It’s January, and that time of year when articles about goal-setting are everywhere. Last week, I shared how I earned almost half of my master’s degree before I ever set a goal to complete it. I promised I would share another accomplishment — this one personal — that I achieved without ever having a formal plan. So here it is: my backyard garden.

I’m fortunate that my office window looks out into a backyard with some green space, which then transitions into a forest. Many years ago, I imagined a flower garden between the yard and the woods. I didn’t have the budget to hire a landscaping company to level the area, build a retaining wall, and design the space. And yet, rather than wait for the perfect plan or resources, I simply started the project myself.

Without a clear plan, I just started planting. When neighbors were getting rid of plants, I gladly scooped them up and gave them a home in the garden. On visits to the local nursery, I’d pick up a few plants I found both attractive and deer-resistant, adding to the patch of earth little by little. Over time, it began to take shape.

Eventually, I realized I needed to define the space, so I splurged and had a pallet of stones delivered. The job of laying those stones was far too big to complete in a single week—or even a weekend—so I broke it into small pieces. A few stones here, a few stones there. Bit by bit, over the course of half a year, I had marked out the perimeter of my garden. Slowly, it became the space I had imagined.

I believe if I had drawn out a detailed plan or hired a professional, the entire project might have felt overwhelming and been too expensive and too time-consuming. Instead, by simply starting and taking it one step at a time, the garden grew into something both beautiful and deeply rewarding. There was no goal, but there was a lot of action.

It turns out that big projects don’t always require big plans often they just require momentum.

So, the next time you feel stuck because you don’t have a goal or a fully drawn-out strategy, consider that sometimes all you need is to star. Plant one flower, lay one stone, take one step.

Maybe you will look up as I do now from my office window, and see something blooming where once there was just grass.

What big projects at work or at home should you just start? What have you been thinking about rather than just making a small step toward the process?