Reason 2: You’re Only Tracking the Finish Line, Not the Journey
You’ve set a perfect SMART goal: “I will lose 20 pounds in four months.” It’s specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. You start strong, but after two weeks, you step on the scale and see you’ve only lost one pound. Immediately, you feel deflated. The finish line seems impossibly far away, and your motivation plummets. Does this scenario sound familiar?
This is the trap of focusing exclusively on the outcome. We become obsessed with the final result, which we don’t have direct control over. Weight loss can be affected by water retention, stress, and sleep. Securing a new job is dependent on the job market and hiring managers. These are what we call lagging indicators—they are the results of past actions. When you only measure the lag, you are always looking backward, and your motivation is tied to a number that fluctuates for reasons beyond your immediate influence.
The Fix: Focus on What You Can Control with Input Goals
The solution is to shift your focus from the outcome to the process. You need to identify and track the actions that lead to the result. These are your leading indicators, or input goals. These are the daily and weekly habits that, if performed consistently, will inevitably produce the outcome you desire. You have 100% control over your inputs.
Let’s redefine the weight loss goal:
Output Goal (Lagging Indicator): Lose 20 pounds.
Input Goals (Leading Indicators):
1. Consume fewer than 2,000 calories, six days per week.
2. Complete three 30-minute strength training workouts per week.
3. Walk 8,000 steps every day.
Suddenly, your focus shifts. You can’t directly control what the scale says tomorrow morning, but you can absolutely control whether you do your workout today. Every time you complete a workout or track your calories, you get a win. This creates a powerful feedback loop of success that builds momentum and keeps you engaged, regardless of the scale’s fluctuations. Your success is no longer defined by the distant outcome but by your daily adherence to the process.
This is where the practice of goal journaling becomes invaluable. A simple journal is the perfect tool for tracking your input goals. At the start of each week, you write down your targets: “This week, I will work out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I will stay under my calorie goal every day except Saturday.” Each day, you simply check off whether you completed the action. This isn’t about judgment; it’s about data collection. Your journal becomes your dashboard for the process, celebrating your consistent effort and building the habits necessary for long-term success.
