The Minimum Effective Dose: A new approach to goal setting
My client, Luke, like so many of us, likes to set big goals. He also finds himself a little hamstrung at times by all the moving pieces in his life: demanding job, young kids, family commitments, health setbacks, and more. I should also mention that Luke is a former Division 1 college athlete with a history of setting big, Ironman-sized goals. So it was interesting when he told me last week that this past January, he and his old teammates agreed to a smaller, beautifully-sized goal: run 365 miles in 365 days. Not one mile every day. Not one 30-mile jaunt at the end of every month (that would be something). Just 365 miles, over 365 days. With that simple goal, Luke committed himself to two of his key values: health and friendship. We affectionately referred to this goal as The Minimum Effective Dose, a right-sized goal that gets us doing what we actually set out to do.
I love this idea of a Minimum Effective Dose. It entails putting in a bite-sized amount of work that still nudges us toward what we want. It’s not the mileage that really matters to Luke. It’s not his running speed, or his heart-rate. It’s keeping his health and his friends top of mind.
Curious about how this might work for you? Here are the three key steps to setting your own Minimum Effective Dose:
Identify something that is really important to you.
Create a flexible, easy-to-medium goal that fits in with the demands of your life. Keep in mind that Luke’s goal has a built-in safety net -- he can get back on the rails pretty easily to reconnect with what’s really important to him.
Get clear on your reasons for doing it.
For any sized-goal, you’ve got to know your why. You can write it down, share it with friends, or just simply know it. But it’s a non-negotiable step if you want to arrive at the finish line (proverbial or literal). When we connect with the intentions behind a goal, we are significantly more likely to follow through. The clearer the why, the more our Minimum Effective Dose becomes a delight.
It’s August now. And as it happens, Luke is 111 miles towards his goal -- with 136 days left in the year, he might have some longer weekend runs ahead, but plenty of opportunity to come away with a clean victory. Alongside the miles tracked, he and his friends have stayed in close touch, and held each other accountable through injuries, distractions, and even a super humid summer.
What’s your Minimum Effective Dose going to be? You can check out what mine is here.
