Read this if you have big, ambitious goals... but are feeling constantly intimidated and overwhelmed.

 

The Problem

You have a big goal.

You dream of breaking through that pre-set mold: get a job, play it safe, retire.

It’s not just you.

You’re surrounded by similar people in the niche communities you lurk in. Artists and creators and entrepreneurs. All vying for their chance to give their gift and make the world a better place. 

"I want to write a novel, but never got every far."

"I’ve always dreamed of making it as a streamer, yet it always seemed like a ridiculous ambition". 

"I want to really get a following with my music, but it seems like the task of reaching out to others and getting followers is too intimidating."

Setting ambitious goals is great, it’s indeed necessary if you want to grow and accomplish great things. As u/flabbergastednerfcat wrote on one of my Reddit posts:

I like to think of setting big crazy ass goals as an overarching vision that gives me some direction. The WTF i REALLY want, compass, North Star, a place to shoot for thats probs a little scary and maybe feels slightly embarrassing to say out loud kinda thing.

If it’s a little scary, that’s good. That means it’s out of your comfort zone. That means it’s worthwhile and has the potential for real impact.

But, there’s an issue. When it comes to execution, to actually reaching that goal; at best we procrastinate to no end, and at worst, things fall completely apart and we quit.

Big goals invariably create a bigger problem.

They lead to you being pummeled with overwhelm. Staring at a giant wall to climb, you can’t help but feel intimidated, behind and discouraged.

Still. You try to shake off the feeling. Youput it in a box. You look at the ones who’ve made and try to replicate their steps. 

"Want 100k subscribers to your channel? Post, post, post and post some more. Don’t stop. I too was once a nobody."

But the emotions can be paralyzing. Poring your heart and soul into something then allowing yourself to be vulnerable to criticism—or worst, to crickets—it's not easy. It’s no joke when things don’t go as well as you hoped. It's take a lot of stamina to persevere.

In the end it’s not the haters out there that’ll get you to quit; if only it was that easy. No. It’s the little goblins inside your own head, taunting you with "you're not good enough" until you finally give up.

 

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So, TLDR of the above is: it’s great to say “I’m aiming for the stars!!”, yet when you barely clear a tree stump after jumping as hard as you can, it can be crushing to your moral.

You need a way to get there. Not a shortcut (doesn’t exist). Not a boost (inspiration is overrated). But a way. A method.

I call it logarithmic goal setting—or log goals for short.

The Solution: Logarithmic Goal Setting

Big goals will provide for you a vision and direction. It's what you've written down for your North Star. It's what you'll aim for each and every day.

This is good... but it’s not enough. It would be like going for a hike using only a compass to B-line it directly to the summit. You’re gunna reach dense shrubbery or a impassible stream at some point. What you also need is a map and a physical path to follow.

The idea of log-goals is to first break your goals into discreet levels of difficulty and complexity. Then figure out the list of tasks, but only for the first level.

Let's take the goal of 'losing 100 pounds’.

Losing that much weight is extraordinary and crazy intimidating. To achieve that you’d need to.... uuuuh???? Buy a pile of diet books? Hire a trainer? Post a crazy vow as an Instragram Story? Clear your pantry? Buy only kale and—checks fitness blog—quinoa?

Like, it’s OK to want to lose 100 pounds, for that to be the end goal. But to start off, instead ask yourself, how do I lose 1 pound? 

This where you’re at: Level 1: going from 0 to 1 pound.

Figure out how to beat Level 1. Ignore the rest.

Once that’s done (and you have that first bit of momentum), you’ll be at Level 2. When you get there—and again not a minute sooner—ask yourself "how do I beat Level 2?" And Level 2 can be going from from 1→10 pounds lost.

Level 2 is a notch up in difficulty and complexity. But by then you’ll have gathered some lessons, skills, confidence, slightly better eating habits, etc.

Once you beat Level 2, which may take a while, then you could take on the final boss: 10→100 lbs. Level 3 is hardest of them all, but, in keeping with a video-game analogy, by then your character strength and skill will be increased, and your inventory would be filled with items to use when confronting that final boss.

