A Method Supported by Science to Help You Reach Your Objectives

I firmly think that monitoring my advancement toward my objectives is important: I use a Garmin Vivosmart fitness tracker to monitor my fitness, Strava to record my runs and bike rides, and LivePlan to monitor the performance of my business.
It's not enough for me to simply show up to the gym or keep the office chair warm. Without setting goals, I lack the will to get better and find it difficult to decide what kind of work or workouts to undertake for my teams at work and for myself. Although it seems very apparent, I will say it anyway: Creating objectives is a crucial component of getting better. I can't know what I should be doing every day to accomplish my goal if I don't know what I'm working for. Read my article on How to Improve Your Company 3 Times Faster Than Your Competition if you haven't already. That post delves deeply into the reasons that make goal-setting one of the most important elements influencing higher corporate performance. However, until recently, I was unaware that goal-setting is only a small portion of the equation for success. It turns out that my likelihood of achieving my goals depends on how often I check in on my progress.

Tracking your progress is key

I had no idea that the secret to success was to track my progress compulsively. A recent study by the American Psychological Association found that monitoring my progress on a regular basis actually makes it more likely that I will succeed. Actually, the research indicates that your chances of success increase with the frequency with which you monitor your development. The same study also comes to the conclusion that publishing your progress online or keeping a physical log of your work increases your chances of achievement even more.
Examining this study in more detail will show that its focus is on individuals who are establishing fitness or lifestyle objectives, including cutting back on smoking or losing weight. What's intriguing, though, is how closely the results match those of other studies on company planning. Based on my review of the literature, it appears that companies that plan for the future expand at a quicker rate than those that don't. Establishing objectives for your company, such as sales targets to meet, financial commitments to honor, and critical turning points to reach, is the essence of business planning.
It follows that establishing objectives for your business and your personal fitness should have a comparable impact on your chances of achieving them. The most important realization is that goal-setting is not enough. To improve your chances of success, you must monitor your progress. I've created a simple, three-step procedure that is supported by planning and monitoring science to help you reach your goals:

1. Define your goal

This whole system isn’t going to work unless you set goals that are concrete and measurable. The best way to do this is to use the SMART system for goal setting. SMART is more than just another business acronym—it’s a way to ensure that your goals aren’t so vague that you can’t tell if you’ve met them.
Instead of just saying, “I want to improve customer satisfaction,” you need to define a goal that is:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-Based

That’s SMART. An example might be: “I want 80 percent of customers to give us positive customer service rankings by the end of the second quarter of this year.”
To do this, you’ll need to have a method for measuring customer satisfaction. You’ll need to know where you are today and if it’s realistic to reach this goal in 6 months. 
It’s good for your goals to be a bit of a stretch, but don’t make them completely unrealistic either. You and your team aren’t going to be very motivated if the goal seems completely out of reach.

2. Track what you want to change or improve

Monitoring progress is the critical piece that comes between setting a goal and attaining that goal.
Monitoring progress ensures that goals are translated into action. Even more important, make sure that you have a schedule that you keep to review your progress. Some things you might want to check daily, others weekly, and still others monthly. Whatever schedule you decide to keep, the key is sticking to that schedule.
Here at Palo Alto Software, we review our financial metrics with the management team once a month. But, we also check in on those metrics frequently during the month to make sure we’re on track.
Remember: The more frequently you check in on your progress, the more likely you are to achieve your goal!

3. Report publicly on your progress

Posting your objectives and progress on Facebook could be a wonderful idea whether you're tracking your fitness goals or attempting to give up smoking. But you most likely have a somewhat different perspective on your company's objectives. Make corporate goals as visible as possible to all employees. Some businesses find it uncomfortable to provide too much information internally, but I've seen that open communication just improves everyone's comprehension of the objectives and how they can contribute to achieving them. At Palo Alto Software, that is what we do, and it is effective.
If at all possible, communicate your objectives to the rest of the team and provide regular updates on your progress. The evidence supports your claim that doing this will accelerate your growth!