“Growth doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of intentional effort and consistent progress. You must define how you want to grow, then establish a plan to help you get there. There are three kinds of goals that help you grow: Step, Sprint, and Stretch. A step goal is a very short-arc goal (often daily) that helps you maintain forward progress, even if it’s small progress. A sprint goal is a medium-arc goal (a week or two weeks) that causes you to go beyond yourself for a season in order to increase your capacity, and a stretch goal is a long-arc goal that forces you to go far beyond your comfort zone.
Each of these three types of goals nest within one another. Step goals help you accomplish your sprint goals, and sprint goals help you accomplish your stretch goals. They don’t always have to co-exist, but it’s unwise to set the long-arc goals without having accompanying short-arc goals to help you get there. For example, running a marathon is a great example of a stretch goal, but I would be foolish not to set corresponding sprint and step goals to help me work my way up to 26.2 miles. The stretch goal is the objective, but step and sprint goals are the building blocks. We usually reach our end goal, but fail to consider the mechanics, or the day-to-day logistics, of how we will actually get to where we want to be.”
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