Stop Setting Small Goals: How Thinking Bigger on a Shorter Timeline Transforms Your Success

What if, instead of aiming for gradual progress, you aimed for extraordinary results in record time? Setting bigger goals on shorter timelines can unlock new levels of growth, pushing you to think beyond the usual boundaries. This approach forces rapid adaptation and helps you achieve more than you thought possible.

The Problem with “Normal” Goals

Many people set goals based on what seems reasonable or comfortable. They might plan to double their income or grow their business incrementally over several years. But what if this approach is actually limiting your potential? Tanner O’Brien suggests a different path: set bigger goals with shorter deadlines. This shift challenges you to reframe your thinking and discover new ways to achieve outcomes that once seemed out of reach.

For example, instead of targeting a revenue goal over five years, imagine aiming for the same result in one year. The question then becomes, “What needs to change to make that happen?”

Case Study: The $100 Million Week

An inspiring example comes from Brad Sugars, founder of ActionCOACH, who runs a “$100 million week” exercise each year. The idea is simple yet powerful: create a business plan aiming for a billion-dollar outcome. Even if the result falls short—say, landing at $100 million—it’s still a remarkable achievement compared to a typical goal.

This strategy teaches a key lesson: by aiming high, you might fall short but still end up far beyond where you’d be with conservative goals. It’s about pushing past perceived limitations and allowing yourself to think in terms of abundance, not scarcity.

Why Bigger Goals Work: Pushing Past Limitations

Kay Cote brought up an essential point about how setting ambitious goals helps you push past self-imposed limitations. Many of us have an internal ceiling on what we believe we can achieve. By aiming for ambitious targets, we stretch our mindset and expand our capacity for growth.

A big goal forces you to ask hard questions:

• What needs to change in my strategy?
• How should my business model adapt?
• Who do I need to become to reach this new level?

When you start thinking this way, your actions begin to align with the bigger vision, and growth follows.

The Power of a Shorter Timeline

It’s not just about the size of the goal; the timeframe matters too. Compressing the timeline forces faster decision-making and execution. Tanner shared his own experience of wanting to achieve financial freedom by 2026, but then wondering, “What if I could do it by the end of 2025?” This single shift in the deadline required a complete rethink of his approach.

Shorter timelines challenge you to prioritize and eliminate distractions. They force you to focus on high-impact actions that can bring you closer to your goal quickly. This method is particularly effective for business owners who might be stuck in a routine and need a fresh perspective to break through.

Mental Sprints: Accelerating Growth

Kay also highlighted the concept of a “mental sprint.” This involves putting intense focus on a specific goal over a short period—like a month or even a week. It’s a technique that forces rapid learning and adaptation.

However, there’s a key distinction between a mental sprint and simple hard work. As Tanner pointed out, mental sprints require you to think differently, not just work harder. When you’re racing against a tight deadline, you’re not just putting in more hours—you’re adjusting your entire strategy to fit the new parameters.

The benefit? Even if the sprint is challenging, the growth is exponential. And over time, the pace that once felt like a sprint becomes your new normal, making it easier to tackle future challenges.

Avoiding Burnout: Bigger Goals, Not Just Harder Work

A word of caution: while shorter timelines and bigger goals can be transformative, they should not just translate to doing more work. Tanner emphasized that if a goal can be achieved simply by working longer hours, it’s probably not big enough.

In his view, truly ambitious goals require a shift in thinking, not just a ramp-up in effort. This aligns with the idea from the book 10x Is Easier Than 2x, which suggests that aiming for 10x growth forces you to innovate, while aiming for 2x often leads to burnout.

By aiming for something 10 times bigger, you’re forced to eliminate inefficiencies, automate processes, and focus on strategies that create massive impact. It’s not just about putting in more effort—it’s about finding smarter ways to achieve the outcome.

Path to Success: Key Takeaways

• Set bigger goals on shorter timelines: This shift forces a rethink of your approach, pushing you to prioritize and adapt.
• Use mental sprints to accelerate progress: Focus intensely for short periods to learn faster and achieve more.
• Think differently, not just harder: Aim for goals that require innovation, not just extra hours of work.
• Embrace the discomfort: Stretching beyond your comfort zone leads to growth, even if you don’t hit the exact target.

Conclusion:

Stop limiting yourself with small, gradual goals. By setting bigger goals with shorter timelines, you can unlock new growth opportunities and achieve results you never thought possible. It’s about challenging yourself to think and act differently—and ultimately, reaching heights you once considered out of reach.