Keep track of your progress by writing everything down

When it comes to financial goals, or any goals in particular; it is very important to find out where you are now and where you want to be.

In between that, you want to make sure to keep track of your progress by keeping good records of everything you do. This way, you can see if you are on track or falling behind your goals. This will help you make useful decisions on the margin. By seeing your progress, you know what you should or not be doing.

I started running in 2012 after watching the movie Run Fat Boy Run.
I kind of wondered how close I could get to running a marathon.
As it turns out, I only got as far as running 5 miles, but I've never known if I could do it because I'd never tried before.

I only did this because I had a stopwatch and I ran a consistent distance with each run. I knew what distance I was running every time and I could keep track of my time. I wrote everything down in a notebook.

I could challenge myself for a new time with every run. Try to get a personal best every time.

Over the course of 2012, I ran over 50 miles. I ran more than I had ever run in the previous 5 to 10 years put together.

The same principles can be applied to something else like quitting smoking or drinking.

I really like beer but I've been trying to cut back on the beers for the last couple years.

So for the year of 2013, I kept track of all the beers that I drank. It came out to be 45 beers.

Since I knew where I was, I could set a realistic goal for myself. For 2014, I would try to cut down the amount of beers I would drink to 40. Each year following, I'd try to cut back a little more.

As of today, I've drank only 17 beers. I can have 3 more beers between now and 6-30-14 to stay on track.

This is a much better strategy than setting a ridiculously difficult New Year's resolution like giving up alcohol for an entire year and holding it only for a month and a half.

When people do this, they usually give up the goal entirely once breaking it.