The Importance of Charting Your Progress

​The growth mindset is a way of thinking that says we evolve and develop over time. It states that we are not fixed and static. To be successful at business, you need to adopt this mindset so that you can continue to learn and grow. An important element of this mindset is charting your own progress. 
 
A Feedback Loop for Success 

How do you know if you’re growing? One of the key ways is to chart your progress. This means identifying each milestone and recognizing when you’ve reached it.
This milestone offers proof that you’re growing and shows that you can change over time, while at the same time showing that you’re making progress towards achieving your goals. It serves as a kind of positive feedback loop. Each milestone provides you more evidence of your growth; this in turn helps you keep pushing ahead and setting the next milestone. 
 
Create a Digital Success Folder 

How do you chart your progress? When teaching students to learn with the growth mindset, teachers encourage them to keep a success folder. You can do this too with a digital success folder. Save screenshots or files somewhere for completed projects you’ve done. Include anything you consider an achievement. You can use this material for motivation when you need it. It offers evidence of how far you’ve come. 
 
Learn to Set Better Goals 

The way you set your goals can make a difference in your development.  
When you set goals for yourself, it is important those goals motivate you: this means making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them. Motivation is one key to achieving your business goals. 

Making an action plan is also a key to goal achievement and an often overlooked step in the process.  When you write the steps to achieving the goal and cross them off as you reach those milestones, it becomes a motivator in itself.  

With clearly defined milestones, you’ll know for sure when you reach them, and they’ll be more effective in both reaching your goals and charting your progress. 
 
Reframe How You View Mistakes 

A key to the growth mindset is reframing how you think about mistakes. Mistakes aren’t failures; they’re learning experiences. They don’t impede your growth. They’re a necessary part of growth just like successes. If you understand this, you can take action toward goals and more easily reach your milestones.  
 
Charting Your Progress Is Important Work 

Successful people chart their progress as a matter of course. It becomes a habit. But if you want to adopt the growth mindset, you have to make it an intentional part of your business. This means setting aside time for strategic planning and taking the time to learn new skills and techniques. Put time on your calendar to set goals, review results, and remind yourself how far you’ve come by referring back to your digital success file.  
 
Do you want to learn more about growing your business?  

Check out Innovate Academy For Entrepreneurs, which teaches you the A to Z of the growing your business and achieving your goals HERE.  
 

About The Author   ​
  
Pat Simes is a Business Strategist, blogger and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions and Innovate Academy. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs to transform their vision to reality.