While the terms goals and milestones are often used interchangeably, there is a significant difference between the two. Goals are larger, broader, and more abstract. Milestones are markers of progress towards achievement or goal.
Like the first page in a brand new notebook, setting a goal can feel like a fresh start. If you’re like most people, goal-setting coincides with new beginnings in your life, like a new year or an upcoming birthday. It is so motivating to imagine all the positive changes you can make if you bring your goals to fruition.
This magical energy can propel you to do things you wouldn’t normally do, like wake up at 5 am to go to the gym. Unfortunately, this internal inspiration is short-lived. Perhaps you or someone you know has experienced this first hand.
After several days of spending your mornings at the gym, you sleep through your alarm. Then it happens the next day and the next. Eventually, you decide your goal is no longer achievable, and the dream of running a marathon gets postponed until the following year.
Why your new year’s resolution will fail
If you can relate to the above scenario, you are not alone. Clinical researchers at the University of Scranton found that fewer than 10% of people will realize their New Year’s resolution by the end of the year. The vast majority abandon their goals by February [1].
What is it about goal setting that makes it so easy to plan, but far more difficult to execute? The answer may lie in how making and reaching goals and milestones impacts the brain.
How goal setting impacts the brain
Back in the 1960s, neuroscientist Paul MacLean introduced the “triune brain” concept, which divided the brain into three parts. The oldest parts, the reptilian brain and the limbic system, react to the environment in a protective, emotional manner.
On the other hand, the newer neocortex is responsible for logical thinking and rational decision-making. New discoveries have disproven many aspects of the triune brain theory. Still, this concept is helpful for understanding how the brain affects behavior, especially when it comes to goal-setting.
The limbic system, for example, plays an important role in habit-formation. This system contains the amygdala, a tiny brain region that controls strong emotions. Whenever you feel afraid, angry, or excited, that’s the amygdala in action [2]. The amygdala also makes certain actions feel pleasurable. It’s the reason why binging your favorite show feels so good in the moment.
However, when it comes to assessing long-term consequences, the amygdala is slightly limited. You know that a night of binge-watching will lead to a slow and painful morning. Yet, for your amygdala, choosing Netflix over sleep will always feel like a good choice.
The limbic system also houses the brain’s reward system. These brain regions produce the ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter, dopamine. If you perform a behavior that stimulates dopamine, you are likely to do it again. Dopamine also helps you concentrate when you engage in an interesting but challenging task [3]
When it comes to goal-setting, your limbic system can be an obstacle or a powerful ally.
If you set goals that are too big, vague, or difficult, these systems work against you. Breaking goals down into milestones allows you to harness your natural reward system.
Making right-sized goals and milestones
Human brains are a bit like Goldilocks. It primarily reinforces behaviors that produce the right amount of challenge and reward. If you set your goal too high, you may not be able to see progress. This can make it more tempting to give in to the amygdala’s preference for immediate reward over long-term gains.
While large goals are inspiring, they are also often unrealistic. You can determine if your goal is too high by asking yourself the following questions:
If you’ve answered yes to any of the above, it doesn’t mean your goal is unworkable. Instead, you will need to break it down into smaller, more achievable steps. This seems simple, but milestones themselves can also be demotivating if they are too large or small. You can use the principles of the Flow theory to create inspiring milestones.
Popularized by author and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow occurs when your brain is engaged in an achievable but challenging task. These are usually actions that are just beyond your comfort zone. Setting the bar too high can cause anxiety. On the other hand, unchallenging goals can cause boredom and apathy.
During the flow state, your brain sends out a frenzy of dopamine and other feel-good chemicals. This can make completing the task itself very satisfying and internally motivating.
The Couch to 5k program demonstrates the power of right-sized milestones. The program encourages followers to slowly increase intervals of running during their walks. This keeps the activity challenging but manageable. By the ninth week, most people can run 30 minutes without stopping!
If your end goal is an action you’ve never accomplished before, incorporate easier activities into your first few milestones.
| Large Goal | Initial Milestone |
|---|---|
| Learning a New Language | Learn how to say 10 everyday phrases like hello, goodbye, thank you, and sorry. |
| Start a New Career | Read a book about the industry |
| Save More Money | Make a budget |
Every time you accomplish a small but challenging milestone, you gain the skills needed to take the next step. This keeps your activities in that desirable flow range.
Making goals and milestones concrete
Motivational milestones are a good start, but they are not complete. Milestones are only effective if they can measurably move you towards your goal. You can only do this if your goal and milestones are measurable in the first place [4].
Adding concrete numbers and parameters to your goals can help you assess your progress. You can do this by incorporating any of the following metrics into your goal:
Once your goals are concrete, you can use these numbers to create SMART milestones.
| Vague Goal | Concrete Goal | Concrete Milestones |
|---|---|---|
| Get in Shape | Run two miles in under 20 minutes Hold a plank for 1 minute. Do 10 reps with a 10-lbs weight | Reduce run time by 5 minutes every week, increase plank hold by 10 seconds every week, increase reps by 1 every week |
With concrete milestones, you don’t have to wonder if you’re making progress. Just by following your plan, you can be sure that you are on track.
