{"id":52789,"date":"2026-09-29T14:49:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T12:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niv-now.com\/?p=52789"},"modified":"2026-10-25T18:52:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T17:52:24","slug":"wie-man-vorgeht-wenn-einem-ein-ziel-zu-gros-erscheint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niv-now.com\/de\/career-change\/how-to-take-action-when-goal-feels-too-big\/","title":{"rendered":"H\u00f6r auf, auf den Gipfel zu starren: Wie du aktiv werden kannst, wenn dir dein Ziel zu gro\u00df erscheint"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last updated: 25 October 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big goals look close from a distance. But you never see the trail.<\/strong> 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In short: find your next marker<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

The next-marker method (Niv Nicolas Nowbakht):<\/strong> Instead of planning the whole route, you define only the next step you can take within 7 days, take it, and let what you learn choose the step after that.<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. What’s one step I can take in the next 7 days?<\/strong><\/li>
  2. What would that step teach me?<\/strong><\/li>
  3. What’s the smallest version of it?<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    The summit problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    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.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On the trail, nobody looks at the summit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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?<\/em> You can’t answer those from the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to take action: the next-marker method in 3 questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The method beats analysis paralysis by shrinking the question from “Where will I end up?” to “What do I do this week?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

      A note on my 8-stage career change process<\/a>:<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      What it looks like in real life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      My own marker right now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Your next marker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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

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      Save my free seat →<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      Prefer to talk it through 1:1? Book a free 30-minute Clarity Call<\/a>, or pick a time right below.<\/p>\n\n

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