No matter what you do or where you are in your goal-setting process, there are signposts along the way that tell you you’re going in the right direction.
Are you seeing them?
Checkpoint goals are like going on a long roadtrip.
Every step of the way, there are markers that can help make sure you’re on the right path. In this post, you’ll learn what purpose checkpoint goals serve. You’ll also learn why they’re important—and tactics to help implement checkpoint goals into your process.
What are checkpoint goals?
First, let’s starting by defining checkpoint goals. Think of checkpoint goals as smaller, more attainable goals that help build up to your larger, bigger picture accomplishment.
Checkpoint goals can help you track your journey to reaching a big, hairy goal. But they can also help you make course corrections (if you get off track)—and keep you motivated to stay focused.
We’ve outlined some examples of checkpoint goals to help you think about how this could work in both your career and your life.
Big goal: Implementing a new brand marketing strategy at work
Checkpoint goals:
- Research other brand marketing strategies in your area, especially competitors within the same industry
- Gather feedback from leadership, employees, and consumers
- Identify outcomes and key results of a brand within your industry
Big goal: Running a marathon
Checkpoint goals:
- Sign up for the marathon
- Research and find a training plan that works for you and your schedule
- Buy long-distance running sneakers
- Document your weekly running goals on your three-month planner or in a monthly calendar
- Seek out support or accountability with running groups in your region
- Sign up for a half-marathon halfway through training
Big goal: Be healthier in 2024
Checkpoint goals:
- Meal plan on a weekly basis (use your weekly planner or running list notepad to write out healthy meals for the week)
- Drink at least 36 ounces of water a day
- Set weekly movement or exercise-related goals (like going for a walk, taking a fitness class, or doing an at-home virtual workout)
- Tell your friends and family that you’d like to prioritize health this year and ask for their accountability and support
Why are checkpoint goals important?
Checkpoint goals are important for a few reasons. We’ve outlined the benefits of setting checkpoint goals—and why everyone needs to consider them.
- Increased motivation. Staying motivated is half of the battle. By setting checkpoint goals, you’re getting boosts of motivation and success along the way to help you keep going toward reaching your big accomplishment.
- Better focus. Checkpoint goals can keep you laser-focused on the big goal ahead—and help you better understand when your focus is going off-track.
- Accountability. It’s harder to let things slip if you have guardrails in place to help keep you going.
- More likely to fulfill your goals. Simply put, you’re more likely to reach your big goals if you break them down into smaller, checkpoint goals along the way.
- Increased agility. Things change fast—and though your big goal may stay the same, you may learn that you need to adjust your checkpoint goals along the way to get the desired result.
- Better morale and optimism. Big goals are hard to attain. We all need that boost of morale and optimism on a long road ahead to reaching a big goal, which is exactly what checkpoint goals do for us.
6 ways to build checkpoint goals into your goal-setting process
- Identify your ultimate, big goal. First, figure out what you’re working towards. Once you’ve identified your ultimate, big goal, write it down.
- Work backwards—and create a roadmap for how you’re going to get there. Now, think about the parameters of that big goal. When would you like to achieve it? Realistically, how long will it take? What are the steps along the way that you need to reach? Try to create a roadmap by working backwards.
- Identify the key checkpoint goals that you’d like achieve along the way. Now that you’ve created a plan, identify the checkpoint goals that are feasible to achieve at different milestone markers along your path.
- Document everything. This is important! Write it down. Use a three-month planner, weekly planner, or journal to help keep your thoughts and priorities organized.
- Track your progress. Reflection is an incredibly useful tool. Use a reflection journal to help keep track of your progress—and look back at what went well as well as what didn’t. Learn from yourself.
- Celebrate the wins. Even if your checkpoint goals seem small, celebrate the wins. There’s a lot to celebrate in reaching a goal, no matter how big or tiny.
We wish you all the best in unlocking the potential within you to help reach your biggest dreams! With checkpoint goals, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
Written by Madeline Miles
