Often when we set long-term goals with exercise it feels as if what we are trying to achieve is like a huge mountain to climb. It feels a long way in the distance and a lot of hard work.

You might doubt whether you can actually do it and have a lack of what psychologists call ‘self-efficacy’ (your belief in your ability to do what you are trying to achieve and a key predictor of successful behaviour change).

But you don’t need to look at it like this.

When you think of a goal as a mountain, you are looking into the future and imagining yourself taking all of those steps at once. But this is not what happens in reality. While achievement of a long-term goal may well be far in the distance and demanding a lot of effort, it does so over time.

It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that big changes are made of thousands of small and specific actions that you take in the present moment.

All too often we try to jump into the deep end and try to do everything straight away. It makes us think of the common saying: “making a mountain out of a molehill.” So here is a short process you can go through to turn your mountain into a molehill.

The process

Write out a very specific and clear long-term goal and when you would like to achieve it. As you do this, try to imagine exactly what achieving it will be like and give as much detail as you can. The clearer the goal is, the more targeted your efforts will be.

Ask ‘what needs to change in my life for me to achieve this?’ What skills, behaviours, and habits do I need to work on? (It’s okay to be general at this stage)

Ask ‘what are some small and specific actions that I can take right now towards those skills/behaviours/habits’ that I feel at least 80% confident that I can achieve? For anything less than 80% break the behaviour down further until it reaches that threshold. Write these out in a list and work on one or two at a time until they feel easy or automatic. Then move on to the next and keep building.

Celebrate your successes - every time you take a specific action, celebrate the fact you have done it. It might sound cheesy but this provides positive reinforcement and builds your confidence as you start to notice progress. You want to feel good about doing the behaviour because it increases the chance you will want to do the new habit again.

Remember, the only way to reach a big goal is to take it one day at a time with tiny behaviours. They may feel insignificant but overtime these will accumulate to have a big impact.