Make your goal so small it’s ridiculous not to do

Make Your Goal Ridiculously Small

“Make your goal so small it’s ridiculous not to do.” It struck a chord with me recently during a planning session. We were talking about big goals, big dreams, long to-do lists – the kind of things that can paralyse you. Sometimes it’s not fear that stops us; it’s that we simply don’t know the next step. We want to act, we want to create, but it feels too massive in our heads.

I have to give credit as this little gem of a phrase comes from M in our Creative Living community.

Breaking Down the Vision Board

As I’ve been planning and mapping out 2026, one of my top goals was creating a vision board. At first, it felt enormous – what images should go on it? How would it represent my life, my art, my work? I was stuck. Then, remembering M’s words, I broke it down to the smallest next step: take the old vision board off the shelf and remove the images. That was it. Ridiculously simple.

Once the first step was done, the next step revealed itself naturally: transfer my mind-mapped ideas onto Post-it notes, then gradually replace those with images. What could have been a five-hour procrastination session became an hour of satisfying, tangible progress.

The Power of Small Steps

This principle applies to everything, whether it’s creating art, launching a project, or simply taking action on a personal goal. One of my bigger goals this year is starting an in-person art club. For someone used to the online world for a decade, that’s a huge context switch. My first tiny step? Reach out to one local person who already runs workshops. That’s it. One message. Ridiculously small.

And yet, even this tiny step can reveal where resistance lives. For me, it wasn’t fear – it was a mental block I’d created around balancing online and in-person work. Reframing it as just a friendly catch-up made all the difference.

Tiny Art, Big Joy

The same goes for my personal art practice. My big ideas can feel overwhelming – huge sketches, massive zentangles. So I started ridiculously small: a tiny sketchbook, just a few lines or dots at a time. No pressure, no expectation. That tiny step reignited my love of drawing and helped me gradually move to bigger projects.

Notice, Act, Repeat

Life works in these small, deliberate steps. Notice the opportunities, reach out, take one tiny action, and the next step becomes clear. Momentum builds. Doors open. Energy rises. Sometimes the smallest step is all it takes to set a chain reaction in motion.

So, if you’re feeling stuck with a goal or a project, try this: make it so small it’s ridiculous not to do. Start there, and see where it leads.

10 YEARS OF UAS

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SHOW NOTES

Here is a picture of my mini sketchbook!

Have a great week & take care,

Michelle xo