How Do You Measure Progress on Your Goals?

In 2013 Bill Gates wrote an article about measurement for The Wall Street Journal. In it he said, “You can achieve incredible progress if you set a clear goal and find a measure that will drive progress toward that goal.” Gates was talking about making progress for humanitarian purposes, but the principle applies beyond that realm. Measurement is important for success in any area. If you’ve read about SMART goals you know that the M is measurable. Measurement lets you know when you’ve accomplished your goals. It also lets you know whether or not you’re making progress on them.

It’s January. If you’re like most people you’ve probably got some goals for this year that you’re excited to make progress on. But, how do you measure progress on your goals? It seems like measuring our progress is something that everyone agrees is good and necessary. But it’s not something that most people do. What’s the difference between being able to measure and track progress on your goals and not?

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I think the biggest reason most people don’t track progress on their goals is because they don’t have a system to capture all that information. They weigh themselves weekly or even daily (not recommended) but they don’t have a way to track the data. They go for walks, or read books, or write, or call an old friend, but they never keep track, at least not all in one place. The result is problematic. We get a sense of which direction we’re trending, but we don’t have solid information about what (if any) progress we’re making.

Thankfully, today, this is easier than ever. Most of us carry a computer around in our pockets with more power than used to require a whole room. And, to top it off, there are teams of developers working hard to provide cheap, or even free, tools that can help us not just try to make progress on our goals.

All those different resources are a huge blessing but they also present us with a problem. Wish so many options available how do we choose which tools to use? I think the answer is different for each person, but I have 4 criteria to help you choose what will be best for you.

4 Criteria for Picking a Measurement Tool.

1. One that you’ll actually use.

I’ve tried lots of different ways of tracking progress for lots of different goals. I once tried counting the calories I eat, but couldn’t stick with it for very long. Another time I made my own “habit tracker spreadsheet” that sits abandoned on my hard drive. The problem in both of the cases above is that the tools weren’t ones I could (or would) use regularly. It doesn’t matter if you have the best tool in the world at your disposal. If you’re not going to use it then it won’t do you any good. When it comes to deciding which tool you’ll actually use I’ve found that two major factors come into play.

1. Accessibility: No matter what system you choose to track your progress with you need to be able to access it easily. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a smartphone application or a Moleskine journal you carry in your back pocket. You need to be able to access your system quickly and easily when you need it. If you can’t, it will be difficult to use and, ultimately, forgotten.
2. Simplicity: The system needs to be easily integrated into your day to day life. The problem with both of the attempts I mentioned above is that they were too complicated. I had a good calorie tracking tool. But, without a smartphone, I had to write everything down on paper and then type it in to the web application later. Too complicated. My spreadsheet was even worse. It wasn’t very accessible (only on my laptop’s hard drive) and it was Soooooooo complicated. It took too much work to maintain, and so, it was abandoned.

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2. One that you like to use.

This relates to the simplicity and accessibility noted above. If you don’t enjoy using your measurement system, then you probably won’t really use it. At least not long term. Do you get a thrill from checking boxes? Find a system with boxes to check. Do you thrive on charts, graphs, and visualizations? Find a system that shows them to you.

3. One that has just enough detail.

This one is tricky. One of the complaints I first had about most habit tracking systems is that they used a kind of “minimum threshold” approach to tracking. Either you met your goal that day, or you didn’t, no more data required or tracked. This may work well for some goals, but I wanted more stats, more detail. That’s why I created the spreadsheet that didn’t work out. Why didn’t it work? It had too much detail. You want a system that tracks all the details you need and ignores the rest. Some goals are binary, either you did what you needed to do today or you didn’t, and for those something like “don’t break the chain” works great. Others require more granular detail, and that’s not a bad thing if that’s what you need. Find a system that tracks everything you need but, if possible, no more. (Remember “Simplicity” from point 1 above!)

