Are you ready to reach your goals? Tracking your habits may just help you do just that, achieve your goals. When you know how to use a habit tracker, you can see at a glance where you are with the goals you have set for yourself. Are you on track? or do you need to make adjustments?
I found that tracking for 90 days is long enough to set a habit and progress towards my goals. It is amazing what you can achieve in 90 days towards your goals.
My word for the year was health. I chose this word when I created my vision for the year. Naturally, with the current changes in how we interact with family, friends, work colleagues and our environment, I’ve needed to make some changes to my health plan and the habits I track.
For me, having a focus word health for the year meant it was still possible for me to focus on health. However, I needed to refocus and plan my next 90 days to suit the current living restrictions. I needed to edit my habit tracker to reflect new activities. Out is aqua aerobics, and walking is now my go-to exercise again.
With the many changes that we are all adjusting too, tracking how you spend your time, your activities and even your mood will provide a source of reflection and a source of achievement during the current way of living.
What is a habit tracker?
A habit tracker is simply a way to track the actions you take towards a specific goal. Quite often, habit trackers are drawn in a bullet journal. However, you don’t need to journal to create a habit tracker. Tracking habits can be as simple as tracking your actions on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil.
There are many ways you can track your habits, these include;
- Writing in a diary or journal
- On a phone app
- Keep track on a program like Excel
- With a tracking system
- Writing in a bullet journal
- In a book on goals and tracking that you purchase
- On a printed PDF, like the one below.
I’ve tried many different ways and use a combination depending on what I’m tracking. Currently, I write in my journal and combine a tracking sheet so I can see how I’m doing.
Why use a 90 day tracker.
Over the years, there have been many different times given as to how long it takes to form a habit. Some say 21 days, others 66 days, and many now say 90 days is the amount of time it takes to turn a behaviour into a habit that sticks. We are all different and have different ways in which we eliminate old behaviours and adopt new behaviours. Therefore I believe the amount of time to concrete a new habit will differ between us all.
One of the advantages of a 90-day habit tracker is it is long enough to change a habit. Additionally, with 90 days, you could change four habits a year. Think how far you can come in one year towards a life goal.
Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.
Bill Gates
The main advantage of using a habit tracker is self-accountability. You keep yourself accountable to your goals by completing daily, weekly or monthly actions that bring you closer to your goal.
Other reasons why you should use a habit tracker are;
- Keeps your goal at the forefront of your mind.
- Productivity as action produces results.
- It is a great time management tool.
- Keeps you focused on your main quarterly goal.
- Less procrastination and more action.
- Progress, you can see where you are, rather than guessing where you are at with your goals.
90 day trackers to reach your goals.
Many times 90-day trackers are used to help you track the progress of a goal. There are many short-term goals that can be achieved in 90 days like;
– writing a short book for your business
– doing an online course
– writing an online course
– creating a productive morning routine
– developing a fitness routine.
If you are looking at short-term goals, it is possible to plan, progress and establish a successful routine that leads to success within 90 days. Fortunately, life goals can be broken down into smaller goals that lead to a larger goal.
Everything big started small.
Unknown
As I write this April 2020, we are unsure how long we will be restricted within our home and local area due to the health pandemic. Yet, those restrictions need not stop us from achieving our goals. In 90 days you can achieve so much.
5 Examples of what you can achieve in 90 days.
- Learn a new skill via one of the many free online courses.
- Learn how to play an instrument.
- Take up yoga via online tuition.
- Write your first book.
- Lose weight via exercising at home.
There are endless opportunities to grow personally over the next 90 days.
Things to track with a habit tracker.
Deciding what to track starts with your goals. When you know your main goal, you can create habits to help you get there.
For example, if your goal is to be more healthy, you may choose some healthy habits.
5 Examples of healthy habits to track.
- Drink 8 glasses of water.
- Walk 10,000 steps a day.
- Practice gratitude.
- The hours you sleep.
- Writing in your journal.
Related post: 12 Simple daily habits for Health.
If you are unsure what habits to track, maybe creating a habit to start a simple morning routine would be a way to commence tracking habits.
5 Examples of habits for a morning routine.
- Mediate for awareness or productivity.
- Reading for pleasure or for education.
- Planning your day for productivity.
- Exercises like yoga, stretching, walking, and online fitness class.
- Start your day with gratitude.
Once you have decided on what you would like to achieve, it is important to plan how to achieve your goal. There are many different ways to create plans for your goals and life. Using a 90 day planner can help you get started with your planning.
