Track it or it doesn't move

Tracking your progress makes you more likely to reach your goals. A 2016 meta-analysis of 138 studies with nearly 20,000 people found that monitoring progress improved goal attainment, with bigger effects when progress was written down and reported to someone else.

Quick: how many sales conversations did you have last month?

How many new email subscribers did you get? How many hours did you spend on your most important project?

If you had to guess at any of those, you're in good company. Most business owners I work with have a vague sense of how things are going. "Pretty good." "Kind of slow." "Better than last year, I think."

Here's the problem with vague: you can't steer by it.

138 studies, one clear answer

In 2016, a team of researchers led by Benjamin Harkin, including Thomas Webb and Paschal Sheeran, set out to answer a straightforward question: does monitoring your progress toward a goal actually help you reach it?

They gathered 138 studies involving nearly 20,000 people. In every study, some people were randomly prompted to monitor their progress more often, and others weren't.

The answer was yes. People who were prompted to track their progress were more likely to reach their goals. But two details in the findings are the part I want you to remember:

1. Writing it down mattered. Monitoring had a bigger effect when progress was physically recorded (written down, logged, tracked) than when people just kept it in their heads.

2. Reporting it mattered even more. Private tracking that was shared with someone else had a much bigger effect than private tracking nobody saw.

One more interesting finding: what you track shapes what improves. The researchers noted that if you want to change a behavior, track the behavior. If you want to change an outcome, track the outcome.

Why tracking works

Tracking does a few things for your brain at once.

It shows you the gap. You can't close the distance between where you are and where you want to be if you don't know where you are.

It catches drift early. Without tracking, you notice problems when they're big. With tracking, you notice them when they're small and cheap to fix.

It makes progress visible. And as I've written about before, seeing progress is one of the biggest motivators there is.

Why we avoid it

If tracking is so helpful, why don't more of us do it?

Researchers, including Thomas Webb, have a wonderful name for one of the reasons: the ostrich problem. Sometimes we avoid looking at our progress because we're afraid of what we'll see. Like an ostrich with its head in the sand (which, for the record, ostriches don't actually do).

If you've ever avoided opening your bank app, your sales dashboard, or your email analytics after a slow month, you know exactly what this feels like.

The numbers you avoid looking at are usually the ones you most need to see.

I had a client one time who told me her business had been "really slow" for months. She told me that she hadn't looked at her numbers since spring because she didn't want to feel worse. When we finally pulled them up together, her revenue was actually steady. What had dropped was her number of new leads, which explained the anxious feeling. Now we knew exactly what to fix.

How to track without drowning in data

You don't need a complicated dashboard. You need a few numbers, looked at regularly.

1. Pick three numbers. Choose the three that matter most to your business right now. Maybe sales conversations, new leads, and revenue. Or content published, email subscribers, and discovery calls booked.

2. Track at least one behavior. Outcomes like revenue are important, but you can't control them directly. Track at least one action you do control, like outreach messages sent or proposals submitted.

3. Write it down. A spreadsheet, a notebook, a whiteboard. The research says physical records beat mental notes.

4. Review weekly. Pick a day. Look at your three numbers. Ask: What changed? Why? What will I do about it?

5. Share them with someone. A coach, a business partner, a mastermind, an accountability buddy. This is where the research shows the biggest boost.

Start with what you'll actually use

The best tracking system is the one you'll keep up. A simple list of three numbers that you check every Friday beats a gorgeous dashboard you never open.

So pick your three numbers this week. Write them down. Look at them every Friday.

And if you've been avoiding one of them, that's probably the one to start with.

Reviewing the numbers that matter is part of every coaching call I have. If you'd like someone to look at yours with you, let's talk.

Study to link: Harkin et al. (2016), Psychological Bulletin

Frequently asked questions

Does tracking progress help you reach goals?

Yes. Benjamin Harkin and colleagues' 2016 meta-analysis of 138 studies found that people prompted to monitor their progress were more likely to reach their goals.

What is the ostrich problem?

The ostrich problem is the tendency to avoid looking at information about your progress because you're afraid of what it will show, like avoiding your bank app or sales dashboard after a slow month.

What should a small business owner track?

Pick three numbers that matter most right now, including at least one action you control, such as outreach messages sent. Write them down, review them weekly, and share them with someone.