This is so simple that you might wonder why I am even writing about it…

The concept is this – the shorter the cycle, the more feedback you get. The more feedback you get, the quicker you can course-correct. The quicker you can course correct, the faster you make progress.

It’s why Agile took over from Waterfall.

It’s where the Minimum Viable Product came from (getting things to market as quickly as possible, getting feedback as quickly as possible).

So let’s take a look at how this can practically work for you and your goals.

Making Better Progress with your Goals

When do you look at your goals?

Whether you are looking from a business perspective via performance appraisals, as a blogger or website owner looking at goals (perhaps marketing goals) for your site or small business, a small business owner looking at targets or an individual looking at personal goals (e.g. new years resolutions), it’s fair to say that for most people, some kind of review of what you are trying to achieve is generally a once per year kind of thing.

i.e. Generally people review some kind of goals at the start or end of every year – what did I achieve last year, what do I want to achieve next year – that kind of thing.

So what kind of thing generally stops us achieving those goals?

Well first of all a year is a long time.

Given that a year is a long time, two of the most significant problems people face is either getting stuck or going off track.

We don’t worry too much about either of these problems (and sometimes forget we had goals altogether) either thinking things just take time or more likely just losing focus. The time we regain that focus is at the end of the year or the start of the next year when we take a look back at our goals because we are ready to set goals for the year ahead. We will do better this time.

People often look at their progress more objectively only around New Year.

We will do better this time because it is when looking ahead we also look back and remember what our plans were this time last year – but it’s hard to write off a lack of progress for a whole year as ‘these things just take time’ and there is little excuse for the lack of focus (if this lack of focus lasted the entire year).

Good news – there is a very easy way to fix this.

Swap out your yearly process (whatever that is) for a quarterly process.

Splitting the year into four parts creates a much healthier rhythm for goals and evaluating progress, whether those are corporate goals, business goals, personal goals or any other types of goals (except maybe football ones hahahaha you are so funny Alan).

Of course, some projects take longer than three months though in that case a lack of any real progress in a 3 month period would be a cause of concern in itself so still worth reviewing.

Long story short, when your goals and plans are good, you should be able to see tangible progress at least every three months, which is why this idea, although stupidly simple, is so effective.

Stupidly simple – straight out of the KISS stable of ideas.

Most importantly, when you evaluate your progress often, as I outlined at the start of this article, you can course correct early, rather than spending a whole year (or longer) going off course or staying stuck.

Making Better Progress with Anything

So you guessed it.

This is not just about your goals.

I don’t even personally like goals very much (more about that perhaps later in another article) and the most extreme version of this is a more constant feedback loop – continual improvement. Mindfulness, working on things and reviewing things in the shortest cycles possible which is often just hours if you break things down into smaller pieces.

You could have a daily or even hourly plan-do-review cycle and then close off each ‘goal’ as you achieve it then move on. How is that for progress?

So I nearly left this as just a simple, quite explicit trick to make better progress with your goals.

After all, I do like to keep things simple.

But then I couldn’t resist writing this bit too. So you have both sides, the simple practical bit of advice – track your goals quarterly instead of yearly and then the concept itself which can be used for a wider purpose – pay attention earlier.

The 3 month review thing is a pretty solid piece of advice and I think you would see good results from that alone, but the point is obviously that you can apply this to anything. Not just your yearly goals.

But for Now, Do This

Here’s the problem, if I leave you with just the concept, it could just be left as an interesting read, so back to the practical bit.

There is a (slightly ironic) risk that realising you can use this for anything means that practically you will use it for nothing. The ambiguity of the anything idea can leave us there because the confused mind always says no. The generic undefined choice is a choice we tend to leave for later.

So, please don’t leave this as a nice idea and something you read which seems pretty obvious – but then not do it!!

If you are like most people who have some kind of yearly review of your goals, then whatever it is you do in that process, mark out 4 dates in your diary at 3 month intervals (e.g. at the start or end of every quarter) and do that very same thing at those times instead.

When you get to the next date (and for each review date after that), be sure to look just as objectively at your goals (which for most people will be something you planned or made a note of at the start of the year) and see what a difference that makes to your progress.

If very little changes then you can always go back to the once per year review next year but I’d be very surprised if you don’t see better progress from doing this.

Further than that and with progress here, think about the more general concept and about other ways you can apply the same principle elsewhere.