I set 8 goals for myself this year and I am starting to make progress already in each one thanks to my favorite ways to keep track of my goal progress.

I will let you in on a quirky fact about myself–my favorite part about goal setting isn’t necessarily reaching the goal itself, but tracking my progress.

As you might know from the name of my blog I am a HUGE fan of snail pacing my goals, which essentially means breaking them down into bite size pieces…and I celebrate each and everyone of those pieces as I finish them.

6 Ways To Chart Your Progress Towards Your Goals

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1. List It

Every year I set out to read 52 books. I find the easiest way to keep track of how many books I have read so far is to simply keep a running list of what I have read. Since I have a blog, I do this by creating a page on my blog each year where I number the books as I go as well as write a one to three sentence review.

If you don’t have a blog, buy an inexpensive, dollar store blank journal and make a numbered book list within its pages. Keep the journal by your favorite place to read a book so that it is handy to record titles you’ve read.

Of course this method of keeping track can be used for many other types of goals as well. I might end up using it for my new recipe a month goal this year.

2. Journal It

Beside my bed you will find a small, dollar store purchased, week at a glance journal. Within its pages last year you would have found that each day contained a log of how many miles I had run or walked towards my 1200 mile goal for the year. Inside this year’s edition you will find what type of exercise I did that day (my goal is to cross train with yoga, running, biking, and swimming) and also if I had one treat or more (my goal is one sweet treat a day).

psst...these inexpensive, week at a glance calendars also make great gratitude journals .

3. Blog It

If you have a blog, it can be used as a powerful tool to keep you on task with your goals. I am keeping my readers up to date with my goal progress with a once a month update that I will be publishing on the first Monday of every month this year.

If you don’t have a blog, do you have a Facebook account? If so, you can use the note section to post you goal updates for your Facebook friends to read. Trust me, the odds are high that you will get a few friends hooked on reading your updates and they will start keeping you on track as well as cheering you on.

4. Share It

When I ran my first marathon I shared the link to the race with my Facebook friends. I then shared updates in my status on how my longest run of the week went each and every week. I know some people hate reading exercise updates, but others are really inspired by them and will start cheering you on.

This works for other goals too. There is just something about putting your goals out there on a regular basis on a public forum that will motivate you to keep at it. Word of caution though, some goals are just too near and dear to the heart to share, keep track of your progress for those type in a more private way.

5. Chart It

Let’s say you want to have a quiet time devoted to bible study and prayer each morning or you want to read aloud to your children each night. Keep track of your progress for these types of goals by placing a simple, blank calendar on your fridge and each and every day that you manage to complete your goal place a big X in the square for that day.

Crossing out days in a row gets addicting! Once you have a few in a row you don’t want to break the chain. This is great for goals that are essentially new habits you want to form.

6. Jar It

My redhead running buddy and I set out to complete our mileage goals last year with the idea of keeping track using the simple 2 jar method. We had pennies equal to the amount of miles we wanted to run over the course of one year in one jar and the other jar was labeled “miles ran.” Each time we ran we put in the same amount of pennies as the run–so 4 miles equaled 4 pennies.

I didn’t stick with this method for long as I am much more of a journal type gal, but my redhead runner kept it up for the entire year.

This method would work for many different types of goals and you could even make the transferred item a prize of sorts. Perhaps $1 for each pound lost–or more if you can afford it. You could wait to spend the prize money until you reach your goal or you could choose to cash out each time you reach a milestone. For instance, if you are working on getting to bed by 9 pm each night, you could wait until the end of the year to reap the rewards or you can empty the jar out at the end of each month. You decide the rules!

2 Resources To Help You Break Down Your Goals & Make Time To Reach Them

I am sure some of you might be saying, “Okay, now I have some great ideas of how to chart my goals, but how am I supposed to break them down into bite sizes pieces I can track and how do I fit achieving them in my already busy day?”

A Resource For Helping You Break Down Your Goals

If breaking down goals is what keeps you from reaching them, I recommend the eBook 21 Days To A More Disciplined Life.

What You Can Expect to Learn From This Book:

How to prioritize and name your goals so that you can accomplish them faster than ever.
How to expose the obstacles that will come up, and then make a plan to conquer them.
How to break up a goal that feels insurmountable into bite-sized pieces.
How to stop making excuses and get the job done now—and then enjoy the rest of your day!
How to put accountability in place to help you stay on task and motivated.

I was able to read 21 Days To A More Disciplined Life in just one afternoon and it was well worth the small financial investment. It helped me to refine my ability to break down goals as well as make up a plan to avoid obstacles that kept preventing me from reaching my goals.

A Resources To Help You Prioritize Your Day So You Can Find Time To Reach Your Goals

A good day begins with a great morning. What time you start that morning doesn’t matter as much as what you do with those morning hours. The Make Over Your Mornings course will help you prioritize your day in such a way that you get what matters most to you done and stop wasting time on the things that don’t.

The Make Over Your Mornings course is designed to last 14 days and consists of 14 videos and workbook lessons. Each day’s assignment takes just 15 minutes. The course is relatively inexpensive and well worth the investment of your time and money. The course even comes with a money back guarantee.