Take the first step.

I like to think of big goals, often in broad terms. Maybe you can relate. I want to be extremely fit, living to 115 years old. I want to be a great musician, leaving behind a legacy of many albums. I want to create a loving family and community. Big goals, not SMART goals.

The SMART goal enthusiast may reject these goals. But I say that these bigger, broader goals are great starting points. Not everything can be a SMART goal (take that, corporate!). We're not machines; we're human beings, storytellers who often operate on broad strokes, not exact executions.

SMART goals have their place. They help us define what it means to be "great" and give us direction and a measurable outcome.

However, I've found that sometimes there's just too much going on in life to sit down and do the SMART goal thing. I know it's good, I know it's helpful. But sometimes there just isn't bandwidth to do it.

Does that mean we can't make progress towards a goal, something we're called to? Absolutely not.

Here's where taking the first step is helpful. We may not have a plan, and we may not have a highly specified, measurable goal with a timeline. But we can take a first step. And we can repeat that step.

I wanted to become more fit. So, I just showed up to the gym one or two days a week to start. Along the way, I got some protein powder, not really knowing how useful it was. I was a little disorganized. But the act of showing up consistently gave me the momentum to work in better goals. It gave me the "Relevance" from SMART goals to think, "How can I make this better? I'm showing up, so how can I get more out of this?"

Taking the first step does so much of the work for us. Even if we're repeating that first step inefficiently for a while, it gives us space to incorporate improvements and become more efficient when we're ready.

Getting it right and optimal from the get-go isn't possible for all of us. And that's ok.