Processes & Goals

Most people think of processes as means to achieving goals, but I think of goals as means to developing processes.

You can think about a goal to help determine your process, but then focus on the process and forget about the goal. 

Why?

One reason is that processes give you something to focus on day in and day out. You can know if you are doing what you are supposed to be doing much more easily than whether you are on track for your goal.

Another reason is that being process-driven has more upside than being goals-driven. When you are working towards a goal, you might well reach it, but you are unlikely to surpass it. However, when you use a goal to develop a process, that process may take you further than any goal you could have possibly imagined, simply by sticking with it past the point where your goal would have already been achieved. 

Here's one example I can share from personal experience. A few years ago, I got into long-distance running. I started with a simple process and no goal. The process was to run 5 days per week including 2 short runs, 2 medium runs, and 1 long run. Another part of the process was to add miles each week, especially to lengthen out the long run. I eventually got the long run up to 17 miles and with my 26th birthday coming up I set a goal of running a marathon that day. I accomplished the goal but stopped the process and haven't run more than 10 miles since. Achieving the goal marked the end of the process. If I never set that goal and simply continued with the process, I might have gone a lot further. 26.2 miles is extremely arbitrary.

Most goals are arbitrary. You can go way beyond them. You just have to focus on processes.