Developing A Goal Chart to Track Your Awesomeness

You probably don’t head out on a trip without having a plan to get to your final destination. But you may be living life every day without a clear destination in mind. That’s where setting goals comes in. Pick your big destination and then think of your goals as the steps that will get you where you want to go.

You can set goals for the long-term, the short-term or somewhere in between. You can set short-term goals that lead to one long-term goal. Your goals might be easy to achieve or they might be really difficult. There’s not one correct way to chart your course, there’s just one way that works best for you.

Setting goals is the way to take an honest look at some part of your life and decide that something needs to change. And knowing that you have the tools to get there.

Types of Goals

You might make goals related to your job or career. Maybe the longer-term goal is to break into management within the next two years. That could be followed up with shorter-term goals like taking the lead on a big group collaboration or bringing new business into the company.

You could make wellness goals. Maybe you want to run a half-marathon next year so your goal is to run three times a week every week and gradually increase your long run distance until it is past 13 miles.

You might have self-improvement goals like read 12 books this year or practice meditation every morning for 10 minutes or only order take-out for dinner once a week.

It’s also very common for people to set money goals for themselves. Those goals can include saving more of it or using it to pay off debt.

Create Charts to Help You Achieve Your Goals

Most experts recommend writing goals down to help keep yourself accountable. Once you see the goal in front of you, you are more likely to make a commitment to it. Writing it down also lets you back to it for review or a reminder whenever you need it. Once you put the big goal on paper you should create a detailed action plan that gets you to the final goal. That’s where developing a goal chart comes in handy.

What is a Goal Chart?

A goal chart is a visible representation of what your goals are and how you are going to achieve them. They can be simple, complex or even technological. The keys to a goal chart being successful is that it makes a visual impact on you and motivates you to follow the steps. When you are developing a goal chart you can follow one of three basic templates.

• Simple Graph

  The simple graph style goal chart can be on something as small as a piece of paper or as large as a piece of poster board. Write the goal as a bold headline at the top of the paper. Then use a straight edge and a pen to draw long, horizontal boxes the width of the paper. Section the rectangle into smaller boxes that each hold one step toward the goal. As you finish a step mark through it in color and watch your progress to your goal increase

• Sticky Note

  The sticky note style is also low-tech but high function. At the top of a piece of poster board boldly write the final goal. Then underneath it in regular sized sticky notes create a row of steps that need to be achieved to reach that goal. Then under each regular sized sticky note create a vertical column of smaller sticky notes with the steps needed to get to the goal on the larger note. If you need flexibility when developing a goal chart, the sticky note model is the easiest to change and to adapt.

  As you complete a goal on a sticky note you can either remove the note from the poster board completely, or you can move it to another column that you have titled “done”.

• Technological

  In a world where there is always an app for that, goal tracking is no different. Apps allow you to see the progress on your goals from anywhere. Apps usually come with display options for viewing goals and how to see the progress you’re making toward them. If you’re developing a goal chart and you’d like to see it on your phone and through the web one of these apps may be the tool you are looking for.

If you fall somewhere in between liking to create things on paper and figuring out how a new app works, a simple spreadsheet can also work well for keeping goals and sub-goals organized and in line.

If you aren’t sure at all about how you want your goal chart to look it might be a good idea to start a vision board on a site like Pinterest.

SMART Goals

When you’re developing a goal chart it can be helpful to think about creating SMART goals.  SMART is an acronym for:

A vague goal is:

“I want to get out of debt.”

A SMART goal is more specific. 

“I want to pay off my high-interest credit cards with balances.”

This goal is also measurable. It will be met when the high-interest credit cards are down to zero balances.

The goal needs to be achieveable and not something that is too large to come true. In this case assume the credit card debt isn’t insurmountable or the size of the federal deficit.

The goal needs to be relevant. In the example the person with the credit card balances may want to qualify for a mortgage and has to reduce the current amount of debt.

The goal needs to be time-bound. You’ll take the task of fulfilling the goal more seriously if you have a deadline. If it were open-ended the tendency might be to just keep pushing the goal forward into some unknown time in the future. So now the example becomes:

Eliminating debt is often a priority for people setting financial goals. If you’re developing a goal chart in the hopes of getting control of your finances, these are some other common goals.

• Creating a budget

  To see the money coming in and the money going out to better analyze spending.

• Saving an emergency fund

  Because things so often go wrong when we least expect it, having emergency funds stashed away can keep us from going into debt over a surprise expense.

• Funding retirement

  Even if it seems like retirement is a long way away, it’s best to start saving early and allow the interest to compound over time.

• Pay off student loans

  Many borrowers try to accelerate payments and eliminate student loan debt as quickly as they can after graduation.

