Every new year, people sit down to write out their goals or make big resolutions. The big resolutions ultimately fail as they are based on emotion, and the bar is set too high. Trying to do too much too soon is often a recipe for failure.

It is better to think like a stonemason when you have big goals. The stonemason has the job of building a floor-to-ceiling fireplace from a particular type of rock. They know the end goal, and to meet it, they must prepare and lay one stone at a time, with precise measurements.

That’s not to say that having big audacious goals isn’t something you should strive for. However, you need to chunk them down into some small changes to your habits that you can then build on as you go along. These changes are called MicroHabits – one habit broken into smaller, achievable bites.

Let's look at an example of how you could break a big goal down into MicroHabits. Imagine you want to join a martial arts club and the goal is to earn a black belt. Getting to that goal will take a commitment to some great habits!

To chunk things down into a starting MicroHabit, you could start by simply preparing your uniform the night before. This could mean washing it and folding it before putting it in your gym bag.

You could also take a few minutes before heading out to that first class to do some stretching on your own at home so you go in feeling warmed up and ready.

These actions set the stage for success and put you on the right path to actually going to your first class feeling prepared.

These MicroHabits build the bigger habit of showing up for each class on time and being ready to work on the next belt level.

Getting into MicroHabits means that you must prepare for the change in routine.

Work on designing your MicroHabits. Think of it as if you had to look into a microscope to see it for yourself. For example, you decide that you want to do your breathing exercises every day, but you have tried and failed to be consistent.

Your first MicroHabit could be learning to watch how your chest rises and falls with each breath. You focus just on how the air comes into your body and at what speed. Concentrate on seeing your chest and stomach area expand, then go down as you expel the air. This MicroHabit by itself is extremely relaxing, and you can practice it for a few days before adding in a new MicroHabit.

Next, you could try setting a timer or putting on a short video to start giving your practice some structure. This way, you can slowly build up your confidence in being the type of person who does breathing exercises every day!

To start, make your MicroHabit so small that the thought of not doing the action never enters your mind. If you think of doing a MicroHabit and start looking for excuses not to, it means you need to adjust and break that MicroHabit into an even smaller size.

Pick the same time and place to perform your habit. In the example of the breathing exercises, you could do it in your study every night at 10 pm sharp.

To help you stay on track, try using a habit tracker to mark off your success when you perform your MicroHabit. You can download the Paper Habit Tracker I created for free (no email opt-in required!)

This form of accountability takes no time to complete, so it is a no-brainer. It will help to motivate you when the checkmarks start adding up. I’ve also been playing around with the free Habit app which does pretty much the same thing, just on your phone.

Motivation is great but resist the temptation to get over-excited and start doubling up on your MicroHabits, or you will find yourself giving up. When you try to reach your goals too fast, you get overwhelmed, and then it is back to the very beginning.

Another great technique is to get someone to hold you accountable for your daily MicroHabit. There may be so much going on in your daily life that it is just too easy to forget the MicroHabit until someone reminds you.

You can do this by teaming up with a friend or family member, an online friend you find in Consistent Momentum or another group, or even sign up for Habit Helper where we can check in daily via email or messaging and meet weekly over Zoom to keep your MicroHabits top of mind and your goals front and center.

However you decide to keep yourself accountable, I encourage you to just get started TODAY! Choose the smallest, most achievable version of your MicroHabit (think: something that takes two minutes or less to do), and just get going. Before you know it, you'll see yourself becoming the type of person who follows through on your commitments, and watch out for the snowball to start rolling on all sorts of goals you may have been putting off!