The three types of goals (outcome, performance, process)
There are three broad types of goals: outcome, performance, and process goals. Goals are not mere aspirations that are somewhere in the future. Those can be classified as outcome goals. But outcomes cannot be achieved without focusing intensely on the process.
Outcome goals are the highest resolution of goal-setting. Such a goal type may refer to "losing twenty pounds of fat," or "earning one million dollars in one year." Outcome goals without *performance *and process objectives are fantasies (not defined, unplanned, unstructured).
Performance goals are in-between *outcome *and *process *objectives. We can define them as milestones we aim to accomplish along the process to achieve the final outcome. Such a goal type (keeping with the examples illustrated above) may be "aiming at losing 0.5 pounds of fat weekly," or "getting promoted to a higher-ranking job that increases the salary."
Process goals are what moves the needle. These are your daily actions. How we do anything is how we do everything, as I once heard from Simon Sinek. Outcome and performance targets do not have any value if not strongly supported by careful daily rituals and habits. Process goals might be "eating meals composed of vegetables and high-protein food every day for the next month," or "following an online course on Hubspot four times a week to gain a new skill and become more valuable to the team I am working with."
We are what we repeatedly do.
It is worth getting what's repeated right, as dr. Jordan B. Peterson points out in his latest book Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life. Establishing clear, meaningful habits that we resolve to follow religiously regularly is what makes the difference in what we become. The big goal can be an intrinsic—or extrinsic—motivational force pulling us toward doing the daily actions moving the needle. Following—and believing in—the daily process will inevitably lead to the achievement of the greater outcome, with patience, determination, calmness, and emotional detachment.
This last point is a crucial one, in my view: it is dangerous to tie our whole identity to a few things. Our potential is much wider than what we are doing today. We can change, and we can practice the power of doing so with serenity and mindfulness. The type of mindfulness that can make us merely accept external circumstances for what they are, aware that we can control our reactions to what happens around us all the time. Emotional detachment means letting go of resistance when we don't feel like doing the process goal that's essential in our journey. It also means letting go of impulsive, drastic, impatient Resistance when something doesn't go as planned. If you commit to the process, you need to trust the process. Step out, look at your path as an external organism overlooking the world, notice how minuscule this obstacle is, recalibrate your efforts, and keep rowing. As author Ryan Holiday would put it, The Obstacle is the Way.
What is the process that can move the needle toward your goal? What can you do to implement that process, with calmness and full presence, right now in your life? What are the essential steps you need to take to implement that process? What is it that you are resisting? What's your biggest fear? Imagine your biggest fear happening. What would that look like? What's the worst that could happen? Is it that terrible? Why/Why not? What could you do to jump back into the game from that worst scenario? Is it fear of being conscious of failure that stops you?
Goals-Setting Notion template (free using code newsletter)