We are at the end of the first quarter of the year. How are you doing with your goals? Sometimes people don’t reach their goals because they are not tracking them. Or they need to figure out how to track what they have accomplished.
Whether your goal is a new job, a promotion, or being productive, you must track your progress. When it comes to reaching our goals, it is easy to hit hard at first and then fall off the radar. One way to combat trailing off on your progress is to continuously measure your accomplishments.
Today we’re focusing on helping you track your progress toward success. Tracking techniques to measure your progress along the way to a big goal is a simple yet highly effective tool for boosting determination.
Tools To Measure Your Accomplishments
Here are some ideas I’ve put together for you to help you measure your accomplishments:
1. Develop Specific Metrics
Before you begin tackling your goal, be sure to make specific and numeric (if possible) targets. In business, this is easy to do. Develop a specific sales quota, percentage, number of customers served, amount of money to save, etc. If you are searching for a new position, how many applications did you submit, how many interviews did you get, etc.
When you have a specific target, you can better track and measure your progress using percentages or fractions. For example, if you give yourself a month to meet a sales quota, try to be at least 50% of the way there by the 15th of the month! If you make a goal of submitting 20 job applications, you should have ten done by mid-month.
If you are doing your goals by quarter, and your goal was to participate in ten networking events during the first quarter. Then by mid-February, you should have completed five of them. Specific metrics are easy to track.
2. Download an App
There are tons of applications available in the app store on your smartphone. Take advantage of them! After all, our phones have become what we stare at the most. Why not have a goal tracker right there in front of you? ClickUp is a fantastic goal-tracking app that allows you to track what you’ve done and count your achievements. It’s great for accomplishing tasks, kicking bad habits, keeping track of to-do lists, and more. And the best part, it is FREE for personal use with limited storage space.
There are more apps than you can imagine for help you track your goals. For those of you whose goals involve exercise and fitness, there are great apps for you, too. Try MyFitnessPal or MapMyRun are both excellent.
3. Quality Over Quantity
You should always try to measure your progress based on quality, not quantity. Stay away from the multitasking trap. Many of us think we’re expert multi-taskers and that we’re getting so much done, but in reality, our focus is scattered, and the quality of each job may suffer.
Stanford University’s article ” Why Multitasking Does More Harm Than Good ” states, “Multitasking can interfere with working memory,…and could possibly even create potentially long-term memory problems.”
Focus on getting one job done at a time and doing it thoroughly. When measuring your progress, don’t think about how many things you did. Think about how many items you’ve done well.
4. Keep a Goal Journal or Spreadsheet
In addition to keeping track of progress on your smartphone, write your accomplishments down in a journal or on a spreadsheet. You can do this in one of two ways: 1) jot the accomplishments down as they happen, or 2) write your goals down and cross them off as they become accomplishments.
It gives you a sense of accomplishment when crossing something off your list.
5. Compare and Contrast
The famous “before and after” pictures are one of the most effective ways for you – and others – to admire your progress. This method is prevalent in exercise and fitness but can also be used in home improvement projects, business projects, resume updates, dressing for success, etc.
Take a screenshot of your LinkedIn profile and bio before you work on it and after you have updated it. Seeing progress gives you a wonderful sense of accomplishment.
6. Stop The Comparison To Others
When we say compare and contrast, we mean to compare yourself to yourself. Not to other people. Everyone has a unique situation.
Other people will only showcase the positive; you don’t see what they go through to reach a goal or succeed. Comparing yourself to others is a massive waste of time. Follow your own plan to reach your goals and compare your progress.
When it comes to measuring your accomplishments, measure YOUR achievements only.
7. Write a Personal Review
Take time at the end of each month or quarter to write a personal review. There are several templates around the web that you can use to answer specific questions about yourself. What were your three most significant accomplishments? Did you kick any bad habits? How much profit did you make? What can you improve on next month? Remember, no comparing yourself to others.
Don’t let your goals stay inside your head! Write them down, track your progress, measure your accomplishments, and eventually, make them a reality!
I Am Here To Help
I would love to speak with you to determine if I can help you accomplish your goals. If you need guidance on your career, I am here to help. If you find yourself in a situation where you need career advice or support and want to talk about planning for your future, reach out to me, Rachel Schneider, at Career Find, for a free Intro Call.