In my new job, I took training on how to set goals for success. Goal setting can be an intimidating task for several reasons- big goals can be scary and there are so many ways to set goals that it can get confusing. As a former college athlete and current aspiring Boston Marathoner, I align monthly, weekly, and daily goals to set myself up for success.

In college, my coach had us fill out a goals sheet before our team Christmas party. We shared our goals with the team, so that we could hold each other accountable. On this goals sheet were team, individual, and academic goals. Among those were process goals. Process goals are the little things that you are going to do every day to reach your big goals. Little things like stretching every day, doing 3-5 days of strength workouts a week, or warming up for your runs. I struggled with these because there are so many things that I felt like I needed to do to succeed and I’d become overwhelmed and forget to do them. Enter, cascading goal setting.

The company I work for uses a cascading goal setting method used by Google, called Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs. This method helps companies achieve more audacious goals and can also be used in every day life. As soon as I learned about this goal setting method, I was eager to use it in my running. You can read the book Measure What Matters by John Doerr that goes into more detail on how to set your audacious goals. This website will also help you in setting OKRs.

In college, my coach had us fill out a goals sheet before our team Christmas party. We shared our goals with the team, so that we could hold each other accountable. On this goals sheet were team, individual, and academic goals. Among those were process goals. Process goals are the little things that you are going to do every day to reach your big goals. Little things like stretching every day, doing 3-5 days of strength workouts a week, or warming up for your runs. I struggled with these because there are so many things that I felt like I needed to do to succeed and I’d become overwhelmed and forget to do them. Enter, cascading goal setting.

The company I work for uses a cascading goal setting method used by Google, called Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs. This method helps companies achieve more audacious goals and can also be used in every day life. As soon as I learned about this goal setting method, I was eager to use it in my running. You can read the book Measure What Matters by John Doerr that goes into more detail on how to set your audacious goals. This website will also help you in setting OKRs.

I use the OKR’s and add on to it to create a better visual. Start with your big goal, mine for 2021 is getting a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time, a sub 3:30 marathon. Then set your key results (KR), 3 to 5 measurable results that will help you reach your goal. Next, set your process goals. Lastly, set your daily goals.

For example:

Goal #1: Run a BQ or sub 3:30 marathon

Key Results :

(What measurable results will get you to this goal?)

• KR #1: Run a 1:37 half marathon

• KR #2: Get runs down to sub 8 average pace

• KR #3: Take 1-2 rest days a week

Process goals :

(What are you going to do to reach this goal?)

• Stretch/ roll every day

• Follow strength program

• Focus on core/ PT strength 

• Incorporate strides and plyos to improve stride/form

• Hydrate!!!

Daily goals:

(What specific things will you do every day/week to reach this goal?)

• In bed before 10 pm

• Drink 90 ounces of water 

• Stretch/roll 

• Strength 3-5 times a week

• PT/ core work 2 times a week

• Strides and plyos 2 times a week

Setting up cascading goals, defines a clear path to success and provides a clear visual to the end goal.

I created the perfect goal sheet for you to download to help you brain storm and set your big audacious goals! Download it here or the black and white version here.

The biggest mistake I made in the past is setting my goals and then forgetting them. It’s easy to set big goals for the new year and then by February forget what they are. There’s a few things that I do to prevent this from happening.

• Write the goals down where you can see them every day

  • I have my goals on sticky notes placed in various places- bathroom mirror, work desktop, bedroom door

  • I create a phone wallpaper with my goals

• Set weekly goals to stay on track

  • Use weekly goals or a habit tracker to achieve your process goals

• Check on your progress every week

  • How are your process goals going? Are you getting close to achieving your key results? Do you need to readjust something?

Happy goal setting, and good luck in the new year!