One thing about me? I love setting goals! I’ve been setting them since I was a kid. But, if I’m being honest, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I would actually assess my goal progress. Crazy, right? Basically, I would set goals for the year (with quarterly milestones) and fail to monitor, assess, or even look at my progress until the end of the year. At that point, it was a simple: “did I reach the goal or not” conversation. Let me tell you…there’s a much better way!
When I finally got on the goal assessment bandwagon, I learned that there were proactive ways to shift the outcome of my goals! I didn’t just have to do what I planned to do all year and see the outcome! I could assess what was working (or not working) well before the year ended and actually make adjustments to get back on track. What a game-changer! This applied to goals in every area of my life – financial, health, personal, and professional.
If you’re like old Raya and don’t have a system for monitoring and assessing your goal progress as you’re working towards them, let’s change that once and for all! I’m walking you through the steps you need to assess your goals’ progress to get (or stay) on track! Get ready to be a goal-setting and goal-monitoring pro!
How to Assess Your Goal Progress to Get (or Stay) on Track
#1 Set Clear and Measurable Goals
One of the best ways to reach your goals is to make sure you’re starting with goals that are clear and measurable. I’m sure you’ve heard of SMART goals, and for good reason. Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (hence SMART). Setting goals with the formula ensures you’re working towards things that are realistic for where you are currently.
Let’s take an example. Instead of setting a goal to “save more money”, set a goal to “Save $5,000 by December 31.” See how specific that is? More importantly, you have an exact amount and timeline specified, which means you can easily see when you’ve hit the goal. You can also easily figure out if you’re on track to reach the goal. This is key when assessing goal progress. If you can’t measure the goal, it’s much harder to know if you’re on track to reaching it.
#2 Schedule Regular Check-Ins
Don’t wait until your goal deadline to check in on your progress! Set weekly, monthly, or quarterly goal reviews. Use this time to see if you’re on track, if you need to change what you’re doing to reach the goal, or if you could potentially reach the goal ahead of schedule. Giving yourself this time to assess your progress will help you move forward as effectively as possible.
Treat goal assessments like important meetings with yourself. Make sure you schedule these meetings at times that work best for your life and show up! You can even help keep yourself accountable by sharing notes or a quick status update of the check-in to a friend or partner.
During these check-ins, create a system for tracking the progress you’ve made towards your goals. Use a planner, digital tracker, or spreadsheet to log progress. I personally love spreadsheets for monitoring financial goals. However, I use the Notes app in my iPhone to track which books I’ve read in a given month. My goal currently is to read 2 books a month. I can easily see if I’m on track or not by looking at the Notes.
#3 Analyze What’s Working (and What’s Not)
I’d say during your monthly or quarterly check-ins, dedicate time to pinpointing what has or hasn’t been working in your efforts to reach goals. Identify actions that have been effective in moving toward your goal and write them down. Plan to do more of the things that have a positive impact and less of the things that aren’t moving the needle.
Spot obstacles or patterns that may be slowing progress. Once you’ve identified those things, adjust your strategies based on the information you find. This is one of the most effective ways to make sure you’re on track to reaching your goals. Don’t skip the analysis of what’s helping or hurting your goal progress!
#4 Make Adjustments as Needed
In the past, I used to struggle with making adjustments to the things I had planned to do for my goals. Actually, I still struggle with it. I am great about outlining what steps need to be taken to reach my goals, but adjusting along the way is a bit harder to work through. It does require analysis and critical thinking, but the more you do it, the better you get.
If progress towards your goal is slower than expected, tweak the approach rather than abandoning the goal altogether. Reduce the timeline of the goal, increase effort, or change tactics based on current results. For example, if saving $500/month isn’t possible for your current situation, adjust to $300/month instead of quitting.
#5 Celebrate Wins (Even Small Ones!)
Hitting milestones and targets on the way to achieving your overall goal should be celebrated! Taking the time to acknowledge your milestones will help you to stay motivated. Reward yourself for progress, not just the final achievement. You don’t have to do anything crazy, but an extra iced coffee or a Saturday of binge-watching your favorite show can help you keep the momentum going. It also builds confidence in your overall goal-setting (and achieving) capabilities!
Related: 6 Questions to Help You Reflect on Your Goal Progress
While it’s certainly possible to set goals, never assess them but come out on top, the real power is in the goal assessment along the way. That’s where achieving success becomes guaranteed (or much more likely, at least). I encourage you to spend some time thinking about the goals you’ve set for this year or quarter and put your first check-in on the calendar! Assess your progress, evaluate what needs to be changed, and implement those changes!
Monitoring your progress isn’t about judging yourself, it’s about doing everything in your power to make sure your goals become achievable. Growth and success all the way! Do you have a process for assessing your goal progress? What have you found works best for you? Share your feedback and experiences in the Comments section below!
-Raya
The CGS Team
