The Often Over-Looked Missing Ingredient to One's Success - Defining Goals

Every January, people set bold goals with the best intentions. Lose weight. Get stronger. Feel better. And for a few weeks, it feels good. Motivation is high. The plan is fresh.

Then life happens.

By March, most goals have quietly slipped away. Not because people don’t care—but because goal-setting alone is never enough.

Here’s the reality: creating goals is important, but it’s only the starting point. It’s the cake—not the celebration.

The Problem With Outcome-Only Goals

Most people define goals by outcomes:

• “I want to lose 30 pounds.”

• “I want to get stronger.”

• “I want to feel better.”

These outcomes sound clear, but they don’t tell you how to act today. They don’t help you adjust when stress rises, schedules change, or motivation dips. And they don’t account for the real barriers—fatigue, cravings, mindset, old habits—that inevitably show up.  Many people strive to outcome goals, and often, take the short cut to get the outcome they're after, but never really make the physiological or psychological changes that make them a better human.  

In short, outcomes don’t drive behavior.
Habits do.

Results are simply the reflection of what you do consistently.

That’s why at NorthStar, we shift the focus from outcomes to process-based goals—the controllable actions that create momentum.

• Outcome: Lose weight, gain strength, improve energy

• Process: Train 3x per week, hit daily protein targets, recover well, manage stress

When the process is consistent, the outcome takes care of itself. That’s the cake. Solid. Necessary. Foundational.

But even the best cake can fall flat on its own.

Why Most Plans Still Fail

Life is never static. Work deadlines pile up. Family needs change. Travel, stress, weather, and fatigue all compete for attention. Even with a great plan, progress can stall if barriers aren’t addressed.

That’s where many people get stuck.

They try to do it alone. Or they lean on a spouse, friend, or family member for accountability—someone who loves them, but isn’t equipped to guide them.

And that’s risky.

Friends and family are emotionally invested. They don’t want to push too hard. They don’t want conflict. Or worse, when things don’t go smoothly, tension creeps into the relationship. Miss a few workouts, and now there’s guilt. Or judgment. Or silence.

That’s not accountability—that’s friction.

The Icing on the Cake: Unbiased Accountability

This is where real change happens.

Accountability is the icing on the cake.
It’s what turns a good plan into lasting progress.

An effective accountability partner isn’t emotionally tangled in your life. They’re unbiased. Objective. Supportive—but honest. They help you identify barriers, adjust the process, and stay consistent when motivation fades.

Research backs this up: people with structured accountability and scheduled check-ins are dramatically more likely to succeed. Not because they’re more disciplined—but because they have support, structure, and clarity.

At NorthStar, this is built into everything we do:

• Scheduled sessions that anchor your week

• Regular assessments that measure what matters

• Coaching adjustments based on stress, recovery, and real life—not ego

What gets measured gets managed.
What gets scheduled gets done.

The Better Question to Ask

If you’re thinking about your goals this year, ask yourself a better question than “What result do I want?”

Ask:
“What habits do I need to build to become the person who naturally gets this result?”

That’s where the real work begins—and where real support matters.

Talk with your coach. Together, we’ll define the process, address the barriers, and layer in the accountability that turns good intentions into lasting results.

Because goals are important—but accountability is what makes them stick.

This process is so important to making goals and habits stick, that we've included this as it's own step - Our Goal Navigator - in the Lifestyle Integration phase as the 7th step of our 9 step process.  The process more people are using to get better results in less time, and create a lifestyle that is the envy of their peers and family.