GPS to Success

Goals + Plan = Success.

Since my recent blog post discussed process goals over outcome goals with a fun activity, I wanted to stick to the topic of goals again and expand further.  How else can we explain what process goals are and how valuable they are to get us to our outcome goal?

I think of process and outcome goals similar to taking a road trip. Let’s say we are about to embark on a road trip from Florida to Minnesota, just like my friend Cassie and I did after working at IMG Academy a couple summers ago.

Imagine that we have everything packed ready to hit the road. What’s the first thing we do once we are in the car? (Besides stopping for snacks; Twizzlers anyone?)

We start up our GPS! Unless you use an actual map, then props to you.

What if though, we tried to get to Minnesota without any sense of direction or GPS? How efficient would that trip be? We might eventually get to our destination, but it might take a lot longer.

That’s what living life, working your job, participating in a sport, or coaching is like without a goal. You lose your sense of direction!

It’s important that you know where you are going.

In this scenario, Minnesota is our outcome goals since that’s our final destination. But, how are we going to get there? Process goals build you towards your outcome goal, just like each turn your GPS tells you to take. They are milestones that keep you moving forward. Instead of focusing on the outcome or the destination we need to focus on one thing or one turn at a time and figure out what we need to do in order to reach our outcome goal.

The road trip to Minnesota will be much smoother if we follow the GPS and take it one turn at a time. The journey to your outcome goal will also be much smoother and appear more simple if you focus on the process and take it one process goal at a time.

Remember, Goals + Plan = Success

Get ready to start up your GPS!