Employment Research Institute's Chief Executive Officer, A. Harrison Barnes, in a webinar analyzed the importance of taking small incremental steps.

If you want to accomplish something meaningful, such as getting a job, you need to work at it slowly and steadily. Do not expect to start with your search and get instant results. Harrison talks about the tugboats in Detroit which haul extremely heavy freighters down the river, attached by equally heavy cables. Interestingly, these cables are never attached to the freighter in one swoop. First, a rope is thrown across, this rope is then attached to a heavier rope, which in turn is attached to an even heavier cable. Several such succeeding ropes and cables are used to finally haul in the largest cable that will pull the freighter down the river. Whatever your goal, if you want to succeed, take small steps to begin with, building up on these as you go along. Set up a routine that will help you measure whether you are reaching closer to your goal in some way or not.

If you run 15 miles in a day in preparation for a marathon, you will get so tired you might drop the very idea of running the marathon. A similar thing happens in recruiting or even sales. People in recruiting or sales will not get immediate commitments from clients and customers. Most often they take the time to build relationships and communicate with people without expecting a sale. It is only after weeks and months of such ‘non-threatening’ interaction that people are willing to buy or try out something being ‘sold’ to them. It is the same with any goal. If you expect instant results from a sudden burst of inspiration, you are likely to get frustrated and lose all interest in your goal itself. Instead, try moving gradually towards your goal and you will find that you are able to cover greater ground.