How to Utilize Behavior-Based Goals

Setting goals simply work… there can be no doubt about that. But I’ll bet that the goals you currently want to achieve are based on a specific outcome, aren’t they? These are called outcome-based goals, and they usually involve a change in a situation in our lives. A better job, more money, a bigger house, weight loss and/or fitness… all of these are outcome-based goals, and these are what comes to mind when most people think about goal setting.

But there is a different type of goal that doesn’t focus on the outcome at all! Rather than focusing on the outcome, this type of goal focuses on changing behaviours that make achieving the outcome-based goals so much easier and faster! These types of goals are called behaviour-based goals.

With behaviour-based goal setting, the intention is to create positive change in your habits, or behaviours, which will increase your chances of achieving your outcome-based goals. You can think of behaviour-based goals as a mid-point, or stepping stone, on your way to your ideal outcome.

By creating and practicing positive habits until they become second nature, you increase the likelihood of achieving your end goals. But there is an unintended positive consequence of doing this! You see, while you’re changing your behaviours, you’ll also be utilizing those newly-cemented positive habits in many different areas of your life – some having nothing at all to do with your end goal! And this is the beauty of learning to utilize behaviour-based goals alongside outcome-based goals.

Create the larger outcome-based goal first. Then ask yourself, “What positive habits will I need to create in order to increase my chances of achieving this goal?” The answer to that question will be your new behaviour-based goals!

To demonstrate the technique here is an example.

Anna wants to lose thirty pounds. Losing the weight is her larger, outcome-based goal. She knows that in order to lose the weight and keep it off, she needs to change habits that are preventing her right now from doing this. She sees that she needs to create new habits around consistency, discipline, and learning to not get overwhelmed.

Anna does a bit of research into these three new habits and finds techniques that she will implement to create positive habit changes that meet these interim behaviour-based goals.

A few months later, Anna has lost the thirty pounds but has also created stronger positive habits that will stay with her for the rest of her life.

Now it’s your turn! What kind of Behavior-Based Goals do you want to focus on?