your routine can have a really big impact on what you achieve in life.  Today we’re going to focus on breaking down those tasks into smaller chunks to overcome or prevent obstacles.  Go for Tiny Even the smallest actions can move you closer to your goals. Just ask the researcher, BJ Fogg, who created a movement based on just that concept. Tiny Habits is a worldwide phenomenon based on Fogg’s own research that has helped thousands of people to achieve their goals through starting out in the absolute smallest of ways. The research and noted experience of participants has shown that such actions can have a huge impact and can take you to places you may never have dreamed possible.  Make a List To get started, begin by brainstorming a list of all the little things you can think of that might help you to complete the tasks you set to reach your bigger, overarching goals. If we’re talking about writing that book, jot down small steps like generating five ideas for character names, free writing a plot summary for a half hour or outlining potential chapter titles. Small doable actions that won’t overwhelm or stall you. Set It in Stone Once you’ve written your list, begin to put it in an order that makes sense. Think whether they are daily, weekly or monthly tasks.  Then take your tentative outline and transfer it to your daily/weekly/monthly agenda. Whether that’s in paper form in a book you carry around, on a large calendar hung on your wall or in an electronic app, it doesn’t matter. The point is to solidify your action plan for each day so that you’re continually moving forward and making small-step progress toward your bigger goal. Review It Notice that I used the word “tentative’ when I talked about transferring your outline to a daily planner or calendar. That’s because sometimes we need to tweak our actions a bit. You’ll want to check your progress occasionally to make sure you’re on the right track. You may find that some of your tiny action steps are redundant or not very efficient. If that’s the case, simply update your list and calendar and replace them with tasks that make more sense for where you are at that moment. When you enter the tasks in a planner or calendar you are starting to train your brain to take action every day towards your goals as well as starting to form habits that will help you be successful in life and business.