The Dangers Of Thinking Too Big And Too Broad
If you’re looking for a way to level up your life, there are two roads: Thinking Big or Thinking Broad. Most people would recommend that you take one of those routes. We’d argue that both paths lead to the same destination and neither is better than the other.
Many people want the benefits that come with thinking big but struggle with balancing their big ideas with day-to-day responsibilities—they end up spreading themselves too thin and don’t get any real traction on any of their goals.
Others love the idea of thinking broad—finding a handful of passions and making small improvements in each area—but feel that they can’t get started. There are too many places to go and too many ways to move forward. So much opportunity, but not enough focus.
For those that want to level up their life without hyperfocusing on one thing, we present the Thinking & Acting Big, Not Too Broad framework for goal-setting. This framework is about finding a balance between big ideas and getting stuff done on a daily basis.
The framework is divided into three sections: Big Goals, Not Too Broad Goals and Daily Routines. You’ll notice that each part starts with the word BIG. If you want a holistic approach to goal-setting, big is the way to go!
You may be thinking “Big goals? Daily routines? A framework for goal-setting? It all seems so dull…” That’s OK. The underlying theory of this approach—that high-quality goals require high quality routines—is about getting results, and not about creating a new set of organizations or metrics that need to be managed. So if it feels dull, let it be dull. You simply want to get your biggest life possible; and we’re going to give you the tools you need to do just that.
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Big Goals, Not Too Broad Goals and Daily Routines are the three pillars of The Thinking & Acting Big, Not Too Broad framework.
Big Goals: A big goal is a big thing that you want to achieve in your life. Most people start with their big purpose (“I have three years to make some serious money”), which is a great place to start… but they run into trouble when they try to get specific about how they might get there. It can be very hard to figure out what the steps are that will lead you from where you are today to where you want to be in three years.
Not Too Broad Goals: Creating a not too broad goal is about honing in on a specific idea, but still leveraging the benefits of “big”. This allows you to get started immediately on something that’s meaningful and ambitious, without having to worry about whether or not it will scale. It’s also a good way to start thinking about what might be possible in your life if you do achieve your big goals—you get both the benefit of focusing on the thing itself (e.g., “I want to lose 30 pounds”), but you also get the benefit of looking at how that thing might manifest in your life (e.g. “I want to run a marathon”).
Daily Routines: A daily routine should be something you do every workday. It doesn’t have to be something that takes a lot of time or effort – it just has to be something you’re going to do for the rest of your life. A simple daily routine can add up over time—for example, eating vegetables with lunch can seem mundane and boring, but doing this for the rest of your life is going to add up 10 years of healthy living back in your life!
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Your everyday habits are what define you. They’re the things that people will notice about you first and they’re what is going to be most consistent in your life. If you want to get big results, start with small actions every day.
You can’t change who you are overnight. You might have good intentions and you might have a goal, but if you haven’t changed your daily routines, the chances are good that whatever it is that got you in trouble in the first place will keep getting you trouble.
If you want to think big and make a lasting impact on your life, start small. Figure out what kinds of routines you can commit to and make those the basis for the big ideas that you have.
Once you’ve got a good handle on your daily habits, then as soon as possible build a bigger vision for your life. It may feel scary to think in terms of a new future that’s longer than three years away, but it’s important to have expectations that are actually in line with what’s possible—and if you don’t, then that uncertainty will undermine confidence in any big goal-setting process.
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This is a framework that is designed to get you started. It’s not the last word in goal-setting, but it will help you get started in the right direction. Once you’ve got a good understanding of Big Goals and Not Too Broad Goals, then you can get creative with creating your daily routines. The more routine behaviors that fit into your day, the less anxiety and stress are going to be a part of your life and the more time, energy and focus will be going towards one thing: living a big life.
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You can use this framework to create a new habit quickly, or to deal with a problem that’s been troubling you for a while. It’s all about being in the right mindset and creating the right kind of structure to get started.
For example: “I have three years to get my life in order. I want it to be so good that I don’t have anything bad ever happen again. Will you help me figure out what I need to do?” This would start at the big goal stage, then move on through Not Too Broad Goals and finally into daily routines.
Or: “I’m having trouble with a relationship. Should I end it or hang in there? What can I do to make things better?” It would start at the big goal stage, then move on through Not Too Broad Goals, and finally into daily routines.
You can make these changes as fast or as slow as you want—as long as you’re not living with inertia or by default.
Hopefully this will help you take the first steps towards creating a life that’s bigger than what you might have imagined. A life that matters enough to make an effort to change every day, starting from the smaller things that matter more than anything else: your habits.
Conclusion: What really matters?
All of the good things in my life are the result of small, everyday actions that I do every day.
What really matters is this: Are you willing to take control of your life? If so, what are you going to do today to make sure that you’re on track every day and every week? Start with small actions every day. If you’re not happy where you’re at right now, then start with a change in your habits today. If it doesn’t work out, then step forward and try again tomorrow.