I see patients every single day who want to improve their health, reverse disease, and maximize health resilience. All of them have reasonable, inspiring goals for the upcoming year. And yet, most of them are focusing on the wrong thing.
I recently completed a big goal of mine for 2026: our clinic has put out a video + blog article every single week since late October 2025. Some weeks, the articles were easy to write. Other weeks came with creative blocks or schedule demands that forced me to work right up to a deadline. It was a clinic-wide effort, but we did it!
Focusing on the Journey, Not Just Your Health Goals
In his book The Way of Excellence, Brad Stulberg has this to say about goal setting:
“Goals are like mountaintops. They are important insofar as they provide definition and direction for our journeys….Yet nearly all of our growth, development, and meaning occur not at the point of accomplishing a goal but during the pursuit….The real reward isn’t just what happens when you reach the top of the mountain. It’s who you become on the sides.”
I counsel patients around their health goals every single day in my office. So often, I have patients who focus on the end result: hitting a certain number on the scale, running the marathon, building muscle. For many, they make this goal into a binary outcome, success or failure. It’s an all-or-nothing mentality or, worse, used to define their character.
The Hidden Cost of Reaching Your Health Goals
But there are two problems I see:
For the person who reaches their goal, it is exciting. But that excitement is often much shorter or less impactful than they initially expected. What comes next? When we focus too much on the goal, we run the risk of not learning anything about ourselves in the process. Or, worse, we’ve created a lot of damage getting to the end. In my practice, a patient’s health goal may have been achieved atop a stack of cards. The weight loss was real but only achieved through unsustainable practices. What have they actually learned about their bodies and how to respond to its cues? There’s diet-burnout or regression that can erase their efforts. In career goals, there’s destroyed relationships with family and friends. Many feel lost and lonely in the days to weeks after reaching a big goal, not sure what to do next or who to turn to to celebrate.
For the person who does not reach their goal, many see it as a failure. They are frustrated that all of their effort resulted in nothing. Was it really nothing, though? Maybe you developed a running injury that hampered your marathon goals; but you proved to yourself you could stick to a running schedule and made some running buddies along the way. Or worse, they run the risk of applying the failure to their character. They “can’t” do something or they “will never” be able to reach that goal. They see themselves as a failure and give up on the goal entirely. The goal becomes their identity, and their identity is disappointing.
Sustainable Health Habits: Where Real Growth Happens
I want you to set great goals, and define how tall this mountain is going to be. Then, forget about the peak altogether and focus on the side of the mountain, the area you’re going to spend 99.9% of your time. For weight loss, forget about the scale and rather focus on learning new recipes, trying new foods, or exploring different forms of exercise. If it’s smoking cessation, spend time reflecting on your triggers to smoke and identify other ways to curb the craving.
When scaling the mountain, some parts will be easy. Others will require more effort. Sometimes, you may find that you have to back up and choose a different route. All of these are part of the climb, all of these are learning opportunities, and all of these contribute to growth. It’s in these day-to-day challenges and experiences is where you learn about yourself, develop your resolve, and refine your character. It’s where the true results lie. By focusing on the sides of the mountain, you can find a more impactful sense of joy and meaning that far surpasses anything you may feel at the end.
When Winning Isn’t the Goal: Lessons from Professional Cycling
Sepp Kuss, an American professional cyclist (and one of my favorite athletes) recently was set to win a stage of the Tour de France, considered one of the greatest accomplishments of professional cycling. So when Sepp was a few kilometers from the end of Stage 20 in the 2026 Tour, everyone knew it was his for the taking. But then he crashed his bike — twice — and ended up in third place. A day later, he had this to say about it:
“The nice moments in cycling, the victories, they are pretty fleeting, you know, they pass by really fast. What sticks with me most is the process of getting ready for those big moments, the emotions I feel in the stage, the good feelings I feel in the stage. That’s what I have to remember the most, more than the victories or almost victories.” (Cyclingnews)
The Real Reward: Building a Healthier Life
Sepp has his eyes on the right things — the side of the mountain. He doesn’t need the win to love what he does. He just loves riding his bike. I wrote 52 weekly articles for a year, but the process strengthened my medical knowledge in certain areas and helped me become more comfortable in front of a camera. I want you all to love what you do, find enjoyment in the process of reaching your goals. Maybe you hit them, maybe you don’t. But the person you become, and the life you experience while pursuing something meaningful, are more important than whether you reach the summit.