Reverse Engineering: A Reprise

My wife shared a recent post by Goalcast, an educational/life coaching organization.  In it, they listed "8 Traits of High Performers who have a Winning Mindset."  They are:

1. Create the right mindset
2. Craft the right self image
3. Don’t settle for talent 
4. Commit to the process
5. Reverse-engineer the goal
6. Take control of their future
7. Get over losses quickly
8. Surround themselves with winners

All were extremely thought-provoking and make sense to anyone looking to improve their situation.  Of the eight, however, I found #5 the most intriguing.  The article included the following explanation:

5. Reverse-engineer the goal
"Elite champions understand that big goals need to be broken down into small, attainable steps. If the big goal is to win a championship they need to break into mini goals to stay encouraged and motivated. They understand the importance of intermediate goals. These goals give them short-term satisfaction while working toward their biggest goal."

I've always been a proponent of this approach. As a planner by profession and a geographer by training, it's second-nature for me (though often difficult in practice) to look at a distant goal and then plot a course to get there.  Nearly ten years ago, I outlined such an approach in five successive posts here:

"Great Circle Routes: Random Thoughts on Getting Where You Want To Go"

Part 1: The Plan
Part 2: The Direction
Part 3: Drawing Your Own Map
Part 4: Finding Joy in the Journey
Part 5: Mid-Course Corrections

I invite you to read these again.