One of the biggest challenges we face when we’re trying to make improvements in our lives, is that the changes that are visible from day to day most often are minuscule. You don’t see the results in some cases until a significant amount of time has passed.

Before leaving the world of full-time employment, I worked at a primary location four out of five days a week, and a secondary, further location one day a week. I had set a goal to lose weight and begun the difficult process of the few key behaviors that I thought would make a difference, but there were no immediately visible results. Even the quantitative results on the bathroom scale, though visible in fractions of a pound, were not astounding.

I did have data showing my weight was coming down, but it was gradual enough that most people that saw me regularly wouldn’t notice.

However when I would see people at the location I only worked periodically, more than one person would see me and ask the very gratifying question, “Have you lost weight?”

In his book, The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy points out this phenomenon and how the compound effect of behaviors, for good or bad, add up to significant amounts over time. That could be related to our physical health, our finances, or our goals in general.

Jim Rohn taught that success in any area if life usually depends on a half-dozen things. That should be good news, if we are avid success seekers. If that’s true, then we need only to identify the half-dozen activities that determine success in the area that we are pursuing.

In my upcoming book, Small Steps, Big Feat, I look at the areas of personal finances, health, goal achievement and personal development and share the lessons I’ve learned over the past decade while working to achieve financial independence, achieving my ideal weight and the corresponding processes of goal achievement and personal development that evolved through the process.

In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill tells the story of someone who, in the time of gold digging in America’s history, went west to pursue wealth. After an initial effort, some gold was discovered. The entrepreneur went back for more equipment and investors and commenced digging. The initial strike ran out shortly after they resumed their efforts. They pushed on but to no avail.

Finally they gave up, sold their equipment at “Junk” prices and went home losing all of their investments and efforts.

The buyer of their equipment sought out someone with expertise, who predicted the vein would continue just three feet from where the original proprietors had stopped. The prediction proved to be true, and the junk buyer made a fortune from the gold mine.

Perhaps we’ll never know how many times we have stopped three feet from the gold of our own big goals, but if you’re pursuing a goal that you are ready to give up on, step back and ask yourself, “What are the half-dozen key behaviors or activities that are most likely to ensure success in that area?” and make sure you’re focusing your efforts on those areas before you stop three feet from the accomplishment of your big goals. Then persist in your efforts.

Check out these 2-minute surveys for ideas and to see how you’re doing in the areas of Finances, Health, Goal Achievement and Personal Development.