Process goals vs. endpoint goals
This concept was one of the most life-changing things I ever learned, so I wanted to share it. It’s probably something you’ve thought about without realizing it.
If you have something you want to accomplish, or a change you want to make in your life, there are two ways to set goals: you can set process goals, or endpoint goals.
Example of endpoint goals:
Examples of process goals:
Cut down to one soda per day
Endpoint goals represent an outcome you want to achieve. Process goals represent the steps you are taking to achieve that outcome.
But here’s the rub: process goals are better, and generally more effective.
Endpoint goals set you up in a yes/no dichotomy. Say you want to write a novel. Have you done it? Yes? Great. No? You fail. You’ve either achieved the goal, or you haven’t. Endpoint goals also don’t provide a roadmap for how to get there. It’s vague, and its typically far-off deadline doesn’t provide much mental impetus to take steps to achieve it. If you say “I’ll write a novel by one year from now” it’s super easy to say “ehh, meh, I’ll work on it some other time.”
Endpoint goals also set you up for disappointment and failure. It’s like putting all your eggs in one basket - you’ll either meet the goal or you won’t, and given that a lot of endpoint goals tend to be somewhat pie-in-the-sky, not meeting them is pretty common. Which just gets you discouraged.
An endpoint goal can seem like a big mountain you have to climb. Setting process goals instead of endpoint goals is focusing on the individual steps to take, instead of staring up at the peak, which will just make you trip over something. It’s carving switchbacks into that mountain.
A lot of advice you’ve probably already heard amounts to breaking down endpoint goals and focusing on process goals. Take cleaning or de-cluttering, for example. How many times have you heard the old “clean for 15 minutes at a time” or “break it down into multiple small tasks” advice? That works because what that’s doing is breaking down the big endpoint goal of “clean the entire house” into process goals.
A big area that uses this concept is in fitness. Saying “I’m going to be able to bench press 300 lbs by New Year’s” isn’t super helpful. So weightlifters focus on goals like “Each workout I will do x reps, increasing in weight.” That’s a process goal. And it’s more forgiving, too. Not every workout will be successful. Sometimes the bodybuilder may feel tired, or might not get in as many reps, but he’s still working the process, so he’s still accomplishing his process goals. I’ve found this very useful for my own fitness. I’m not focusing on hitting a certain lifting weight, or losing X amount of pounds (exercise isn’t for weight loss anyway) - I’m focusing on going to my classes regularly, walking on a regular schedule, getting those Active Minutes on the FitBit. That’s a process goal. And I always feel like I’m succeeding, even if I miss a workout or can’t walk because it’s raining - the process is still a go.
Sports teams do this, too. The endpoint goal might be “win the Stanley Cup,” but how they do that is by focusing on process goals. We’re going to practice these skills, and run these drills, and condition X many times per week.
Ultimately, your endpoint goal is the final reward of having met your process goals. Achieving your endpoint goal isn’t always within your power - if your endpoint goal is to publish a novel then you’re gonna need some cooperation from publishers - but achieving your process goals is always within your power, and taking yourself through that process may provide you with rewards that you didn’t anticipate.
Process goals give you a constant stream of positive reinforcement, which is something an endpoint goal can’t do. Any behavior that’s meant to achieve an endpoint goal is easy to rationalize stopping once the goal is reached (”I’ll run every day until I lose 10 lbs!”) but a process goal is an ongoing practice that will help you achieve goals beyond the endpoint, and other goals you never even thought to set yourself.
So if you have an endpoint goal you want to achieve, it’s okay to know what it is, but sort of - put a pin in it. The reward of achieving that goal is far away. Focus on process goals, and you’ll start feeling rewarded immediately.
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