Input vs. Output: How to Set Smarter Goals
‘Goal Setting’ is a hot click-through in today’s hyper-motivational culture. But what types of goals are we learning to set?
As a future-minded leader, it’s easy to look past today’s to-do’s and focus on the end result of what you’re trying to accomplish. What we’ve been realizing at Brave is that without measurable, short-term goals to frame our efforts, the roadmap to success becomes too vague to act upon. You end up with a list of ambitious goals that do more for your anxiety than your progress.
These larger end-product aims are called output goals.
It’s not that output-based goals don’t work, it’s that the variability of calculating the time and effort required can overpower your desire to actually check them off the list. Declaring that our company is vying for 100% growth over last year, although inspiring, is incredibly daunting without monthly and even weekly steps to execute on. We need micro goals to cross the macro finish line.
These smaller, more tactical tasks are called input goals.
Both types of goals are important but we’re realizing that strategically placed input-based goals lay the necessary groundwork for long-term achievement.
Here’s a few practical reasons why:
They clearly define the actions necessary to reach them.
In a team setting, they’re easier to share and adopt.
They’re time-specific so effort can be calculated.
Once set, you can begin immediately making real, sustainable progress.
As goal cycles repeat, you’ll end up with better documentation to inform future goal setting.
Parting Thoughts
Whether you’re a freelancer looking to book more work or a CEO thinking about how to scale your team, input and output goals are inextricably tied together. Take the necessary time to get away and write out your long-term vision without regard for formatting. It’s the work of translating that brain dump into actionable, ‘start today’ kind of steps that will inevitably bring your vision to life.
