New Year, New Goals…But What If You Don’t Have Any Yet? ✨
- mary.smith
- 8 minutes ago
- 5 min read
The Micro-Goal Method for EP and Device Professionals
Every December, the same wave rolls in:
“Here are my goals for next year!"💫 “This is my year!”💫 “New Year, new ME!”💫
And maybe you love that energy. Or maybe, if you’re honest, you scroll through those posts and think:
“I have no idea what I want next year to look like.” 🤷♀️
If that’s you, you’re not behind. You’re not unmotivated. You’re not alone. You’re just…human.
Sometimes, the hardest part of growth isn’t the work — it’s the clarity. Especially in EP, where people casually talk about His bundle pacing and PVARP adjustments as if we all woke up understanding these things. ⚡️
❖ So here’s a different take for the NEW YEAR: Instead of forcing a big, shiny, perfectly articulated goal, start with the smallest possible step. Because clarity doesn’t usually arrive as a lightning bolt—it often shows up as a small twinkle, a micro-goal. - Yes, even in the EP & device clinic world.
Why Micro-Goals Work - Especially when you don’t know your BIG goal yet.
Micro-goals are tiny steps with low pressure and high impact. They create momentum without requiring certainty. 🚶♀️
➡️ Big goals ask:
“Where do you want to end up?”
➡️ Micro-goals ask:
“What can you try this week that nudges you forward?”
Micro-goals build confidence, create movement, and help you discover what you actually enjoy — not just what you think you should enjoy.
Micro-goals bridge your thoughts between “I’m stuck” and “I’m starting." In general, you do not start with the whole plan. You start with one thing you can do today and build from there. One step at a time. 🔧
📍 Start Here: Five Questions to Help You Find Direction
If you are staring at a blank page, try these prompts. Let them meet you where you are. If you are still feeling stuck, consider scrolling through your camera roll. It is basically a highlight reel of what caught your attention this year. 📸
➡️ 1. What energized you this year, even for a moment?
A topic you enjoyed teaching in the EP Lab.
A device case where the fluoroscopy finally made sense.
An EGM or ECG rhythm strip that clicked after months of looking at it sideways.⚡️
Or, in a broader sense, maybe you noticed you felt more alive when you were explaining something, solving a problem, organizing a process, mentoring someone, or working in a calmer environment. Those moments are clues. They point toward what motivates you and what you may want more of in your career in EP or cardiac device rhythm management.
✨ There are clues in your sparks.
➡️ 2. What drained you faster than you expected?
Maybe it was troubleshooting a mystery impedance trend on a CIED.
Maybe it was being in back-to-back ablation cases with no lunch. (That one drains us all.) 😩
In general, pay attention to the tasks that left you exhausted instead of fulfilled. Sometimes the clearest path toward something starts with being honest about what you need less of, both clinically and professionally.
➡️ 3. What are you curious about, even if it feels small?
Curiosity is a compass. 🧭
Even mild curiosity is worth following.
Maybe it is wondering why that LBBAP morphology looks different in V1 on the patient's ECG.
Maybe it is wanting to understand an X-ray image a little better. 👀
Maybe it is something broader, like wanting to grow your teaching skills, exploring leadership in healthcare, or building confidence in a new area of your role.
Curiosity, no matter how small, always points somewhere.
➡️ 4. What skill do you want to feel more confident in by June?
Not mastered.
Not perfected.
Just more confident. 💪
Maybe it is interpreting cardiac device diagnostics without needing to whisper, “Is that impedance change normal?”
Maybe it is explaining electrophysiology to someone new without spiraling into the entire history of the His-Purkinje system.
Or maybe it is something outside of clinical work, like communicating with your team, asking for help, improving efficiency, or becoming more organized.
Confidence is a measurable outcome, and micro-goals help build it.
➡️ 5. If you had to set a goal for just the next 30 days, what would it be?
Not for the whole year.
Not for your whole career.
Just the next month. 🗓️
Maybe it is reviewing one CIED concept you keep avoiding.
Maybe it is shadowing another clinical specialist, asking one curious question a day, or practicing three device electrogram strips a week.
Or maybe it is something simpler, like creating space for thinking time or noticing what parts of your job feel meaningful. A 30-day goal removes pressure and gives you immediate direction.
💡 That one question alone unlocks everything.
Examples of Micro-Goals You Can Set Today
These are intentionally small because small steps are the ones that actually stick. 🧩
Register for and attend one CHART Healthcare Academy EP Pro course, then write down one takeaway you want to remember. 🔗 Live Events
Choose a single arrhythmia mechanism and review it for five minutes, even if you already understand the basics. 🔗 CHART YouTube
Look at one fluoroscopy image or a cardiac device strip and identify one detail you want to improve at recognizing. 🔗 Blog - Do You See What I See?
Even asking one thoughtful question or seeking one piece of feedback that helps you grow in your role is a small choice that creates momentum, and momentum creates direction.
Still Unsure? Try a Learning Journal. 📒
If you’re still staring at your list of goals thinking, “I genuinely have no idea what I want, "here’s a simple way to uncover it:
✔️ Start a learning journal.
Nothing fancy, but after a few days, patterns always appear.
Just write down two things each day:
Reflect on what you did that day.
Note anything you learned or wanted to learn.
Maybe you notice two or three days when you wrote, “Didn’t really learn anything today.”
That’s not a dead end...that’s your next micro-goal!
✔️ Go out of your way to learn something. ✨
Ask a colleague a question you’ve been sitting on. Run a scenario by a mentor. Create a mini team challenge.
If you’re in a device case, ask the room: “What do you think each object on this X-ray is?”
Someone will guess wrong. Someone will guess right. Everyone will learn something. It also breaks up the tension while you wait for antibiotics. 😄
The point isn’t to fill the journal with perfect insights. The point is to help you notice what lights you up… and what you might be craving more of.
Takeaway Message: You Don’t Need Your Whole Year Mapped Out
You don’t need a vision board.
You don’t need a five-year plan.
You don’t need to know the final destination.
You just need one intentional step toward your goal, one micro-goal, and the willingness to see what opens from there. 🌱 Growth doesn’t always look like certainty.
Sometimes it looks like curiosity.
Sometimes it looks like courage.
Sometimes it looks like the tiniest step forward.
Sometimes it looks like the moment when something finally clicks that felt confusing all year (like realizing that EP mechanism you kept avoiding actually makes sense, or when a device report stops looking like a plot twist). 🍝😅
And that still counts.
Here’s to a New Year built not on pressure, but on intention, one micro-goal at a time. ✨
Mary Smith
MS, FHRS, CCDS, RCES, RCIS
Chart Certified Coach, IBHRE Ambassador