Reach Your Goals with the Step-by-Step Method

Making progress step by step is crucial for attaining even the most ambitious objectives. By breaking down complex tasks into smaller, more manageable components, individuals can steadily lay the groundwork for achieving remarkable feats. This gradual approach emphasizes the importance of perseverance and dedication, underscoring the notion that consistent effort over time leads to substantial achievements. It highlights the significance of patience and resilience in the face of challenging endeavors, serving as a testament to the power of persistence and determination in realizing significant aspirations. David J. Schwartz explains this issue with the following examples in his well-known book “The Magic of Thinking Big”.

To achieve any kind of goal, one needs the “Step-by-Step Method.” A determined individual aspiring for great accomplishments learns to take the steps of progress one at a time. A house is built by adding one brick at a time. A football championship is won by playing one match at a time. Large stores grow by gaining one new customer at a time. Every major achievement is composed of a series of smaller achievements.

The renowned author Eric Sevareid, in an article he wrote for Reader’s Digest in 1957, stated that the best advice he ever received was the “next mile principle.” In his article, the author expresses, “When I changed my job to start writing a book of nearly a quarter of a million words, I couldn’t find the strength to think about the entire project. I was almost ready to give up my deepest professional pride… One day, I tried to think about not the next page or chapter, but just the next paragraph… For six months, I did nothing but think about the next paragraph, and the book wrote itself.”

“Years ago, I was writing daily short pieces for radio broadcasting. Now the total has surpassed 2,000. If they had wanted to sign a contract with me to write over 2,000 pieces at the time, I certainly wouldn’t have agreed due to the volume. But I was only asked to write one. Then another one. And now, the number of what I have written speaks for itself.”

The step-by-step method is the most sensible way to achieve a goal. The formula I heard about quitting smoking, which has worked for my friends more than anyone else, is the method I call “Hour by Hour.” With this, to succeed in quitting and never smoking again, you decide not to smoke for the next hour. When that hour is over, you extend your decision to the next hour. As the desire to smoke diminishes, this period is extended to two hours, then to a day. Eventually, the goal is achieved… However, a person trying to break a habit all at once cannot succeed because they cannot endure the psychological pain… One hour is easy; eternity is hard!