The Best Goal Tracking Method You Need To Try!

Summary

The video script emphasizes the importance of setting and tracking goals for success, using a system like Gapra (goals, areas, projects, resources, archive) to organize and measure progress. It illustrates how tracking daily push-ups and weight loss helps maintain motivation and adjust strategies. The speaker shares personal experiences, such as writing a book and saving money, to demonstrate goal tracking. They advise focusing on a few key goals to avoid dilution of effort and ensure sustainable progress over time.

Takeaways

• 🎯 Having goals is essential as they provide purpose, motivation, and a reason to start the day.
• 📈 Tracking progress towards goals is crucial to maintain motivation and focus; without it, goals may fail.
• 📝 When setting goals, consider how you will measure and track your progress over time.
• 🗂️ Evernote or similar note-taking apps can be instrumental in tracking and achieving personal and professional goals.
• 🔑 The Gapra system (Goals, Areas, Projects, Resources, Archive) is introduced as a hierarchical method for organizing and prioritizing goals and areas of focus.
• 💼 The speaker emphasizes the importance of setting clear, measurable goals, such as doing a minimum number of push-ups daily, to maintain obsession and motivation.
• 📊 For goals like weight loss, tracking progress weekly can help identify patterns and make necessary adjustments to strategies.
• 💼 Professional goals, such as saving a specific amount each month, can be tracked using simple tables in note-taking apps to stay focused and motivated.
• 🚀 For complex goals like career advancement, breaking them down into smaller, actionable projects and tracking them can make the process more manageable and visible.
• 🏆 Limiting the number of goals you pursue at once helps maintain focus and prevents dilution of effort; the speaker suggests focusing on a few key areas.

Q & A

Why is tracking progress important when it comes to achieving goals?

Tracking progress is crucial because it helps maintain motivation and focus. Without it, one may lose motivation, focus, and ultimately fail to achieve the goals.

How does the Gapra system differ from the Para system?

Gapra stands for goals, areas, projects, resources, and archive, emphasizing a hierarchical approach with goals at the top. In contrast, Para stands for projects, areas, resources, and archive, focusing on areas of focus that are most up to date.

What are the eight areas of focus in the Gapra system?

The eight areas of focus in Gapra are career or business, finances, health and fitness, family and relationships, self-development, lifestyle and life experiences, purpose in life, and spirituality.

How does the speaker track their push-up challenge in the script?

The speaker tracks their push-up challenge by using a spreadsheet, where they record their daily progress and have a link to the spreadsheet in Evernote for easy access.

What is the significance of tracking goals in a simple and accessible manner?

Tracking goals in a simple and accessible way ensures that the process does not become a burden, thus preventing built-in excuses for not doing it. It also allows for quick checks and adjustments to maintain motivation.

Why did the speaker decide to focus on weight loss and push-ups as part of their goals?

The speaker decided to focus on weight loss and push-ups because these are tangible goals that can be easily tracked and provide a clear sense of progress, which is essential for staying motivated.

How does the speaker plan to achieve their goal of saving money?

The speaker plans to save money by setting a specific amount to save each month, transferring the money to a savings account on the 15th of each month, and tracking the progress in Evernote.

What advice does the speaker give regarding the number of goals one should carry?

The speaker advises not to carry too many goals to avoid diluting focus and to prevent attempting too much at once. They recommend starting small and building up over time.

How does the speaker use their notes app to stay motivated and focused on their goals?

The speaker uses their notes app to track their goals, which they can access on their phone, tablet, or computer. This constant visibility helps them stay motivated and focused on their objectives.

What is the speaker's strategy for achieving a promotion at work?

The speaker's strategy for a promotion involves meeting with HR to understand the requirements, breaking down the necessary steps into a project, and tracking each step's completion in Evernote.

Outlines

00:00

📝 The Importance of Goal Tracking

The paragraph emphasizes the significance of setting and tracking goals for motivation and progress. It introduces the Gapra system, which stands for goals, areas, projects, resources, and archive, as a method for organizing notes to achieve goals. The speaker contrasts Gapra with the Para system, highlighting the hierarchical nature of Gapra with goals at the top. The paragraph also discusses the importance of tracking progress, using the speaker's personal goal of doing 10 push-ups daily as an example. The speaker shares how they use Evernote and a Google spreadsheet to track this goal, illustrating the practical application of the system.

05:02

🏋️‍♂️ Balancing Goals and Health

This paragraph delves into the speaker's personal experience with balancing goal setting and health. The speaker discusses the struggle of finding time for writing a book and the impact it had on their exercise routine and weight. They set a goal to reduce weight to 80 kilograms by year-end and explain how tracking weight loss weekly helps maintain motivation. The speaker also touches on the importance of adjusting goals based on progress and the psychological impact of tracking, using their fluctuating weight as an example. Additionally, the paragraph covers setting a savings goal and tracking it monthly, demonstrating how different types of goals can be managed using the Gapra system.