4. One that motivates you.

This is perhaps the most important characteristic of a good goal tracking system. Dave Ramsey’s popular “Snowball Method” of debt elimination is a great example. The Snowball Method has borrowers start with listing all their debts from smallest to largest by balance. Then, it has them pay as much extra to the smallest balance as possible until it’s paid off before moving on to the next one. If you do the math you’ll see that this isn’t the most efficient way to eliminate your debts. In fact, your dollars go a lot further over time if you focus on debts with the highest interest rate first. But the Snowball Method is extremely effective. Why? Because it’s motivating. Using the snowball method is all about psychology, it gives borrowers a sense of momentum and progress, it utilizes quick wins. It works because it motivates people, and that helps them to see it through to the end. Your goal tracking system should do the same.

What Am I Using?

If at all possible, I would prefer to keep all of my goal tracking in one system. However, I’m currently using two so that I’m logging just enough detail as it relates to my goal.

Strides

The first tool I’m using is called Strides. Strides is similar to Coach.me, another app that I’ve tried in the past. Both are designed for users to track progress toward goals and measure consistency with habits they’re trying to build. The big difference is that Coach.me is really only built for habit tracking in the “don’t break the chain” school of thinking. That’s a problem for me because some things are better if you don’t do them every single day. Coach.me will allow you to set up goals that aren’t every day goals, but it won’t track your streak on those goals so you miss out on the motivational feedback the app gives you. This is where Strides really shines. It is built for four different types of goals (not just one) and tracks and gives you feedback on each.

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Here’s a screenshot of the dashboard for my “Wake by 5am” goal. As you can see, Strides is beautiful and easy to use.[/caption]

I really love this app, I have just one major criticism. It only has native applications for Apple operating systems. This means that I’m forced to use the web application from my android phone. It works pretty well for a web app (sometimes I forget that it is one). But because it’s a web app it tends to lag more than my other apps, which can cause some frustration from time to time. Still, that one criticism aside, I love Strides and I’m using it to track progress on all my goals with one exception: Writing.

My Writing Tracker

When it comes to my writing I wanted a little bit more detail (and flexibility with my data) than the Strides app was giving me. So, for that I’m using . . . a spreadsheet. Now, I know I just talked about how my last spreadsheet was a total flop. But I’ve learned from my mistakes and made sure that my current spreadsheet conforms to the principles outlined above.

• It is more accessible than my former one. Instead of keeping it on my hard-drive I’m keeping it in Google Sheets, which means I can get to it anywhere I have internet access.
• It is more simple than my last one. I’m only using it to track one goal instead of many.
• I like using it. It’s not as pretty as Strides, but it’s fun watching my percentage climb every day.
• It’s got just enough detail. I have my daily counts on there, my daily average, my cumulative to date, and my percentage of my goal. (Plus if I decide I want to consider the data from a different perspective I have the flexibility to make adjustments.)
• And finally, it motivates me. Watching my percentage climb each day is not only fun, it motivates me to keep up the good work and to keep making progress toward my goals.

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Not a pretty as Strides, but it does what I need it to.[/caption]

Note: I’ve made a copy of my spreadsheet tracker available for anyone to use (It’s flexible enough to be used for more than just writing!). Click here to open the sheet in a new tab and follow the instructions on the front page to copy your own editable version.

When it comes to the tools you use, the most important thing isn’t that you’re using the hottest new tool. It’s not that you’re using the same tool as such-and-such a famous person. It’s not that you’re using the tool that cost you the most money. No. The most important thing when it comes to the tools you use is that you’re using the tools that work best for you!

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So, use Strides if it works for you. Use Coach.me if you like it better. Use a spreadsheet if it gets the job done. Use Evernote if that’s your preference. Use a pen and paper if you can’t stand all this high-tech mumbo-jumbo! (Kids these days, am I right?) What matters is that you’re effectively tracking your progress toward your goals so that you can be successful in reaching them.

I love tools! And I’m not shy about switching if I find one I like better. Let me know in the comments below what tools you use to help you achieve your goals and why you love them!