Fresh off of a Super Bowl appearance with the San Francisco 49ers, reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey is looking forward to upping his game next season. 

For years, that process started with McCaffrey taking the time to outline each and every thing he wanted to accomplish on the gridiron. 

"I used to be a huge goal setter. I used to write down everything that I wanted to achieve," McCaffrey told CNBC Make It while promoting Dymatize's "Formulated for More" scholarship. "I think there's a lot of power in setting goals."

But last season, which was one of the best of his career, the 28-year-old didn't write a list of goals. Instead, he focused on a single, broad target: feeling as good as possible so that he could play every Sunday. 

"Sometimes I think goals can limit you, and sometimes I think goals can put unnecessary pressure on you," he says. "As a running back, your health is everything. If you feel good, you're gonna have a chance."

It was the first time McCaffrey had ever entered a season without outlining specific objectives. And for someone who has played football for more than half his life, it was a major change. 

Giving himself permission to go with the flow and just work on feeling his best paid off in spades.

"I was like 'You know what? Just play ball. Don't think about anything else,'" he says. "And all the goals that I used to have came true. It's not that I didn't care, but I wanted to be the best me I could be every day, whatever that was."

McCaffrey's decision to forego a lengthy list of things to accomplish — and his finding success as a result — tracks with stories from experts who have warned that excessive or specific goal-setting can be counterproductive. 

Emmanuel Acho, a former NFL player, detailed in a TED Talk last year how his career and success took off when he switched his goals from specific things he wanted to do on the field to achieving "excellence" overall. 

In his case, this led to a willingness to accept a television job that required him to step away from the game he had devoted his life to. Now, he's a successful sports analyst. 

With his new approach in hand, McCaffrey is focused on only one thing: improving every day. 

"You're always trying to get better," McCaffrey says. "To quote my old college strength coach, 'You're getting better or you're getting worse, you never stay the same.'"

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