The Power of Goal Setting ~ An Essay by Eric Hooper

The Power of Goal Setting An Essay by Eric Hooper January 2020 I’m staring out of the window of a 12 story medical building in Seattle, my mind wandering as I wait for the doctor to come into the room. This is the first time I’ve been to a doctor in years and I know it’s going to be bad. It’s January 2018 and I’m embarrassed at how I’ve neglected my health for the past 5 years. It seems that life has just gotten in the way and I haven’t made my health a priority. The door opens and I can feel my heart rate go up in anticipation. As I suspected, the news wasn’t good. The doctor let me know I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and was overweight. I think he was being gentle because according to the NIH, I was technically obese. This doctor visit changed the trajectory of the next two years of my life by showing me what my future could be if I continued the path I was on. It was time to take immediate and aggressive action.

Any conversation about Goal Setting should start with a conversation about Values. If your goals do not align with your core values, it’s unlikely that you will see them through. Before January 2018, I did not value my health in a way that made it a priority in my life and therefore I could not stick to any goals that revolved around losing the excess weight. Like many people, I would start a new diet and/or exercise plan that would fizzle within a few weeks. It was only when I moved my health to the top of my Values that I began making progress. This new focus on health was borne out of the idea that if I didn’t have my health, everything else in my life would suffer as a consequence. Once I placed a higher value on my health, any goals that I set towards achieving better health were much easier to stick to because the goal aligned with my Values.

After losing weight throughout 2018, I found myself at a fitness plateau. I felt my diet was good, but I wasn’t seeing gains in the gym, in the mirror, or on the scale. I was stuck. I signed up for On Ramp at Town Athletics in February 2019 thinking this would be the solution to getting over the hump. I was right, but not in the way I expected. My growth has primarily come through the knowledge I have gained from the Town Coaches on fitness and nutrition and then applying that information in a way that works for me. Recognizing my own limitations and seeking assistance from others has been necessary for me to make continued progress.

When I think about goals, I think about three different types of goals; process goals, performance goals, and outcome goals. These goal types are synergistic, each building upon the others.

Process goals allow you to achieve your performance goals and performance goals get you to reach your outcome goals. Working backwards in goal setting, you can ask yourself what is the outcome I’m trying to achieve? For me, my outcome goal is improving my health. If I want to get more specific, I can set goals to lower my blood pressure, lower my cholesterol, and/or lower my body fat percentage that would indicate I’m in good health.

Performance goals are the fun intermediate goals along the way. This is where you set your goals for running a mile or setting a PR snatch. They also are a good barometer for where you are at in reaching your outcome goals as well as determining if your process goals are effective. Who doesn’t like setting a new PR back squat or doing their first pull up? Share these goals with your Coaches and chances are they will be just as excited to see you reach your performance goals as you are.

It is important to set goals in all three categories, but the most powerful goal type for me is the process goal. This is where you build the habits that will deliver your performance and outcome goals and where I’ve received the biggest benefit from my experiences at Town Athletics. After 4-5 months at Town, I had my first goal setting meeting with Austin where he asked what my goals were for the next three months. My response was that my only goal was to still be a member of Town Athletics. I’m confident he was not expecting this answer, but by setting this ONE goal and focusing there, I could build the habit of consistently coming to the gym and giving the dedication to the process of improving my health and fitness. If I come to the gym, I will see results and I will meet my outcome goals. Building small but consistent habits that support performance and outcome goals, is the most valuable thing I have done in the goal setting process.

Since setting my first process goal, I have had goal setting meetings with Austin on a quarterly basis to evaluate my progress on my goals, make corrections, and set new goals. We have set other process goals around nutrition and fine tuning macros by weighing my food and keeping a log in MyFitnessPal. This goal is much easier to stick to knowing that it supports my performance and outcome goals. The real power of creating positive habits through these process goals is that small changes compound on each other, creating a snowball effect over time.

For meeting any of your goals, persistence and dedication to the process is essential. I have heard more than one coach encourage me to take an active role in my fitness; these words could not be more true. Knowing that no one will do the work but me holds me accountable.

I’m happy to say that, a year later, I have stuck to my first process goal of still coming to CrossFit. I have also continued counting my macros, which has led me to meeting many of my performance goals. When I came to CrossFit I could not kick up to the wall in a handstand, do a single pull up, touch my toes, or run faster than a 9 minute mile. By trusting the process, I can do hand stand push ups, muscle ups, touch my toes, and run a 7 minute mile. Meeting these fun performance goals has put me on my way to reaching my overall outcome goal of better health. My blood pressure and cholesterol is now normal, my body fat has dropped over 20%, and I’m no longer considered obese. The best part is that I can now teach my daughter the habits to living a healthy lifestyle and be present for my family in a way that I couldn’t before.

~ Eric Hooper