Big goals are daunting, and it’s common practice to break them into smaller tasks. But you can still have trouble getting started. To get over that initial fear, choose a task with little effort and huge rewards.
Our brain is biased towards seeing big results, and it craves instant gratification. Instead of fighting that bias, use it to your advantage. When you break your task down, identify one step that takes little to no effort, but the rewards of which are substantial. As entrepreneur Elle Kaplan explains:
So instead of “learn French” you might decide to “email Nicole to ask advice on learning French.” Achieve that small goal, and you’ll feel more motivated to take the next small step than if you’d continued to beat yourself up about your lack of language skills.
Kaplan’s full article has other research-backed tips to tackle big projects. She also suggests treating yourself for taking that small action as your first step, which helps keep you even more motivated to press on.
How to Hack Your Brain to Destroy Procrastination, According to Harvard Research [Medium]
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