10:04

💼 Achieving Career Goals Through Structured Planning

The final paragraph focuses on achieving career-oriented goals, such as a promotion, by breaking them down into manageable projects. The speaker suggests consulting with HR to understand the requirements for a promotion and then tracking the necessary steps, such as taking courses or gaining experience, in Evernote. This approach transforms a vague goal into a series of actionable tasks. The paragraph concludes with advice on not overloading oneself with too many goals, recommending a focus on a few key objectives to avoid dilution of effort and ensure sustainable progress over time.

Keywords

💡Goals

Goals are defined as specific, measurable objectives that individuals set to achieve in a certain timeframe. In the video, goals are emphasized as essential for providing purpose and motivation. They act as a driving force that gets people started on their tasks and helps them maintain focus. The video uses the example of doing a minimum of ten push-ups every day for a year to illustrate the concept of setting and tracking goals.

💡Tracking Progress

Tracking progress refers to the act of monitoring and evaluating how close one is to achieving their set goals. The video stresses that without tracking progress, individuals are likely to lose motivation and focus, leading to failure. It is presented as a critical component of goal achievement, ensuring that one stays on course and can adjust strategies as needed. The speaker shares his personal experience of tracking push-ups and weight loss to demonstrate this concept.

💡Evernote

Evernote is mentioned as a tool for note-taking and organization that can be instrumental in tracking goals. The video suggests using Evernote to create a system for recording and monitoring progress towards goals, such as linking to a Google spreadsheet for detailed tracking. This highlights the role of technology in personal goal management and the convenience of having accessible records of one's progress.

💡Gapra

Gapra is introduced as the speaker's personal note organization system, an acronym for Goals, Areas, Projects, Resources, and Archive. It is contrasted with the Para system and is depicted as a hierarchical approach to goal setting and organization. In the context of the video, Gapra is used to emphasize the importance of having a structured method for managing and tracking goals across different areas of life.

💡Areas of Focus

Areas of focus are the specific life categories or domains that one wishes to concentrate on, such as career, finances, health, and relationships. The video describes them as part of the Gapra system, where goals are situated at the top, and these areas are the foundational categories that goals are built upon. They serve as a framework for identifying and prioritizing what is important in one's life.

💡Motivation

Motivation is discussed in the video as the drive or desire that compels individuals to take action towards their goals. It is suggested that without a system for tracking progress, motivation can wane, leading to a lack of follow-through on goals. The speaker shares personal anecdotes to illustrate how tracking progress can maintain and even boost motivation over time.

💡Measurement

Measurement is the process of quantifying progress towards goals, which is depicted as necessary for maintaining focus and motivation. The video gives examples of how the speaker measures his push-up challenge and savings plan, emphasizing that the method of measurement should be simple and not overly cumbersome to avoid creating barriers to tracking.

💡Push-up Challenge

The push-up challenge is used as a concrete example of a goal within the video. The speaker shares his personal goal of doing a minimum of ten push-ups every day for a year, tracking this in a spreadsheet. This example illustrates the process of setting a specific, measurable goal and the importance of tracking to maintain motivation and achieve the goal.

💡Weight Loss

Weight loss is another goal example provided in the video, where the speaker discusses his personal goal of reducing his weight to a specific target. This goal is tracked weekly, and the speaker explains how monitoring this progress helps him stay motivated and make adjustments as necessary. It serves as an example of a health-related goal that requires consistent tracking.

💡Savings Plan

A savings plan is mentioned as a financial goal that the speaker tracks using a simple table in Evernote. The plan involves saving a fixed amount each month with the aim of reaching a specific savings target by the end of the year. This keyword illustrates the application of goal setting and tracking in the financial domain and the importance of having a clear, measurable plan.

💡Promotion

Promotion is discussed in the context of a career goal, where the speaker suggests that one might aim for a job promotion within a year. The video advises mapping out the steps and requirements needed for such a promotion and tracking progress towards these milestones. This keyword highlights the application of goal setting in professional development and the need for a structured approach to achieving career objectives.

Highlights

Goals provide purpose, motivation, and a reason to start the day.

Tracking progress is critical for maintaining motivation and focus.

Evernote or other note apps can significantly aid in achieving goals.

Gapra is introduced as a hierarchical note organization system.

Gapra differs from the Para system by prioritizing goals at the top.

The eight areas of focus in Gapra include career, finances, health, family, self-development, lifestyle, purpose, and spirituality.

Goals should be tracked with a clear measurement system.

The speaker's personal goal of doing 10 push-ups daily is tracked in a spreadsheet.

