There’s a popular say that goes like this: “If you can’t measure it, it won’t get done.” If you are serious about your goals, you need to develop a way to measure than and track your progress.

There are several ways to do this:

1. Numerical Values – If your goal is related to earning a certain grade in a class, obviously you want to keep a record of your grades as your measure.
2. Yes/No Values – Some goals relate to something you plan to do or not do. For example if you have a goal of exercising each day, then you can keep a record of days you exercised (Yes) or didn’t (No). You can also calculate the percentage of yeses.
3. Sense of achievement – Some goals are more intangible (e.g. reduction in stress). For goals like this, the best way to measure them is to write a recap each day of how you felt about your goal. Then give yourself a letter grade much like the letter grades used in college. You can also use these letter grades to calculate a score much like you would calculate your GPA (e.g. A’s are worth 4 points, B’s 3 points, etc.)

No matter how you measure your goals, you need to put the measurement on a chart that you can see each day. Just having a visual reminder in a permanent location (e.g. on your clothes closet) can be the type of reminder you need.

While these measurements may seem intrusive at first, you will find them to be very rewarding (and habit forming) over time.