How To Know If You're Making Progress Each Day

As 2021 begins, I'm seeing a huge surge in optimism about the possibilities this year. Interestingly enough, however, I'm not hearing many people be specific about how they plan to make this year more successful or meaningful than last year. All the uncertainties of the past year continue to influence so many of our goals and plans, keeping many in the "status quo" mode.

Hopefully you've invested some time in the past week to plan out your professional and personal goals for this year. If not, you might want to watch my recent video, Your Pyramid For Progress On Your Goals For 2021.

In addition to effective goal setting, I believe it's important to be able to assess your daily progress toward these goals and your overall use of your time and energy. As John Maxwell so brilliantly wrote in Today Matters, "The secret of your success is found in your daily routine."

My tool of choice when I want to quickly reflect on how I've spent my day is something called daily questions. I became intrigued with the concept when reading Marshall Goldsmith's insightful book, Triggers. I wanted questions that were easy to recall so I developed the "5Fs." They include:

What did I move FORWARD today?

The complexity and uncertainty in our days can make it harder to make progress on projects or goals. As Seth Godin writes in Stuck on Enormity, "When a problem appears too large, too intractable and too unspeakable to deal with, it’s easy to give up." The key is to challenge yourself to take that right next step, whether it's having a conversation, making a list, or writing an initial plan.

What did I FINISH today?

Because of the difficulty of this season, you need all the mental and emotional resources you can muster to make the best choices. Having your mind cluttered with thoughts of several tasks you started but didn't finish isn't helping. if you're feeling weighed down by such things, set a time block in your day this week for the sole purpose of "finishing." Discipline yourself not to shift to another activity until you're done. Free up your brain for bigger things.

What did I FIGURE OUT today?

I'll use myself as the case study here. I'm developing a series of on-demand online courses and a big step in the process was choosing the right online platform for the courses. I'd been avoiding it because of the many factors involved, but found that every time I worked on other aspects of the courses my mind kept coming back to the choice I needed to make. I finally set aside a whole day and plowed through all the reviews, tutorials, and features of each platform. It felt so good to finally figure out what to do. And don't confine yourself to figuring out the big stuff. What's something small that's annoying you because you haven't figured out a solution?

What did I do to FOCUS today?

While staying focused is tough on a good day, it's harder than ever right now. The pull of checking the news or social media to monitor new developments in our world is so alluring. I'm also still hearing from clients that they are struggling to stay focused in a remote work environment or even in their old physical workspace. Don't expect focused work to happen... create the environment for it to happen.

What did I FAIL at today?

Change has never been easy for me. And I sometimes find that I'll default to what worked in the past instead of trying something new. Knowing I have to ask myself this question at the end of each day encourages me to take more risk and seek better solutions.

While these five questions won't address every aspect of where I should be spending my time and energy, they do help me be more reflective so that I can make more targeted "course corrections" tomorrow. And the fact that they all start with the same letter is helpful to me because I like simple tools that can easily be used for improvement.

What questions do you find yourself using to assess your daily progress toward your goals?

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Jones Loflin helps individuals make the best choices with their time so they can thrive. He is the author of several books, including Always Growing and the award-winning Juggling Elephants. Jones is well-known for his onsite and virtual solutions for individuals, groups and businesses dealing with leadership development, work-life satisfaction, and change. To learn more about Jones, go to www.jonesloflin.com