#10 - Success Cycles versus Goals
At this point you may have realized that some items are difficult to state as goals. For example, how would I make “being healthy” into a goal? It would be possible to set a weight loss goal, or exercise goals but is that the best approach? Being healthy is hugely important for athletes but setting a goal like “eat healthy until March” probably won’t work too well because as an athlete you want to keep healthy not be healthy for a period of time. A great example of this is that a huge percentage of people who reach their weight loss goals later gain all of the weight back. “Yay! I met my goal and now it’s done, let’s celebrate.” You can see how the weight will quickly return. This is a situation where I would recommend a success cycle instead of goal setting.
A success cycle focuses on the behaviors and actions that would result in achieving the goal. Instead of focusing on “staying injury free,” a success cycle would emphasize healthy habits; eating healthy, proper recovery from workouts, adequate sleep, etc. Even though the same behaviors are reinforced, with a goal setting attitude it’s hard to apply the goal to how you live the average day. A success cycle instead focuses on habits, and there is no end goal.
What goals should be success cycles?
The best candidates for success cycles instead of goals should be those goals that are very long-term and depend upon habits. The example above about avoiding injuries is a great example. I’ve seen athletes who had the goal to not get injured do incredibly stupid things because they thought that meant no jumping off buildings. A success cycle helps that athlete focus on things they can control (enough sleep, good nutrition, recovery days) that will prevent injuries. Success cycles are also a great choice where the people around you are encouraging cheat behavior—anytime the people or atmosphere around you pull you away from the goal it helps to focus on the small things you need to do to remain a healthy athlete.
How to define a success cycle
To set up a success cycle for yourself, pick a goal and determine what behaviors will help you achieve that goal. For someone who needs to get physically stronger to take it to the next level maybe the behaviors are: pushing your limits in the gym, being okay with dropping a weight or failing a rep every now and then, consuming more protein, etc. After you make an effort to make those behaviors priorities in your day they eventually become habits.
Do you have any goals that would work better as a success cycle? If you’re not sure, use the question box to the right. We’d be happy to help you out!