As a life mentor, I’ve learned that one of the main reasons that people do not accomplish their goals is because they just set goals. They rarely establish milestones.  

Perhaps your goal is to lose 60 pounds in 1 year. One of your milestones could be to lose 5 pounds a month. Whatever your milestones are; focus on them NOT your goals. If you meet that objective, you will accomplish your goal. 

When establishing your milestones take small steps.  

Don’t establish milestones that are difficult to achieve. If you find yourself doing this, it means that you are not breaking down the product. You are giving yourself too big of a target. Let’s say that you are a job recruiter in your company’s HR department, and you need to recruit someone for a very critical position. So, there are these steps: 

1. Decide what qualities you need and what salary you are willing to pay 

2. Post an ad 

3. Ask around  

4. Review resumes 

5. Pick out the more promising ones 

6. Come up with questions to ask  

7. Call people in to interview 

8. Review the candidates that seem the most likely fit  

9. Call in for a second interview 

10. Decide and inform your candidate 

If you had just said recruit someone, you made yourself feel overwhelmed by the task. It is especially important to break down into smaller steps when you are dealing with something you are unfamiliar with or have issues about. 

Another example: 

• Current problem – working at a job I don’t enjoy and that doesn’t pay well 

• The desired result – working at a place I really enjoy and that pays well 
• Goal – to find my dream job 

The milestones for the above example are: 

1. Figure out if it is the company, the sector or the type of work I’m doing 

2. Find out what I really want to do  

3. Start interviewing my friends who have different jobs 

4. Do an analysis of my skills and see which ones are transferable 

5. Research various companies I would like to work for 

6. Research various sectors 

7. Find out if I need to take a class to acquire the skills to get to the next level  

8. Start networking  

9. Put together a resume 

10. Find someone to mentor you 

11. Start sending out your resume  

Be prudent and very conservative when establishing milestones. Think simplicity and start small. It’s important to consistently complete your milestones on schedule. Once this becomes habitual your mind will be trained and will not allow you to miss another milestone. You will get used to achieving your goals and you can set more difficult ones.  

Make sure you focus on each milestone associated with your goal. Focusing on the milestones is the key to successfully completing each goal. Focusing on the goal itself may seem overwhelming at times, so chew it off in small chunks. 

The key to successful goal management is to focus on your milestones, not your goals!