How to Eat an Elephant

I use this technique to keep me cycling. I cycle to keep fit, and a target of 3000 miles a year is enough that I have to try hard all year. But an annual target of 3000 miles is not very motivating in February! So weekly & monthly targets help, as does reaching round numbers. You can construct any number of “micro-targets” to help you reach your big target. More of my thoughts, for a cycling angle, here: http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/steverumsby/entry/motivation_to_cycle/

Cutting up a huge task into smaller pieces is what Brian Tracy calls “Eat the Salami One Slice at a Time.” I find that imagery more appetizing than an elephant. But, then again, his book is called Eat that Frog!, which I summarize at http://shanelyang.com/2008/06/02/eat-that-frog/ ; )

ELEPHANT EATING requires 3 main things:

1) Leveraging

2) Resources

3) Risk taking

not everyone has those,
so it’s a good idea to have a series of small goals

your friend Relax ~

Elephant eating also requires cutlery.

obaba,
that makes sense too.

I would love to mince the meat to make small sausages and share it with everyone here.

should I fry or BBQ the sausages?

That’s the way to deal with big goals. Firstly you need to sub-divide them into smaller goals. Then the goal does not seem that big because you realise that step by step you will be able to achieve it.

Setting deadlines is also as important. You will get lost in the trivial stuff if you do not have any exact date to accomplish the step by.

So true. The reason why most people fail in goal setting is they focus too much on the end result and do not celebrate the small victories. We have all been trained by the media to expect super results with no effort and when that does not happen, we quit. Take small bites, and you can chew through anything.

Hi Hunter,

Setting huge goals and breaking them down into bite sizes will drastically increase our chance of achieving the goal. Too many times we are overwhelmed by the huge goals that we gave up and by breaking our goals into smaller sizes, we can measure our success easier and celebrate the small milestones which can help to motivate us.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger

Hi

It’s also great to set up little celebrations along the way.

Juliet

I used this technique when I wanted to do chinups. I could never do more than 5. So I started off small. Do a total of 10 across 3 sets then do 20 across another 5-6 sets and kept increasing till I could do a total of 50 across multiple sets. It really felt good.

My top tips for creating effective goals are:

1. Use a journal to keep track of your goals journey
2. Get yourself into a positive state before writing your goals
3. Start brainstorming emotional, mental, physical and spiritual goals
4. Make sure your goals are SMART

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
within a Timeframe

5. Write in positive terms rather than negative ones
6. Be sure they’re really YOUR goals
7. Prioritize your goals in a step-by-step plan

It’s also important to be willing to adjust your goals along the way. That flexibility on the road to achievement allows you to preserve your sanity when you setbacks come along.

Thanks for this post. I think the ideal situation for the purposes of enjoying your work is to have your full attention on the task you’re doing in this moment, rather than part of your mind fantasizing about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (e.g., your bestseller being published). If your attention is 100% focused on the task in this moment, and everything else fades away, it’s actually hard not to feel satisfied.

I’ve always thought small goals were really, really boring. So boring that I wouldn’t even bother setting them.

I think life is more motivating and interesting when I have a big goal, but then tackle the next steps in that goal as they come up. Big goals = sense of direction, small goals/action steps as they come up = the fun in everything.

Dressing up your goals to the nines… eh, not so thrilling unless you absolutely need that level of detail. But I think for most people, simply working on the next step their mind and heart tells them to work on is the best choice of action.

How to eat an elephant? Every big goal can be accomplished, so keeping a positive expectancy is important. All big goals need to be broken into smaller manageble parts. This is commonly called chunking down.

Very often, we look at big goals and are literally scared out of our wits.

A basic example could be writing an e-book. Writing the e-book itself is a huge goal. It will take time without a doubt and a lot of hard work. At this point, most people will give up on the goal, especially if they have never done it before. This is usually due to fear of the unknown. But what if we knew the step-by-step instructions? Now each step taken at a time is much more managable, right? We might have the confidence to go for it now.

So, taking action and completing one step at a time builds your self confidence and a very useful habit as well, so eat that elephant 1 step at a time!

We need to set big goals. But that’s gotta be long term goals, say 5 year goals or 10 year goals.

Then we need to break them down to smaller objectives or milestones to be reached, say 1 week objective, 1 month objective, quarterly objective and so on.

Too often, people don’t even take that crucial first step simply because their goal is so big they’re intimidated by their own goal.

So how to overcome that? Simply write down the 3 actions steps to be taken within the next 24 hrs and these have got to be small action steps such as write your resume, call a client, read a book, pay your bills, etc.

These are meant to get yourself into the momentum. The most important thing is to get started. Nothing happens until you take the first step.

Cheers~

Mark

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[...] inspiration for this post came from this excellent read on how to eat an elephant. Again, no pachyderms are at risk here; it’s a great read on breaking down your large goals [...]

Thank you for the tips! I love that saying about how to eat an elephant. A good friend told it to me, and it is really helpful. I always say it to myself when I feel overwhelmed.

My cousin sent me the “elephant…” quote, after reading a recent piece on my blog. I was unfamiliar w/ the quote, & here I am now on your site. Thank U* for the *excellent explanation, & “yes” I now “get it”

In Peace Always,

Mother Lightning
of [thepeacegarden.blogspot.com]

I love the reminder. Especially this time of year as we prepare thoughts of the upcoming new year! thanks for sharing. xo

[...] Realistically, can you afford all that?  Do you know enough about eLearning to work with someone to create the greatest design ever? Do you know enough about your elearning clients’ needs to build something they will think is the greatest ever?  Can you really eat that elephant all at once?             [...]

[...] naturally – to cure the world of addiction, one bon mot at a time. And since we have to eat the elephant one bite at a time, saving the world will start with saving me. It is – after all – my hand that is on [...]

[...] You did not gain this experience by somebody preaching to you, and others will not have that experience through your preaching. The more you push, the more others will push back. Share your experience one piece at a time, one person at a time. [...]

sometimes i think that is pretty weird

Eating a frog raw and cooked is taking life in a positive manner- the bitter will taste sweet. No matter what I eat, elephants, eels, frogs,etc, they will all taste delicious, one bite at a time.

Taking ideas and telling your brain its not that big goal cause if others could do it shouldn’t I be able? But yeah breaking down your thoughts of an goal (mini-goals) is a great idea!

You are stunningly beautiful!

[...] I’m going to keep on decluttering and doing “stuff” for 15 mins at a time, taking bites out of the elephant and taking babysteps until I reach my end goal! GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); [...]

[...] amount of courage to go through all that you have. I totally agree with Bernie, Elaine. There's a blog on personal growth which I hope you don't mind if I quote from as it includes one of my favourite sayings: How do [...]

I thought I would see elephant recipes