745 - Does Tracking Your Goals Help?

09.08.2021 - By Gregg Clunis Play

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In this episode, we ask a question: Does tracking your goals actually help? Get excited, because this is Tiny Leaps, Big Changes.

Welcome to another episode of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes where I share research-backed strategies you can use, to get more out of your life. My name is Gregg Clunis.

The Research:

In 2016, Benjamin Harkin, Thomas L. Webb, Betty Chang, Andrew Prestwich, Mark Conner, Ian Kellar, Yael Benn, and Paschal Sheeran published a study titled “Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence”.

The researchers wanted to understand why, “Control theory and other frameworks for understanding self-regulation suggest that monitoring goal progress is a crucial process that intervenes between setting and attaining a goal, and helps to ensure that goals are translated into action. However, the impact of progress monitoring interventions on rates of behavioral performance and goal attainment has yet to be quantified.”

What They Found:

They found, “The present review of 138 interventions designed to promote progress monitoring suggests that (a) it is possible to engender large increases in the frequency of progress monitoring, and (b) increasing progress monitoring engenders a meaningful improvement in rates of behavioral performance and goal attainment. Our conclusion is that progress monitoring has a robust effect on goal attainment and constitutes a key component of effective self regulation”.

Key Takeaways:

We have the choice to take control of this part of our process.

By taking more action, you have a higher chance of achieving the goal.

You have control.

Moving is what is important, not the time it takes.

You can start tracking your progress immediately.

Best methods of tracking include: pen and paper, spreadsheets, or apps.