How to Monitor Personal Progress

You may be convinced by the talk about positive thinking. You can see certain common denominators in people who set goals for achievement, and you may have decided to emulate them. Immediately, just by writing your goals down, you might feel a sharpening of your focus. Most people enjoy having a plan to work toward. However, if you stop there, you have only done half the job. There is a danger that your list of goals may become nothing more than a wish list. The acronym SMART provides a way of monitoring your progress as well as a way to set achievable goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

Instructions

• 1

  Review your progress at specific times. Break each of your goals down into smaller steps and write a review time next to each of them. Make it simple by setting a specific time by which to review them. You could, for instance, reflect on your goals on a Friday evening, before getting into relaxed mode for the weekend. This is the point of having specific and time-bound goals.

• 2

  Set measurable goals initially, as this makes it easier to carry out an effective review. If you are writing a thesis or a novel, an effective and useful goal is to set yourself a number of words to write by a specified date. A smaller step might be to write 2,000 words per week. If you do not reach your required progress, do not despair. Review your reasons why. You may have a busy work commitment at this time, so writing 1,000 words per week is more realistic.

• 3

  Build some flexibility into your goals. If they are too rigid, you may be setting yourself up to fail. Remember that goals should be realistic and achievable. Try to secure the resources, such as time, to achieve your goals. Bear in mind that sometimes your circumstances and, hence, your goals, may change. Be prepared to change your goals, if this is for the best reasons.