Setting Goals, Making a Plan, and Tracking Progress

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”  – Benjamin Franklin. Setting up a reliable system is key to consistent training and progress.

How to Set Goals

Having clear goals can help you focus and stay motivated. A common method of setting goals is the SMART goal framework, which George T. Doran originally coined in 1981 as a business and management strategy. It is now used in many disciplines, particularly athletics. 

Adapted for general use, the SMART Goal Framework states that all goals should be:

• Specific – Clearly define what you want to accomplish.

• Measurable – Ensure there’s a way to track progress.

• Achievable – Set a goal that is realistic given resources and time.

• Relevant – Align the goal with broader objectives or values.

• Time-bound – Set a deadline to create urgency and focus.

Importantly, one should record baseline data, such as measurements and feelings, when setting goals, which aligns greatly with the measurable and achievable parts of goal setting.

Another known method to achieve one’s goals is by setting up systems and habits. In his bestseller novel, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, author James Clear emphasizes that habits should be:

• Obvious – Make habits easy to notice and remember (e.g., set cues or reminders).

• Attractive – Link habits to something you enjoy to increase motivation.

• Easy – Start with small, manageable actions to reduce the friction of tackling larger, more complicated tasks.

• Satisfying – Ensure habits provide an immediate sense of reward to reinforce them.

By setting clear goals, creating systems, and designing your surroundings to make desired habits rewarding, consistent training becomes a lot easier.

Making a Training Plan

After establishing goals, creating a realistic plan can ensure consistent progress and increase the likelihood of success. Different types of athletes will have different goals and training plans. Many runners will have weekly mileage goals, and many lifters will have weekly training splits to push as hard as possible each workout, such as push-pull-legs or upper-lower body. Regardless of the specific workouts, it is important to either create or integrate training time into your existing schedule.

Many sports are seasonal, so training should be adaptable to that. Off-season training might focus on building strength and endurance, while in-season training may emphasize skill refinement and maintenance.

If you know important races or tryouts are coming up, a keen sense of urgency will be motivating. However, keeping a constant drive can be artificially created. One method is the 12-Week Year, a concept introduced by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington in their book The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months. Instead of thinking in terms of the calendar year, think in multi-week cycles with weekly execution plans and incremental assessments. This method encourages setting specific and time-bound goals, tracking progress consistently, and making necessary adjustments based on performance data. By condensing the timeframe, individuals create a sense of urgency that drives focus and accountability, leading to improved results in a shorter period.

Tracking Progress to Stay Consistent 

While knowing your baseline data is key to setting effective goals, being able to visualize and quantify progress can be incredibly motivating. Many athletes will use habit tracking, nutrition tracking, and journaling, but an easily implementable way to visualize improvement is through graphing metrics. 

A popular app among runners is Strava, a social-media-like take on running and cycling. Users log and share workouts with other users, but Strava also automatically tracks speed and distance. After an extended period of use, Strava will alert you of new personal records and graph your progress. 

Some athletes may also enjoy fitness wearables like the Apple Watch, Garmin, or the Fitbit to collect even more data from their workouts. While some may view tracking all metrics as distracting, others swear by data collection and interpretation to gauge progress.