“Goals convert vision into energy.” – Dave Ramsey
I was reading Dave Ramsey’s book, EntreLeadership this morning and it got me thinking about a really common mistake we’ve seen people make in the 8+ years BSP NOVA has existed: setting the wrong type of goals.
Now, now, before you go and fight me for judging your goals, I don’t mean that what you want is wrong. Who would I be to judge that?
What I mean is that you could write better, clearly articulated goals that would really kick you into action.
The issue is that most people write outcome goals instead of process goals.
Outcome goals are what you want to happen—things like:
- Lose 12 pounds by December 23rd, 2019.
- Drop a waist size by January 1st, 2020.
- Add 72 pounds to my deadlift by February 1st, 2020.
- Increase my confidence to be seen in professional settings by January 21st, 2020.
While they’re not completely out of your control, we have no way of GUARANTEEING any of the above will happen by those dates—even at all.
We just wait, hope, and see… that is, unless we use process goals too.
Process goals are what we’re going to do to get there, and they are 100% percent within our control:
- I will start each morning reviewing the current 16 Weeks of Fat Loss habit or skill so that I can stay on track with the program.
- I will train at BSP NOVA 3 times per week Semi-Private and 1 time per week Metabolic for the next 12 weeks.
- I will follow the BSP NOVA portion guide for breakfast, lunch, and dinner 6 days per week for the next 14 weeks.
- I will spend five minutes gratitude journaling every morning while drinking my coffee before work for the next four weeks.
Process goals give us the ability to instantly see if we are on track, and do something about it if we are not.
The best goal-setting approach combines outcome and process goals.
For every outcome goal you create, follow it up with 1-3 process goals.
Track your consistency of adherence to the process goals. This is your current trajectory.
Track your progress towards your desired outcome goals. This is your current results.
Adjust as needed.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes, from one of my favorite authors:
“You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.” – James Clear