Tracking should be simple to avoid creating excuses not to do it.

The speaker shares a personal anecdote about balancing writing a book and maintaining fitness.

Weight loss is tracked weekly with a goal to return to 80 kg by year-end.

Adjustments are made to goals based on tracking results, such as diet changes after weight gain.

Difficult goals, like a workplace promotion, can be broken down into manageable projects.

Notes apps can be used to track and motivate towards achieving both easy and complex goals.

The speaker advises against carrying too many goals to maintain focus and motivation.

Most people overestimate yearly accomplishments but underestimate decade-long achievements.

Transcripts

We're told that having goals is a

good idea, and that is true.

Goals give you a purpose, they give you motivation, they often

give you a reason to get up in the morning.

But one of the critical factors of having

goals is a way to track progress.

If you're not tracking progress, what's going to happen is

you are going to lose motivation, you're going to lose

focus, and ultimately things are going to fail.

So there needs to be a way to track your goals.

This means that when you actually set the

goal, you need to be thinking a little

bit about, well, how can I measure this?

How can I track my progress for however

long the goal is designed to be?

Now, this is where Evernote, or whatever notes app

you are using, can really play a significant role

in, in your success at achieving your goals.

Now, before we get into the mechanics of this,

let me just quickly explain the importance of Gapra.

Now, Gapra is my notes organisation system.

Gapra stands for goals, areas,

projects, resources and archive.

Now, this is actually quite different from para.

For those of you familiar with

Thiago Forte's para system, Para stands

for projects, areas, resources and archive.

Now, in Para, the areas of focus are the things

that are most up to date, things that you need

to stay focused on right now, the areas of your

life that you really want to be focused on.

There could be multiple of things.

In Gapra, it's more of a hierarchical system.

Goals are at the top because that's

where you need to put your focus.

And the areas in Gapra mean your areas of focus.

That's the eight areas that are important to all

of us, but we do kind of define them

a little bit differently, and the priority is different.

And those eight areas revolve around your

career or business, your finances, your health

and fitness, your family and relationships, your

self development, your lifestyle and life experiences,

your purpose in life and spirituality.

So those are the eight areas.

And I've done lots of videos on this, and you can

find out more by looking, going into the show notes below.

I'll put some videos in there so you can get

a better understanding of what areas of focus are.

So, as I mentioned, Gapra is hierarchical,

so your goals are at the top.

Now, the reason for that is because in order for

you to successfully achieve your goals, there needs to be

a way of measuring them, and that needs to be

front and centre of your daily and weekly life.

So in the goals area, this is where we want

to be putting our measurements or our tracking system.

So let me use my goal of doing a minimum

of ten push ups or press ups, as I was

always taught they were every day for 366 days.

2024 is a leap year, so there's 366 days.

So when I started the goal, I wrote that up at

the top, and that's clear at the top of the note.

Now, in this particular case, I

am tracking this in a spreadsheet.

Now, I use numbers, but what I wanted to do

in here is to show you how you can connect

Evernote to a Google document sheet or slides.

So all I need to do here is click on

this link and that's going to take me to the

spreadsheet where I am tracking my press ups.

And as you can see, I have just recently gone

past 5000 push ups or press ups for the year.

This is just becoming a bit of an obsession for me.

But in a way, that's what you want your goals to be.

They need to be a bit.

You need to be a little bit obsessive about

it so that when you're tracking them, you're saying,

right, I've done today, let's focus on tomorrow.

And this is another very key,

important part of setting goals.

The way you track it does not want to be big and huge, so

that you have a built in excuse as to not to do it.

They want to be easy ways to measure and track.

It could even be a simple sheet where you put a cross in

it to say, I did whatever it is you want to do.

Now, to give you a bit of a different

one, let me share with you something that I'm

rather embarrassed to share with you, but what the

hell, I'm going to share it with you anyway.

Over the last three years, I've been writing a book.

Now, writing a book is actually a quite a big project.

But in the first year I was writing

the first draught, no problem at all.

I set aside an hour and a half to 2

hours a day to do my writing Monday to Friday.

And it worked. A dream.

It didn't get in the way of

anything else that I was doing.

But last year when I came to writing the

book, I had a publisher and the publisher was

beginning to help me do the edits.

Now, editing is probably the hardest

part of writing a book.

The first draught is actually quite easy.

I know many of you will probably say

no, but truthfully, the first draught is easy.

You just got to get words on a page.

The most difficult part is cleaning up those

words and making the whole thing work.

Well, last year I really was struggling for time.

So in the end I decided to stop exercising,

or at least cut back on my exercise.

Well, that had a devastating effect on my weight.

But what I decided at the beginning of this year, and

this is one of the reasons why my press up challenge

has been a key component of my year, is that I've

got to get my weight back down to where it should

be, which is around about 80 to 83 kilogrammes.

