Rethinking Goal Setting: Process and Outcome Goals in Practice

Given the time of year, many people are talking about goals and creating them for the upcoming year (me included, but mainly the next quarter). Goal setting is a cornerstone of performance, motivation, and personal development. Traditionally, goals have been framed around outcomes – the results we want to achieve. While outcome goals are important, research suggests that focusing on processes – the actions and behaviours that drive progress – can be equally critical.

Rather than asking whether outcome or process goals are “better,” this post explores how both can work together in practice to support consistent performance and meaningful results.

Outcome Goals: Providing Direction and Meaning

Outcome goals refer to the end result a person or a business is aiming to achieve. They define what success looks like and give effort a sense of purpose.

Examples of outcome goals include – 

• Gaining a promotion,
• Winning a competition, 
• Increase annual revenue by 15%, or 
• Launching a new service by quarter 3. 

Outcome goals are valuable because they answer the question: Where am I (or we) going? They help prioritise effort and can be motivating, particularly when the goal is meaningful and important to the individual or business.

However, outcome goals are often influenced by factors outside an individual’s or business’s control, such as competition, organisational decisions, chance or timing. When pursued alone, they can increase pressure and frustration and provide little guidance for day-to-day behaviour.

Process Goals: Supporting Execution and Consistency

Process goals focus on the specific behaviours, strategies, and actions that contribute to progress toward an outcome. Unlike outcomes, process goals are typically in the person’s or business’s control.

Examples of process goals include – 

• Following a training plan four times per week,
• Practising a specific skill for 15 minutes per session, 
• Scheduling one feedback conversation per month at work, or
• Holding planning meetings once a month with a coach.

Process goals answer a different question: What do I (or we) need to do now? By shifting attention to behaviours rather than results, they provide clear guidance for action and a more immediate sense of progress.

How Outcome and Process Goals Work Together

Following are some examples of how outcome and process goals work together.

Focus on Controllable Actions

Effective performers tend to emphasise factors they can control. In a study of Olympic athletes, Orlick and Partington (1988) found that consistent high performers focused on preparation, routines, and effort rather than only on winning medals.

Bandura’s (1997) work on self-efficacy also shows that when people believe their actions can influence outcomes, they are more likely to persist in the face of difficulty. Process goals strengthen this sense of control by tying success to behaviour rather than to uncontrollable results.

Performance Under Pressure

High-pressure environments can amplify the limitations of outcome-focused thinking. When attention is on results, individuals are more prone to anxiety, distraction, and performance disruption.

Process goals can buffer against these effects. Kingston and Hardy (1997) found that athletes who used process goals maintained better focus and experienced lower anxiety compared to those focused mainly on outcomes. By directing attention to task-relevant actions, process goals help sustain performance consistency.

Supporting Long-Term Change Over Time

Sustainable progress often depends on consistency rather than short-term results. Behavioural research highlights that repeatable actions and habits – core elements of process goals – underpin lasting success (Clear, 2018).

Rather than relying solely on motivation tied to outcomes, process goals help create routines and systems that support ongoing engagement, even when progress toward outcomes is slow or uncertain.

Practical Examples: Linking Outcomes and Processes

Movement –

• Outcome Goal – Run a sub-four-hour marathon.
• Process Goals –
  • Complete scheduled training sessions each week,
  • Prioritise sleep before long runs, and 
  • Practise race-day nutrition during training.

Work –

• Outcome Goal – Accomplish a promotion.
• Process Goals:
  • Ask for feedback monthly,
  • Take ownership of one visible project per quarter, and 
  • Reflect weekly on progress and contributions.

In the two examples above, the outcome provides direction, while the process goals define the behaviours that make progress more likely.

Integrating Outcome and Process Goals

Research on goal setting emphasises that effective goals are specific, meaningful, and supported by actionable strategies (Locke & Latham, 2002). Outcome goals clarify the destination, but process goals define the path to get there.

Rather than evaluating success solely by whether an outcome has been achieved, progress can be assessed by the consistency and quality of engagement with the process. This approach supports motivation, learning, and adaptability in complex or uncertain environments.

Over to You…

Has this post supported you to see process and outcome goals in practice? If you have created goals recently, do they include process and outcome goals? If not, do you think process and outcome goals would be beneficial? Feel free to share any insights or ask questions below.

If you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and opening your heart, why not join our Newsletter?

References –

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman.

Burton, D., & Weiss, C. (2008). The fundamental goal concept: The path to process and performance success. In T. S. Horn (Ed.), Advances in sport psychology (3rd ed., pp. 339–375). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An easy and proven way to build good habits & break bad ones. New York, NY: Avery.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.

Kingston, K. M., & Hardy, L. (1997). Effects of different types of goals on processes that support performance. The Sport Psychologist, 11(3), 277–293.

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717.

Orlick, T., & Partington, J. (1988). Mental links to excellence. The Sport Psychologist, 2(2), 105–130.