Having a big goal driving our behaviour and what we do is a good thing. Visualizing the big picture motivates to do what it takes to achieve it.

But the thing with big goals are that they can be daunting. A little hiccup here and there might have us question the whether the whole thing is actually even possible to achieve. And this is usually the starting point on the road to quitting and giving up.

Having smaller goals along with the big goals can help us steer clear of this.

For example, my big goal for the year is to complete writing another book. Often, I am excited about that and sit down to write and put several words together that I can use. But, just as often, I go through days where the whole thing seems daunting and I fail to put two words together.

On these days, the smaller goal of writing a thousand words that day comes to the rescue.

I might end up writing a thousand words that are completely tangential to the plot, but I write nonetheless. Even if these are words I can't use and will eventually have to throw away, it still ensures that I explore that idea and try to bring it to life. Even if it doesn't make it to the book, I won't have days at a stretch where I don't create anything. I still keep my habit of writing daily going. And eventually, I'll conjure up something that I can use.

But to only create things that I can use means I'm waiting to make sure and evaluate the idea a lot more. In addition, this kind of an approach makes it harder to take failure in the stride.

And we all chance upon failures sooner or later no matter how hard we try to avoid them.

With just a bigger goal driving us, we make it harder for ourselves to experiment and try out new ideas. With just a bigger goal driving us, we tend to play it very safe.

With smaller goals to go with it, you create room for experimentation. You create room for failure and for learnings.

Having a big goal is good. And necessary. But having smaller goals in that direction is just as necessary.