I am currently at 87.3, so I've

still got about five kilogrammes to lose.

I don't know what that is in pounds.

I've lived in Korea for over 20 years, but

the key thing here is I need a way

to measure this so that I am motivated.

So in April, I decided to get serious about this

and to really start getting my weight back down.

The goal is really to be back down to

80 kilogrammes by the end of the year.

So I'm not going to rush this.

And I'm also aware, because I've done this multiple

times before, that in the initial couple of months,

the first couple of months, weight drops fairly quickly,

and then it's a real battle.

But by then, you're in the zone.

You've gone two months, you're in the zone and

you're not going to stop until you get there.

But the reason why I track this is because

I can now see on a weekly basis when

I take my weight that things are coming down.

And if for every example last week when my weight

went up, I'm thinking, well, why did it go up?

Well, the reason it actually went up was simply because

my mother was here and we're eating out a lot

and I wasn't really paying attention to my diet.

So I have a pretty logical reason for that.

And this week I've really focused on getting

back into eating healthily, and it's worked.

I've dropped two kilogrammes, or almost two kilogrammes in

a week, but that's not going to be sustainable.

That's not going to happen for the next six months.

I know that.

I mean, weight doesn't drop like that.

Weight tends to drop like this, and you will plateau.

But this is why having a way of

tracking your goals, whether it's daily or weekly.

So daily, with my push up challenge and weight

loss is weekly, then I have a way of

being able to be able to keep myself motivated.

And also, if my weight stabilises or goes up,

I can ask that important question, what happened?

Why did it not go down?

And I can make adjustments to the goal

so that next week they will come down.

Okay, so those are the easy goals.

Weight loss and push ups.

I mean, that's actually an easy one to track.

But what about the more difficult goals?

Let's say that you want to have

a savings plan for the year.

Now, for me, I do have a savings plan.

Last year, I used quite a bit of savings when we

moved house, and I want to replace the money that we

spent from my savings and get it back to where it

should be by the end of this year.

So I have a simple table here in Evernote where it

just tells me I'm saving about ₩500,000 a month, which is

around about $500, probably about 400, $450 a month.

That's the goal.

And every month on the 15th, I

am sending money to my savings account.

So, as you can see, I'm just tracking this.

This is just a simple table in Evernote just to

keep me focused on how much I'm saving each month.

And then as things grow, and as I get

closer to that 5000, let's say $5,000, target for

the year, my motivation is going to stay strong.

I'm not going to want to not do it.

But there is another type of goal which is a little

bit more hard to track, but you can still do.

So let's imagine that you want to

get promoted at work this year.

Now, the goal here is to get promoted.

So what we want to do is, well, where am I today and

where do I want to be by the end of the year?

Now, that probably is going to involve a meeting

with your HR department to ask, what do I

need to do in order to be considered for

this promotion at the end of the year?

Now, the thing here is your HR will all being

well, help you and explain what you need to do.

You may need to try and

get experience in this department.

You may need to take this particular course.

You may need to take an exam.

I mean, who knows?

But that's going to give you a project.

That's the way I would look at this, is it's a project.

So first I've got to do this, then I've got

to do that, then I've got to do this.

That is where you track it.

You can then pull out a little sheet,

maybe kind of like a little table, and

say, right, I've got to do this course.

So this is done.

I've got to get this experience.

So I need to talk to my boss to see

if I can work in this department for a couple

of months or whatever, and then cheque it off.

It's a nice way of being able to

build out that structure so that you know

that you are moving towards achieving that goal.

Plus, it's going to give you evidence when you have

that meeting or that interview for the position that you

hope to gain at the end of the year.

So using your notes for your tracking your

goals is one way to keep you motivated.

And as we carry our notes with us everywhere

we go, whether it's on our phone, a tablet

or computer, you can actually quickly access that whenever

you are feeling a little low in motivation.

I found it to be a I hate this phrase,

but I'm going to use it a game changer because

it really does keep you focused on your goals.

Now, before I finish, one word of advice, and for

those of you who stuck around to the end, you

are going to be the winners out of this.

Don't carry too many goals.

I always have a professional goal

because I run my own business.

We have a growth goal each year.

However, for my personal goals, I've kept

it down to my push up challenge,

my savings, and that's pretty much it.

I have two that I am tracking and that's it.

So what's happening here is I'm not diluting my focus.

I'm not trying to do too much.

Always remember that most people overestimate what they

can accomplish in a year and underestimate what

they can do in a decade.

And essentially what that means is

you've got plenty of time.

Start small and build it up.

Thank you so much for watching this video.

And if you want to learn more about the Gapra system,

then this video up here is the one to watch next.