Imagine you are on a road trip with your family, traveling across the country. Your final destination is fairly far away. You could make the entire trip in a day or two, but everyone would be sleepy, grumpy, uncomfortable, and worn out by the time you arrived. A better option would be to limit travel to maybe five hours at a time—a good distance covered, but not so much that it starts to wear you down.

You could plan interesting and fun events at each stop, like visiting landmarks, museums, stores, parks, tours, or restaurants. Each of these waypoints is a goal in itself, and a much closer one at that. Driving in a car isn’t necessarily fun all of the time, but focusing on the “mini-destination” just a short distance away can make the total journey easier to handle.

This is a great analogy for long-term business or life goals. Big goals are complex ventures that take a lot of time to develop and fully realize. You need to know the direction you’re heading in, but focusing on a distant, abstract destination can make the journey feel like a monumental challenge.

There are many small steps to be accomplished along this journey. If you have a GAMEplan for these steps, forget about the big destination and focus on the next goal in your GAMEplan. This is a more immediate, tangible goal that you can accomplish in a short amount of time. Following a good plan guarantees you’re heading in the right direction and staying on schedule.

Once you accomplish the next small step, celebrate it! Enjoying this series of small victories can make a long, challenging journey more than manageable.