How many steps should a goal have?

Start with five to ten big parts. Only break down the part you’re working on right now, and leave the rest for later.

What if I don’t know all the steps?

That’s completely fine. Write down the ones you can think of. Once you finish the first step, the next one usually becomes much clearer.

Should I set a deadline for each step?

It’s best to wait until you’ve done a few steps. If you set dates for lots of steps at the start, you’ll probably miss some, and that can make you feel bad about the whole goal.

You know what you want, but not where to start

Maybe it’s starting a side business, getting fit, or moving somewhere new. You’ve thought about it for a long time, but whenever you sit down to begin, you either stare at a blank page or write a huge plan that feels overwhelming. That’s a very common place to get stuck.

The trouble is that you’re trying to plan the whole journey at once, and from where you are now, you can only see the first few steps clearly. You don’t need the whole plan. You need a clear next step.

An example: opening an online shop

Stage 1

Break the goal into a few big parts. Keep each one short. You don’t need any detail yet.

Choose what to sell
Set up payments
Photograph the products
Build the shop page
Tell friends it’s open

Stage 2

Break the first part into smaller steps. Leave the other parts alone for now.

Write down ten things you could sell
Cross out anything you can’t make or buy this month
Decide a price for each one left
Pick one to start with

Stage 3

“Write down ten things you could sell” needs only a notepad and ten minutes. That’s small enough to start today, so you can stop planning and begin.

You’ll break down the other parts when you get to them. By then you’ll know much more than you do now, so your plan for them will be better too.

How to do this with your own goal

Write down what “done” looks like, for example “my shop is taking orders”.
Break it into five to ten big parts. They don’t need to be perfect.
Pick the first part and break it into smaller steps. Leave the other parts for later.
Keep going until each step takes less than about thirty minutes and you know exactly how to begin.
When you finish a part, move on to the next one and break that one down.

Two common traps

The first is planning everything up front. It can take days, and the plan often changes as soon as you start. The second is looking at every step at once. Seeing ninety small steps together can feel even more overwhelming than the original goal. Focus on the next step and let the rest wait.

Let Nearer plan the steps with you

Type in your goal and Nearer breaks it into small steps for you, then shows you one at a time. If a step still feels too big, press Break apart and Nearer splits just that step into smaller ones. When you finish them, you move on to the next part of your goal.

Type your goal and see the steps

7-day free trial. No credit card required.

Common questions

How many steps should a goal have?: Start with five to ten big parts. Only break down the part you’re working on right now, and leave the rest for later.
What if I don’t know all the steps?: That’s completely fine. Write down the ones you can think of. Once you finish the first step, the next one usually becomes much clearer.
Should I set a deadline for each step?: It’s best to wait until you’ve done a few steps. If you set dates for lots of steps at the start, you’ll probably miss some, and that can make you feel bad about the whole goal.