Goals Gone Wild December 1, 2006

Size Matters

Matthew Poepsel, LeftBrain/Co-Founder

I paced back and forth on the platform at the St. Pancras train station in central London. The train to my left was destined for Nottingham, but at the moment I wasn't a Merry Man. I should have been on the train with my wide arse wedged into a narrow seat. Instead, I was beside it on the platform - mobile phone in hand - receiving play-by-play updates from my friend who was in a taxi racing toward the station.

I looked up at the clock. The conductor looked down at her watch. When our eyes met, she curtly jabbed her thumb toward the train. (Gulp.) Waiting time was apparently over. As I stepped up to board the train, I got my friend's final update.

Just as his taxi pulled up to the station, our train pulled away from it.

60 seconds. He didn't miss it by much, but God Save the Queen, he missed it. 60 seconds. In roughly the time it takes Kevin Costner to remove himself from contention for an Academy Award, my friend was left behind.

As the train chugged through the English countryside, I had ample time for reflection. I thought about the events that led up to the incident. Where could Johnny-come-lately have picked up an extra 60 seconds? What little things could he have done to change the outcome?

Did he miscalculate the traffic when he stopped for that Peppermint Latte at Starbucks? Did he really need to thoroughly read Time Out London at the newsstand instead of actually buying it? (Cheap bastard.) I'll bet there were dozens of little things he could have done differently.

Then I remembered that in life, it's the little things that often mean the difference between success and failure.

Want to make a big change in your life? Want to be wildly more successful than you are today? Great! Start small.

You read that right, Friar Tuck. No matter how big a change you want, don't overlook the small things. Over time, these small things will add up to some pretty big results. Sure, your friends and family will focus on the major achievement. They won't realize the hundreds of little steps you took toward your goal. Little things like:

• Taking 5 minutes right now to write down a desired personal goal
• Taking 30 seconds to read your written goal every morning
• Making sure you take one step - no matter how small - toward your goal every day
• Taking 30 seconds to read your written goal every evening
• Exercising the daily discipline to develop good goal achievement habits
• Sending an email to Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio commenting that her performance as Maid Marian was way more convincing than that of Olivia de Havilland

Don't let a big personal goal prevent you from taking a tiny first step to make it a reality. Start small and stay small until you have reached your goal. While other people may marvel at the finished product of a major outcome, you can take comfort in the fact that a series of discrete, small steps led to victory.

But you'd better hurry. The success train won't wait forever.

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