Stop Staring at the Summit: How to Take Action When Your Goal Feels Too Big

Last updated: 25 October 2026

Big goals look close from a distance. But you never see the trail. In my coaching, many professionals stay stuck for exactly that reason: they are staring at the summit, and often comparing their path to everyone else’s.

This is the method I use with career changers and professionals in Germany to take action again when a goal feels too big. You can try it in one week.

The summit problem

I’m writing this from Sofia, with a view of Vitosha, the mountain at the edge of the city. From my desk it looks almost walkable. But from down here you can’t see a single trail, just one big shape and a vague feeling of “someday.”

A career change, a new leadership role, a business you want to build: they all look like that. You see the end state. You don’t see the way. So you keep looking at the summit, and you stay at your desk.

On the trail, nobody looks at the summit

Once you’re on Vitosha, the summit disappears behind the trees. You follow the next painted marker on a tree, then the next. Nobody on that trail thinks about the whole mountain. They think about the next fifty metres, and that is how they get to the top.

In coaching I see the opposite. People try to answer every summit question at once: Is this the right industry? What if it doesn’t pay? What if I fail in year three? You can’t answer those from the bottom.

How to take action: the next-marker method in 3 questions

The method beats analysis paralysis by shrinking the question from “Where will I end up?” to “What do I do this week?”

1. What’s one step I can take in the next 7 days? Not “change careers.” More like “have coffee with one person who does the job I’m curious about.”
2. What would that step teach me? Every marker is information. You find out whether this direction still feels right, and whether it fits who you actually are. If the answer is no, the marker still did its job: you lost a week, not a year.
3. What’s the smallest version of it? If the step feels heavy, cut it in half. A small step you take beats a big step you plan.

None of these questions asks you to know where you’ll end up. In my experience, clarity follows action, not the other way round.

A note on my 8-stage career change process: the action plan comes last there, on purpose. A marker is not an action plan. It is a small experiment that gives you the information the earlier stages need.

What it looks like in real life

One of my clients wanted to move from consulting into UX design. Her instinct was to research bootcamps for weeks and plan the whole switch. Her first marker was one coffee with a UX designer. We prepared who to reach out to and how to ask, so it felt like a real conversation, not begging for a job. The coffee taught her two things: UX designers in her field rarely start with a bootcamp, and her consulting experience counted more than she thought. It also led to two more introductions.

My own marker right now

I’m using the method myself: I’m travelling for a while, and in Sofia I’m building a project for yoga studios with a partner. Our next marker is talking to studio owners.

Your next marker

What’s your mountain right now? If it’s your career, my free live webinar From Career Confusion to Crystal Clear Direction on 26 November is built around exactly this: finding your next step, in 60 minutes, online.

Greetings from the foot of Vitosha,
Niv

FAQ: taking action on big goals

What is the next-marker method?

The next-marker method is a way to take action on a big goal without planning the whole route. You define only the next small step you can reach within seven days, take it, and use what you learn to choose the step after that.

What is analysis paralysis?

Analysis paralysis is overthinking a decision so much that you never act on it. It often happens when you try to answer every long-term question, like salary, industry or risk, before taking a single step. Smaller, time-boxed steps can help break it.

How do I take the first step in a career change?

Start with a step that gives you information, not a final decision. Three options: have one conversation with someone who does the job you are curious about, send one message this week, or update your LinkedIn headline. One conversation often leads to the next.

What if my goal still feels too big?

Make the step smaller. If "change careers" feels impossible, "send one message this week" might not. Even a small step gives you real information for the next one.

---