Use Process Goals for Great Outcomes

I want to lose 15 pounds.  I want to bench 400 pounds and have 19 inch biceps.  I want to get down to 6% body fat.  Do those goals or similar ones sound familiar.  They should.  This is how most folks express their fitness goals.   These are outcome goals.  They describe an end state that you'd like to achieve.  And in fact, these are pretty good outcome goals in that they are measurable.  Much better than something like I'd like to get bigger and lose some body fat, also an outcome goal but vague and unmeasurable.



In fact, most  people express their desires as outcome goals.  I want to earn $200,000 dollars per year.  I want a corner office.  I want 3 children. And so on. Such outcome goals are good in that they give you a target to shoot for.

The trouble is,  outcome goals do very little to help you actually get to where you want to go.  In fact, some of the goals are so big, I want to play in the NFL or I want to win a National Level Fitness contest, that they are actually discouraging.  That's when most coaches or advisors suggest breaking your goals into smaller chunks.  Lose 1 pound. Increase your income by $5000 this year.

This works for some folks, but for myself and for most of my clients I have found a much more effective way to achieve these large outcome goals. Focus on process goals.

A process goal is aimed at defining the behaviors or habits that are required to attain your long term outcome goal, and then defining a measurable way to track your adherence to those habits or behaviors.

For example, to shed body fat, you're going to aim for a daily calorie deficit.  You're going to try to eat 5-7 balanced meals per day.  You're going to try to perform a certain number of cardio and weight training sessions over the course of the day or week.

To attain an increased income goal you're  going to work 2 extra hours per day on new cost saving ideas and pitch at least 1 per month to senior management. Or, you're going to "cold call" three more potential clients each week.

In both cases, you're focused on a measurable behavior, you have defined a process, that you know will lead to your desired outcome.

The beauty of process goals is that they are easy to track.  It's usually just a yes or no, if you made it for the day or the week.

As well, if you are confident about the process, you can focus on it when the outcomes seem to fluctuate week to week.  If you're weight goes up a pound or two or you close fewer sales than the week before, you might get demotivated and "fall off the wagon," so to speak,  if you're only focused on outcomes.  But, when you trust the process, you know that long-term it's going to get you there, and you don't worry about daily or weekly fluctuations.
Trust the process.  Meet your process goals. The outcomes will manifest like night follows day.  Good luck.