Breaking Down Big Goals: 6 Steps to Turn Vision into Action

About six weeks into training, I realized I had no idea what I was doing. My plan was a calendar scribbled with random runs and vague hopes that I wouldn’t keel over at the last kilometer. And it wasn’t until I started breaking the goal into smaller, actionable steps that everything clicked. Unfortunately, that was too late.

Big goals can feel overwhelming, but they don’t have to paralyze you. You can break them down into bite-sized pieces you can easily tackle with the right system. I will give you the exact steps to achieve that in this article.

🎯 This is Part 5/9 of the Series Your Best Year Yet

Welcome back! You’re reading part five of Your Best Year Yet: A Step-by-Step Guide — a special year-end series designed to help you reflect on the past year, set transformative goals, and create a plan to thrive in the year ahead. If you missed the previous issue, catch up here.

We will get our hands dirty and plan our goals and milestones in this issue.

In the upcoming issue, we will discuss time management and prioritization. Subscribe not to miss it!

A few years ago, I set a goal to get healthier. I think anybody has done it at least once in their life. Except I had no idea what healthier even looked like.

Was it eating more kale? Was it running a 5K? Or maybe it was drinking water instead of coffee?

By February, my goal was to gather dust next to my unused yoga mat. And it wasn’t until I got specific — setting a goal to run 10K by June — that I started seeing progress.

A fuzzy goal is an impossible goal. As James Clear wrote in Atomic Habits :

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

And you can’t build a system around something vague like getting healthy or being happier.

• Write your goal in one specific sentence. For example, run a 10K by June 1st or lose 15 pounds by eating whole foods 80% of the time.
• Add a purpose. Why does this matter to you? You have to find your fuel when motivation wanes.

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I treated my first massive goal like a sprint instead of a marathon. I wanted to learn to speak Spanish fluently in six months. I dove in, downloaded every language app, and studied for hours daily.

Three weeks later, I was burned out and could barely remember anything. My dream felt too big to handle. But the real problem was that I hadn’t broken it into manageable pieces.

A big goal is like eating an entire cake in one bite. You need slices.

Breaking your goal into milestones makes it manageable and provides opportunities to celebrate progress.

Divide your goal into 3–5 milestones. For example:

• For writing a book, milestones could be:

1. Outline your chapters.
2. Write the first draft of 3 chapters.
3. Finish the entire first draft.
4. Edit the first draft.
5. Write the second/final draft.
6. Save $2,500 by March.
7. Save $5,000 by June.
8. Save $7,500 by September.
9. Save $10,000 by the end of December.

Let’s get back to the cheese marathon fail. When training, I learned the power of weekly tasks the hard way.

One Sunday, I stared at my training plan and realized I’d skipped the entire week. But it wasn’t because I lacked motivation (maybe a little). It was because my plan was too vague.

I wrote “train for the marathon five days a week" on my calendar. Yet, I hadn’t broken it into specific runs or gym sessions. I didn’t have any weekly goals or achievements. Therefore, training felt useless.

In Getting Things Done , David Allen wrote:

You can’t do a project. You can only do action steps.

Weekly tasks keep you grounded in what you can do today.

For each milestone, list specific tasks you can accomplish weekly. For example:

• For running a 10K, a weekly task might be "run three 5K training sessions".
• For writing a book, the weekly task might be "write 4,000 words this week".

Use a planner or digital app like Notion or Trello to keep track of your weekly tasks. (By the way, I am a Notion affiliate. Use this link if you want to help the newsletter).

I usually share everything that is on my mind with my friends. But this behavior could backfire.

Sharing your challenges and ideas with your closest ones is useful. But when it becomes a habit, and you keep failing, they won’t trust you anymore. They will stop supporting you.

I want you to take a different approach in 2025. You must build an efficient support system.

Do you want to run?

Recruit a training buddy, join a local running group, or post updates on social media. You will notice a different kind of involvement from those people because they will be actively interested in your progress.

Even the most self-motivated people benefit from accountability. According to a study by Dr. Gail Matthews, people are 65% more likely to achieve their goals if they share them with a friend or mentor.

• Find an accountability partner or group. Share your milestones and weekly tasks with them.
• Use social media (if it’s not anxiety-inducing for you) to publicly share your progress.
• Reward yourself for hitting milestones. However, prioritize fun instead of derailing rewards.

During my marathon training, I discovered a key obstacle — bad weather.

Winter rains were relentless. My usual outdoor runs became impossible. And I would have fallen off track without a backup plan.

Instead, I started using the treadmill at the gym. It was less exciting but equally effective. Yet, planning saved my goal.

Real life can be savage, and no plan could survive it.

Obstacles are inevitable. But you can increase your chances of staying on track if you prepare.

You won’t solve every problem — that’s impossible. But at least you will try to protect yourself from the most common issues.

• List potential challenges or build a how-to-fail list . For example, if your dream is fitness-related, your obstacles might include bad weather or a busy work schedule.
• Brainstorm solutions. For bad weather, you could plan indoor workouts. For time crunches, try morning workouts or lunch-hour walks.
• Revisit your plan monthly to adjust for life’s curveballs.

I wasn’t only proud of the race when I crossed the finish line of that marathon. I was proud of the months of consistent progress I’d made along the way.

Tracking each week’s achievement, no matter how small, reminded me of how far I’d come and kept me pushing forward. Even if it didn't last, I had a blast.

Tracked goals are easier to manage. Tracking your progress keeps you motivated and moves you in the right direction.

1. Set a weekly check-in and ask yourself:

• What did I accomplish this week?
• What challenges did I face?
• How can I adjust next week to do better?

1. Use visual trackers like habit charts or progress bars. There’s something deeply satisfying about coloring in a box or moving a slider closer to completion. You have many infographics you can download and use from The Challenge (including this issue).

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• Want more? Explore my other work at Cosmopolitan Mindset.