Goal Types

Last updated: January 13th, 2010
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There are two kinds of goals we can pursue:

  1. Repetitive tasks goals
  2. Progressive task goals

Repetitive Task Goals

Repetitive task goals are goals like losing weight, writing your novel or getting good grades. While there are still milestones involved, such as weight targets by specific dates, the things you need to do to reach those milestones are consistent. Things like weighing every morning, keeping a journal of everything you eat, walking or other exercise every date, etc. are known. The challenge with repetitive task goal is to:

  1. Maintain your awareness of the goal
  2. Execute the required task each day
  3. Record your progress each day

Sounds easy, huh? Hardly. Most New Years Resolutions are repetitive task goals, where the plan is simple, the steps are clearly defined and repeated day in and day out, yet the goal isn’t reached.

The key to success with a repetitive task goal is no different than any other type of goal, it requires that you do certain things consistently:

  1. Create a daily system or routine that marks time for that every activity, each and every day. If it’s not important enough for you to intentionally plan it into your day, don’t waste your time because it won’t happen. The outcome of this daily systems is the power of HABIT.
  2. Create a place where you visibly track your progress. Having a chart where you can create an ‘x’ or whatever for each day you perform your task is powerful in a strange way. As you get a chain of successful days going, you’ll inevitably require yourself to keep the chain intact. See what Jerry Seinfeld says about this process, or read this page for an example of how tracking our progress is a secret motivator.

    Progressive Task Goals