The problem with a lot of goals is that their rewards are off in the future. Sometimes it's hard to stay motivated when the prize is far off. To stay motivated, come up with a way to make your progress visible.
Charts, calendars, and other forms are very useful for this. For instance:
Do you want to get or stay fit? Keep track of when you exercise and for how long--this might be how many minutes you walk or run, how many reps you do of different weight-training exercises, and so on. For instance, when my gym closed due to the pandemic I bought a rowing machine. My goal is to use it at least five days a week, and to increase the amount of time by one minute every day until I hit 30 minutes and then up the resistance every week.
Do you want to write a novel or screenplay? Record the number of sessions and the number of words or pages you wrote in each session and your running total.
Do you want to learn a new skill? Keep track of how many lessons you complete.
Do you want to improve a relationship? Keep track of the number of positive statements you make to the other person (compliments, thanks, etc.)--the experts say your ratio of positive to negative statements should be at least five to one.
Do you want to feel good about yourself (and maybe be more popular)? Commit to doing one act of kindness per day and keep track of them.
Make it easy to keep track
I keep my rowing chart right next to the rowing machine so it's easy to jot down the times. Whatever format you use, keep it visible and easy to access.
Review and adjust as necessary
Another benefit of recording progress is that it becomes apparent when you're not making any. Put it on your to-do list to review your progress once a week.
If your calendar or chart shows too many blanks, stop and think about what you can change in order to get better results.
For example, maybe you set out to go for a walk first thing in the morning, but that's not working. Decide on an alternative and try that. Keep looking at the results and trying new approaches until you find one that works.
Be prepared to adjust as your circumstances change. During the summer, a walk in the evening may be enjoyable; in winter you may prefer to move it from the dark evenings to early mornings.
When necessary, instead of abandoning your efforts, adjust them. If you have relatives visiting for a week, it may make sense to cut down on your writing sessions temporarily. If you have a cold, it may be a good idea to suspend your exercise sessions.
Add some rewards
You can increase the power of measurement even more by adding small rewards to achieving short-term goals. For instance, every time you exercise 5 days out of 7, watch something you've been meaning to catch on Netflix, or have a bubble bath, or buy yourself an ebook. If you like, you can attach somewhat larger rewards to meeting your monthly targets.
Your turn. What are you going to start measuring--and achieving?
