Habit Tracking is Crucial to Your Personal Development Goals.
When we have a goal in mind, it seems so easy to plan for and think about in our minds. “I just need to do this” or “I’ll just start on Monday”, and although this may work for some, it will not work for all. When starting a new goal, such as a healthier way of eating or reading routine, we want to set ourselves up for success.
In my personal experience and time with my clients, there is one technique that spells out our success in a very clear way. Habit tracking.
Habit tracking is a method of tracking individual habits towards your success. These can be small, such as flossing, or as large as running a 5km three times a week. It is entirely customizable and dependent on your own goals.
I am an active habit tracker, especially when I am feeling particularly motivated and excited about something I have got going on in my life. Right now on my habit tracking list:
4L of water a day
30 minutes of reading a day
Flossing every day
Tracking my food (trying to eat WAY more veggies!)
30 minutes of activity
These change from time to time but are really focused on my goals at the time. I also do this in my professional life with Instagram engagement, lead generation, and content development.
Why is habit tracking helpful?
Habit tracking is not a new concept and can be done in many ways. James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, believes that they are helpful for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, they remind you to act because they are right in front of you. Nothing like seeing your on-going progress every morning in your habit tracking time or right after you finish a task. It is a very visual way to see progress on things that often you cannot see immediate progress on!
Secondly, there is major motivation to continue! You see your progress on your goals and want to continue because you see how far you have come. For me, I have been really focusing on my water intake, so when I see I missed a day, I am disappointed in myself and am determined to get a checkmark the next day.
Lastly, he reminds us of the immediate satisfaction that comes from checking something off right away. Calling all those folks who make to-do lists of finished items, this has a similar effect! As soon as I am done flossing, I check it off and it feels like I have accomplished something immediately.
You can learn more about James’ perspectives on habit tracking here.
How can I habit track?
I have gone through a number of methods of habit tracking to meet some of my own personal goals, and I needed to find the one that worked best for me. Like any personal development venture, it will only stick if you are personally bought in and invested in the method. If you are keen to try habit tracking, here are some resources that could be helpful:
Many folks swear by the bullet journal, but it was just too much work for me. If you are creative, it can be a good option and some folks come up with beautiful creations.
When I track online, I use a number of free apps. You can find a lot of them here!
For a great actual journal, these journals are awesome and take the guess work out for you. I love just having something in person because it feels more prominent in my life.
Your personal development goals deserve the space to grow and planning for them using a habit tracker can be a great way to see them come to fruition.
Interested in learning more about habit tracking? Check out my master class!
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This post was edited using my favourite resource Grammarly!
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