The Merit of Mini and Major Goals

I recently watched a Youtube video about how to make habits stick using what the video called "Elastic Habits." These habits work because they involve multiple levels of goals, from mini goals to major goals. The major goals are the ultimate goals - what we know we should be doing. Yet we don't always have enough energy and motivation to complete those major goals. In those instances, if our major goals were our only goals, then we might be tempted to not do anything at all. After all, if we can't reach our goal, why even bother, right?

That's where the mini goals come in. The mini goals are extremely easy versions of our major goals - goals that we can complete quickly and easily, no matter how little energy we have left. For example, if your major goal is to jog a mile every day, then your mini goal may be to jog in place for a few minutes. Of course, the exact nature and intensity of your major and minor goals will depend on you, but your minor goals should be so easy that you never have to skip a day. And if you never have to skip a day, you will have a much easier time establishing and maintaining your habits. Mini goals aren't really the goals themselves. They're the goals that help you develop and maintain your habits as you work your way up to being able to complete your major goals regularly.

I plan to use this method to develop several spiritual habits, like studying the scriptures. I don't always feel like studying the scriptures for an adequate amount of time, so some nights, I don't study the scriptures at all. Yet I can set a mini goal to study the scriptures for at least a minute or two, and I think I can always force myself to do at least that much. And if I start reading the scriptures, planning to study them for only a minute or two, and I end up studying them for much longer, all the better.

This is the kind of program I've been needing. Too often, I've set goals that either were too lofty to be sustainable or too easy to make me stretch. Now I know that I can have goals at both levels, both mini goals that are always achievable and major goals that help me grow. I don't have to pick just one level of goal or the other. By using both major and minor goals, I can make sure I'm always making a reasonable amount of progress toward my goals, no make how much or how little energy I have with which to do it.