 

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Let’s go through this again, but with an example from above: making it as a musician.

As you know, that goal is too vague, so start by breaking it down into measurable sub-goals. Get to 250 000 Spotify listeners. Reach 10 000 Instagram follower. Make 2000$ per month in income.

Let’s focus on the first sub-goal (250K Spotify listeners) but the process can be repeated for the other two.

Step 1: decide on how many levels this game will have.

You can count the number of 0s if it's a multiple of 10 (so 10 000 would be 4), or just go with 5.

Step 2: Map out the metrics for the various levels.

The idea is to go with some sort of exponential growth. You can do this roughly. Start with 1, then 10, then maybe 150 and continue until you get to the final goal.

If you like math, you can use the formula F = G^(1/L)

Where:

• F = a growth factor

• G = the final big goal (so 250 000)

• L = number of levels (so 5)

For this example, plugging the variables into a calculator, we get F = 250 000 ^(1/5) = 12.011.

So the series would go 12, 144, 1732, 20812, 250 000. You could use the numbers as is, but I usually give it a solid rounding. I'd go with :

Level 1: 0 → 10

Level 2: 10 → 150

Level 3: 150 → 2000

Level 4: 2000 → 25 000

Level 5: 25 000 → 250 000

Step 3: Figure out level 1.

Forget about the rest—that’ll come when you ‘graduate’ to each next level.

It’s ok to have no fricking idea how to get 250 000 Spotify listeners. But you can figure out what to do to get a mere 10 music lovers eager to listen to your stuff and subscribe.

Brainstorm. Consult that how-to-make-it-in-the-music-biz guide you already bought. Write out a plan.

The fact the goal is now mini should clear things up for you in terms of activities.

Do you need an intricate website? No.

Do you need to find a music agent? No.

Do you need to buy a 5000$ microphone? No.

Do you need to get better at what you do? Well yeah, but not "100k screaming fans at a stadium" good—you need 10 hipster, "I liked her before she got big" good.

That’s doable.

So yeah, will it involve work? Stepping out of your comfort zone? Yes and yes—and that was always going to be the case. But I hope you can see that this objective is far less intimidating.

You can start, for example, on Reddit; posting your stuff in niche subs, writing comments on other posts, starting up a few DMs with people. You’re looking to connect with just 10 ‘fans’, which could include other budding musicians and audiophiles.

There isn't all that much pressure here. This is doable.

Step 4: Execute on that plan until you finish level 1.

Be patient and compassionate with yourself as best you can. It might take a while and that's fine.

Step 5: Repeat this process for level 2 (10 → 150).

Ok, this is getting a bit more tricky… But, by then again, you’ll have collected some items to use on your quest.

Some collected items are ‘hard’: 10 people that have agreed to post your next song on their social media. Insightful and clear advice gleaned from someone already in level 3. A sweet website you discovered that helps people find new musicians.

Some items are ‘soft’: budding confidence. A little dose of validation and encouragement to go on. New skills you developed and some lessons learned from small successes and failures.

With all of that, brainstorm your options, then formulate a new plan for Level 2. This could involve similar action items as Level 1, like practicing your craft and contributing to several subreddits, but you can pivot some of your focus and efforts elsewhere. Perhaps it’s time to focus more on Instagram? Maybe it's time to buy some (slighty) better gear?

Step 6: Execute on that plan until you pass Level 2.

Again, this can take some time and that's okay.

Keep expanding. By then it might be time to start reaching out to blogs or industry influencers.

You can take this on with a ‘trading-up’ mentality: approach and work with small bloggers/influencers... then approach someone a bit bigger using your previous interactions and collaborations as social proof; repeating until you reach trade-up to some of the bigger players…

Step 8: Then do the same for Level 4: 2000 → 25 000

At this point, I'm out of advice because, frankly, I have no clue how one would make that leap. But that's ok. The point is not to have everything mapped from now to when you're headlining at Madison Square Garden.

All you need to have figured out is how to beat whichever level you're on.

Step 9: Then get to the final level. Level 5, aka the big leagues: 25 000 → 250 000.

Again… I got nothing, but by then you’ll be well equipped to figure it out.

You got this.