The advantages of a 90-day plan.
The bonus of creating a 90-day plan is it is a way to create routines in your life. Additionally, it is a way to discover what you like and dislike. Also, a 90-day plan is enough time to stretch yourself and progress toward your goals.
A basic 90-day plan will allow you to write the activity you wish to achieve. It will also have tick boxes for you to tick to say you have completed the activity for the day.
How to track daily activities with a 90-day tracker.
There are a few steps to take when tracking your daily activities. The first step is deciding what and why you would like to track something. The second step is setting up your routine and 90-day planner. The third step is tracking daily.
- Decide what you would like to track and why.
For example, if your goal is weight loss, decide how many kgs/lbs you’d like to lose over the 90 days. Be realistic.
- Set yourself up for success.
This second part requires establishing a plan of action. Decide what actions you will need to implement to reach that goal. Put the actions into monthly, weekly, and daily actions.
- Commence with the 90-day tracker.
Write the daily actions for the first month on your 90-day tracker.
Because 90 days is three months, your actions may change as you improve or move into another stage towards your goals. That is why after each month, it is great to evaluate your progress.
With weight loss, for example, you may commence a walking routine yet by month 2 you may decide to change it to walking 10,000 steps a day or even switching to a jogging routine.
The way to track habits on paper.
With a paper 90-day habit tracker the best way to track is to tick off the activity you do daily.
Each day look at your tracker and tick the box if you completed the activity. Leave blank if you haven’t completed the activity.
You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.
John C Maxwell
How many habits should you track?
If you were only focusing on one habit every 90 days, that would be 4 habits a year, you can change. You are more focused when only changing one habit, yet some goals require multiple habits to achieve success as per the example with weight loss. If the actions are related to the goal, it is possible to track more than one habit, but more than 4 can be a challenge to focus on.
When you focus on too many goals at once, you often find yourself not achieving any of the goals you set. Therefore, if you lose focus and struggle, pull back to 1 or 2 habits related to one goal.
What to do when your goal is a long-term goal?
When your goal takes a long time, like a university degree, running a marathon or losing weight, it is best to break down the goal into smaller steps. Taking the three examples, let us break down the goals into 90-day goals.
University degree. To complete 2 courses over 12 weeks that contribute towards my main university degree. Studying for a degree is long-term and can take 3 to 8 years to achieve. Although a study plan is required for each course, one of the best ways to use a 90-day tracker when studying is to note when you have read, studied or made progress towards one or more of your assignments.
Running a marathon. To commence a running program starting with learning to run 5k using the couch to 5k app. The couch to 5k app has a running program that can have you running 5k’s in just 9 weeks. On the days you run, place a tick on the 90 day tracker, this shows the action you have taken towards your running goal.
I loved using this app when I was running, but in all honesty, I don’t run anymore. Maybe again one day.
Weight loss. With an end goal of being healthy and losing 30kg. A small goal could be to lose 6kg over 12 weeks or a dress size over 12 weeks.
For the weight loss goal, the actions you may need to take are; exercise and monitoring what you eat. A habit tracker can track multiple actions, which can help you stay motivated to lose weight. To start with, you may place a tick in your 90-day tracker when you have tracked your food or eaten healthy, as well as ticked the days you exercise.
The habit tracker printable.
Success doesn’t just happen. It is planned for. Tracking habits can lead me closer to my goals. What I love most about using a habit tracker is it is a simple system that keeps me accountable and helps me step closer to my goals. Download the weekly habit tracker to start tracking your habits.
When you know what you want to achieve, it is easier to create the habits to reach the goal. Therefore, working in alignment with a habit tracker is creating your ideal day and creating a vision board.
What a fantastic tool! I love the idea of working on a 90 day goal. Totally doable!
Thank you Kendra, it sure is doable.
What a lovely thorough post. Although I set goals, I’m a bit lax with tracking them. This post is a great reminder that goals need to be tracked especially if you’re trying to develop new habits. I love the fact that you make it so doable with the examples you give, Great post.
Thanks, Poovanesh, I too, in the past was a little lax with tracking what I realised is all goals are achievable when broken down and progress celebrated. Every little ✔️ counts. Aim high.
I like using the notes app on my phone to keep track of my to-do list, and list of goals. I am very likely to lose a piece of paper or notebook that I’ve written anything down on, so my phone is much handier. Great tips!
Thank you, It is great that there are so many different ways to keep track. Apps are great too to help with goal setting.