How To Set Goals (For The High Achiever)
From lecture halls at Harvard that look straight out of Hogwarts, to the 3-meter springboard at the NCAA Division I Championships, to interviewing more than 200 Team USA athletes at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, I've spent most of my life in pressure-cooker environments that glorify achievement.
Amy Wotovich competing at the 2024 NCAA National Championships. Photo Credit: Harvard Athletics
The goal-setting framework I'm about to share is the one I've relied on to succeed in each of those scenarios. If you're a high achiever like me, the next three steps are for you. The easiest way to understand them is to picture a marathon.
The Marathon Framework
Every marathon has three parts: the finish line you're running toward, the mile markers that tell you you're on pace, and the work you do at the starting line. Goal setting works the same way.
Vision: your finish line, five years out.
Product goals: your mile markers, three outcomes for this year.
Process goals: lacing up at the starting line, the daily actions you control.
We start with the biggest picture and work our way down to today.
Step 1: Set Your Vision (The Finish Line)
Your vision is your long-term plan. I set mine on a five-year scale, and I think about it as broadly as possible. This is the fun part; it's purely hypothetical.
I start here for a reason: the words you repeat to yourself shape what you believe is possible. It’s the science of neuroplasticity. The neurons in your brain rewire themselves based on the repeated thoughts. Every time you repeat a thought, you strengthen the pathway behind it, and it becomes more automatic. Repeat your vision often enough and it stops feeling like a fantasy and starts feeling like a plan.
My favorite life hack: upload your 5-year vision into an AI platform and ask it to create a graphic of you as the person who has already achieved it. Print it out or make it your lockscreen. Having that visual in front of you every day makes the finish line feel real.
Step 2: Set Three Product Goals (The Mile Markers)
Product goals are the mile markers on the way to your finish line. They're outcome based, and they live on a shorter time frame: one year. I pick three things I want to tangibly accomplish. Then I rank each one on a comfort scale from 1 to 10:
1 means I have this in the bag. It would be shocking if it didn't happen.
10 means surpassing my wildest dreams. It's way outside my comfort zone, closer to a pipe dream. For me right now, that's becoming a bestselling author this year.
Aim for a mix. Out of your three, have 1-2 outcome goals you feel confident about and at least one that genuinely pushes you. All 1s and you're not growing. All 10s is like sprinting every mile of this goal-setting marathon. You'll run out of energy long before you see how far you've come.
Step 3: Set Three Process Goals (Lacing Up at the Starting Line)
Process goals are the tangible things you can control on a daily basis. The true fast-track to achieving your goals lies in unglamorous consistency with your process goals.
I set three kinds:
A mindset goal you control. Mine is breath work. Before high pressure moments that matter a lot, I take slow, controlled breaths to calm my nervous system.
A numerically quantifiable goal you control. Something you can count. For example, showing up to practice, school, or work 5 minutes early to be prepared. For me, sharing daily mental performance tips on Instagram every single day this year (a little plug to give @backtheteam some love!). That's fully in my control.
A habit so tiny that excuses don't hold up. This could be writing a mindset mantra on a sticky note, putting it on your bathroom mirror, and reading it every morning while you brush your teeth. It could be hydrating with water and electrolytes. For me, it's being intentional about publicly sharing gratitude, encouragement, and appreciation daily!
Paralympic biathlete Josh Sweeney described this perfectly in our conversation. When results start arriving and outcome thinking creeps in, he anchors back to the fundamentals: his sights and his trigger control. When he focuses on those, everything else disappears. That's a process goal at work.
Putting It All Together
Start with the finish line, then set your mile markers, then lace up. Your five-year vision gives you direction. Your three product goals give you checkpoints for this year. Your three process goals give you something to do today.
This is my three-step pathway to achieving goals, shaped by my years at Harvard and my conversations with over 200 Team USA Olympians and Paralympians. I've used it to reach my own goals, and let me know how it helps you reach yours too!
Chasing a goal is easier with someone in your corner. Share yours with me on Instagram at @backtheteam. I'll be posting a mental performance tip every single day this year, and I'd love to cheer you on.
Written by Amy Wotovich