• Live Within Their Means

  This goal requires analyzing income versus spending and saving to come up with a plan to make sure that income is higher than expenses every single month.

• Improve credit score

  When people are planning to make a big purchase they will try to improve their credit score to increase their odds of being approved for a loan and to help them win the most affordable interest rate.

• Create an education fund

  This is usually to cover the costs of a college education for children or grandchildren. The cost of higher education rises every year and is a financial burden for many families.

• Vacation fund

  This is a fund for those who like to plan big vacations without putting travel expenses on a credit card. Paying cash for a vacation eliminates the chance that the trip goes on a credit card and is allowed to linger as a balance that is being charged interest.

Get Emotionally Invested in Your Goals

You have to be committed to your goals deep down in your core to make them happen. If you aren’t emotionally invested in the outcome you aren’t likely to put in the work. You will probably lose interest in your goals and find other things to think about it. Don’t select goals that you think other people would like you to have. Develop goals that are the most meaningful to you.

Are My Goals Serious Enough?

No one ever said that goals are only for “big ticket items” like saving money for a down payment on a house or sending your child off to a private college. A goal can be anything that you want for a brighter future, not just financial goals. Just be sure it’s a SMART goal that you can act on.

Drinking 64 ounces of water a day can be a goal. You could set a goal that three mornings a week before work you will hit that cycle class at the gym. Or maybe your goal is to only have dessert one night a week. All of those are SMART goals that lead to a larger goal of better health.

You could set goals to build habits. Maybe your goal is to complete one novel a month for an entire year. Maybe you want to organize one drawer in your home every week. Maybe you want to learn to speak Italian by taking an online class. There is no such thing as a small goal if it is meaningful to you.

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Don’t Be Scared of the Time Commitment

Setting goals is definitely not a speedy process but it’s also not something you want to rush through. Allow yourself the time to sit down and really think through your vision of your future and what the goals to get there look like. Writing down the goals and the processes will take time. So will developing a goal chart that looks and works the best for you and will help you to stay motivated.

You also have to make the time to regularly check in on your progress. Perhaps there is a certain time of day every day you review your goals. Maybe you look things over once a week. Or maybe you check in with your goals every month after the bills are all paid and your checking account has been reconciled.

It’s easy to get bogged down in the busyness of life and work and push your goals farther away from sight. Give yourself the gift of time to achieve your goals.

Keep the Goal Chart Visible

When you’re developing a goal chart figure out where you are going to keep it and how often you are going to look at it. Maybe the goal chart should hang over your desk so you can see it frequently throughout the workday. Maybe the goal chart should be on your refrigerator so you see it every time you open the door.

If you have decided to use an app for developing a goal chart set a reminder so that you check in regularly with your progress.

Staying Motivated

Simply developing a goal chart might not be enough to keep you motivated to follow through and reach your goals. Here are 7 steps that can help you achieve.

Visualize even the tiniest of details related to your goal. Break the goal down into steps that you can see to the finish. Maybe you can visualize yourself putting the stamp on the envelope when you make the last payment on that student loan.

Make a list of the whys. Tell yourself all the reasons why you set a particular goal and what the outcome will be once you’ve reached it.

Break it down. Cut even the largest goals down into manageable steps that allow to make continual, small progress. Reward yourself when you achieve intermediate success.

Be flexible. Circumstances change. People change. Allow yourself the flexibility to change all or part of a goal or the path to reaching it.

Get help if needed. Don’t try to reach your goals all by yourself. Build a support system.

Plan in advance. Before your motivation starts to falter decide what you will do to get back in the groove.

Check-in frequently. Ask yourself if this goal still matters to you and if you are still in search of the same outcome.

In Conclusion

Goals serve as a road map to something that you want to see in your future. Goals can be set for the long-term or the short-term and can usually be broken down into the tiny steps needed to achieve. It’s helpful to write down goals for clarity as you are developing a goal chart ,as a visible reminder of what you’ve down and where you are headed.

When you are developing a goal chart make it something that is visually pleasing to you. Maybe you need lots of colors or designs on the edges of a paper goal chart. Maybe you crave the organization of a spread sheet. Maybe you need an app with colorful bars and graphs and pie charts. Make your goal chart something you want to look at and refer to.

Make sure your goals follow the SMART formula – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Don’t set goals that are too vague or too hard to reach. Make sure you are emotionally invested in your goals and that you set them for yourself – not because someone else thought they were a good idea. Be committed to spending the time on your goals. It takes time to set them, it takes time to make a goal chart and it takes time to regularly check in on your progress. 

Throughout the process keep referring to the goal chart you made but be flexible with yourself. Your goals may change and you might have to adapt. And above all, stay motivated. The best goal-getters never lose sight of what is waiting at the end.