More milestones = more motivation
As mentioned before, your amygdala isn’t so keen on abstract, far-away outcomes. Doubly so if reaching your goals means forgoing something pleasurable in the meantime. Setting more milestones decreases the distance between achievements. This assures your amygdala that your behavior is worth continuing. Here are a few ways to increase your goals and milestones without slowing down your progress.
Quarterly Goals
Few things excite the brain as much as a new beginning. New challenges light up the limbic system and produce a rush of motivating dopamine. What if there was a way to harness the novelty of a new year more often? Well, quarterly goals do just that.
You can turn an annual goal into four quarterly goals using the following steps:
Quarterly goals may be sequential, as in the example of buying a house.
| Year-end Goal | Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy a House | Improve credit score | Figure out budget, wants, and nice-to-haves | Get Pre-approval from the Bank | Find a real estate agent and attend between 5 to 10 showings |
They can also be cumulative, like with savings goals.
| Year-end Goal | Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Save $1,000 | Save $250, $250 total | Save $250, $500 total | Save $250, $750 total | Save $250, $1000 total |
You can use each quarter as a chance to revisit and review your goal. Since the distance between goals is smaller, you can correct course before going too far off-track. These smaller goals are also much easier for the amygdala to process. Saving $83 per month seems a lot more doable than coming up with $1,000 by year’s end.
Micro Milestones
You can make small steps even smaller by setting micro-milestones. These are the actions you need to take so that your milestones are achievable. Micro Milestones often look like a new routine or habit.
Take a look at the example below:
| Goal | Milestone | Micro Milestones |
|---|---|---|
| Save $1,000 by the end of the year | Make a budget | * Open a savings account * Download a budgeting app * Set up an automatic transfer between your checking and savings account |
Micro Milestones are so small that they can be easy to overlook. However, it is these incremental actions that will move you toward your goals. Recognizing and celebrating micro milestones shows your brain that these steps are important.
Micro Milestones are also helpful for behavior changes that are difficult or time-consuming. It may take you years to pivot to a new career, but you can set micro milestones that are achievable today [5].
Next safe step strategy
Some goals, no matter how small you make them, are scary. Paying off debt is a common example. These types of goals can be highly emotional and a lot more difficult to stick to. Emotional goals can push the amygdala into fight-or-flight mode. Maintaining willpower while in this state is almost impossible [6].
The next safe step strategy reduces goal-related anxiety by reducing milestones to a single action. For people dealing with financial avoidance, making a budget may be too large a leap. In this case, the next safe step could be simply logging into their bank account. While this step alone will not pay off debt, it will reduce anxiety. This greatly improves the chances of achieving the long-term goal [7, 8].
The next safe step can be used at any time when the next milestone seems overwhelming.
Final thoughts
Milestones make the difference between achieving your goals or calling it quits. Goals and milestones are most effective when they are reasonable, time-bound, and concrete. Next time you set a goal, take a bit of time to map out all the milestones that will get you there. Do that, and you may find yourself amongst the 10% who actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions.
[1] Dingfelder, S. F. (2004, January). Solutions to resolution dilution. Monitor on Psychology, 35(1). https://www.apa.org/monitor/jan04/solutions
[2] Gabija Toleikyte Ph.D. (2021, March 23). How to increase your motivation and change bad habits. Psychology Today. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/yes-you-can/202103/how-increase-your-motivation-and-change-bad-habits
[3] Berkman ET. The Neuroscience of Goals and Behavior Change. Consult Psychol J. 2018 Mar;70(1):28-44. doi: 10.1037/cpb0000094. PMID: 29551879; PMCID: PMC5854216.
[4] Thomas Rutledge Ph.D. (2019, October 24). Beyond smart: An evidence-based formula for goal setting. Psychology Today. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-healthy-journey/201910/beyond-smart-evidence-based-formula-goal-setting
[5] Rutishauser, U. (2016, November 21). Decision making: A role for the amygdala in translating goals into choices. Current Biology. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982216311356
[6] Holland, K. (2021, September 17). Amygdala hijack: What it is, why it happens & how to make it stop. Healthline. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.healthline.com/health/stress/amygdala-hijack
[7] American Psychological Association. (2022, March 22). Face the numbers: Moving beyond financial denial. https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/money
Press, T. C. (2021, November 16). Avoiding your finances? here’s how to regain control and take the fear out of debt – BNN Bloomberg. BNN. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/avoiding-your-finances-here-s-how-to-regain-control-and-take-the-fear-out-of-debt-1.1682735
[*] Timothy A Pychyl Ph.D. (2018, August 26). The neural signature of procrastination. Psychology Today. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dont-delay/201808/the-neural-signature-procrastination
