Scientific Foundation
The Theory Behind
The 1.37 Effect
A 2022 meta-analysis of 27 studies (Williamson et al.) quantified exactly how much each type of goal drives real-world performance improvement. The results rewrite everything you thought you knew about ambition.
Cohen's d — Effect Size on Performance Improvement
Technique · Strategy · Controllable Actions
Focus on what you execute — the specific behaviors, habits, and techniques that are 100% within your control.
"Maintain relaxed shoulders and quick cadence during strides"
"Practice deep breathing before presenting"
"Spend 30 min daily on deliberate drills"
Scores · Times · Personal Bests
Useful milestones, but dependent on execution quality. Best used as checkpoints, not primary drivers.
"Improve my average score by 10% this season"
"Run a sub-20 minute 5K"
"Hit 80% free-throw accuracy"
Winning · Rankings · Beating Others
Almost zero direct performance impact. External and uncontrollable — useful only for direction, never for daily focus.
"Win the championship"
"Get promoted this year"
"Be the best in my field"
d = 1.37
Process goals produce a 15× larger effect than outcome goals (d=0.09). This is not marginal — it's the difference between stagnation and breakthrough.
Mechanism
Why process goals work
at a psychological level
01
Fully Under Your Control
Process goals target only what you can actually do. When the metric is your own execution, nothing external can take it from you.
02
Reduce Anxiety
Obsessing over outcomes you can't control triggers stress that degrades performance. Narrowing focus to actions eliminates that noise.
03
Build Self-Efficacy
Every rep executed is a vote for the identity of someone who does the work. Stacked wins compound into unshakeable belief.
04
Direct Attention to What Matters
Attention is finite. Directing it at executable actions — not results — maximises the quality of every repetition.
05
Promote Consistency
Process goals make showing up on bad days possible. When the goal is the rep, not the podium, you can always succeed today.
"Obsessing over outcomes often leads to pressure and suboptimal performance."
— Steve Magness, Do Hard Things
Framework
The goal hierarchy
Don't discard outcome or performance goals entirely — stack them correctly. One outcome goal gives direction. Performance goals mark progress. Process goals do the actual work.
"Win the league"
Set once. Point at the horizon. Then largely forget it.
"Improve average score by 10% this season"
Review monthly. Adjust as data comes in.
"Practice 100 reps with correct form — 4 days per week"
Execute daily. These drive everything above.
Application
How to apply this
starting today
Identify the process, not the prize
For any goal you hold, ask: what specific behavior, repeated consistently, produces that result? That behavior is your process goal. Write it down as a concrete action.
Instead of: "Get better at coding" Write: "Solve one algorithm problem with full explanation — daily"
Make it SMART
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. Vague process goals don't stick. Precision does.
Instead of: "Practice free throws" Write: "100 free throws with correct form — 4 days/week — for 30 days"
Track the rep, not the result
Did you execute the process? That's the only metric that matters day-to-day. Results lag. Rep counts don't lie.
Each completed session = 1 iteration. Aim for 10,000.
Review and adjust weekly
What did you execute? What worked? Where did friction kill consistency? Adapt the process — not the outcome goal.
5 minutes each Sunday. Did the process serve the performance?
Combine with deliberate practice
Process goals are most powerful with focused repetition and immediate feedback — from a coach, data, or honest self-review.
Not mindless reps. Attentive, corrective, improving reps.
Primary Source
Williamson, O., et al. (2022). "The effect of goal types on performance: A meta-analysis." Sport & Exercise Psychology Review.
27 studies · Cohen's d effect sizes · Process (1.37) · Performance (0.44) · Outcome (0.09)
Popularised by Steve Magness — performance coach, author of Do Hard Things and Peak Performance.
The 1.37 effect size in the Hone app name references this research (rounded from d=1.37). It is a daily reminder that the process — not the outcome — is where performance is actually built.
Stop chasing the outcome.
Start counting the reps.
Hone is built around this research. Every feature exists to help you track the process, execute the next iteration, and let results follow naturally.
