A. Developing the Skills, Strategies, and Habits Needed to Succeed · Skills, Strategies and Habits for Success

Monitoring Progress and Revising Goals

A2.1About 65 minutes

Learning goals

I can monitor progress toward a goal using check-in dates and a tracker.
I can identify internal and external obstacles and write if-then plans for them.
I can decide whether to keep going, change my path, change the size or timeline of a goal, or change the goal.
I can revise a goal based on what I learn about myself.

Words to know

monitor
To check regularly on how something is going.

tracker
A tool for recording progress, such as a checklist, log, habit chart or graph.

check-in date
A planned date when you stop and review progress toward a goal.

obstacle
Something that gets in the way of reaching a goal. It can be internal (inside you) or external (outside you).

if-then plan
A plan that names an obstacle and what you will do when it happens: "If ___, then I will ___."

revise
To change something after reviewing it, in order to improve it.

Steering the canoe

If you have ever paddled a canoe at a summer camp or on a lake up north, you know it doesn't go straight on its own. Each stroke pushes the bow a little to one side. Experienced paddlers in the stern use a J-stroke, a small twist at the end of each stroke, to keep the canoe on course. They don't wait until they're heading into the reeds. They correct a little, all the time.

Goals work the same way. Setting a goal is the start. Monitoring it (checking regularly) and adjusting (small corrections, or sometimes a new direction) is how you actually get there.

How to monitor a goal

Set check-in dates when you set the goal. For a three-month goal, check in every two to four weeks. Put them in your calendar.
Track your actions and your results. Actions are what you do ("practised 4 nights"); results are what happens ("quiz mark went from 60 to 68"). If results are slow, your actions tell you whether the plan is really happening.
Choose a tracker that suits you: a checklist, a habit chart on the fridge, a log in your notes app, or a graph.
Find an accountability partner: a friend, family member, coach or mentor you check in with.
Celebrate progress, not just the finish. Small wins keep motivation going.

Worked example

Let's read Sophie's progress graph

In September, Sophie set a goal: 20 volunteer hours at the public library's homework club by January 31, so about 4 hours a month. Her check-in dates are the last day of each month. Look at the graph below. How is she doing at the December 31 check-in, and what should she do?

Planned by Dec 31: 4 hours × 4 months = 16 hours.
Actual by Dec 31: 7 hours. The gap is 16 − 7 = 9 hours.
Look at the pattern: she was on track in September (4 hours), slowed in October (+2) and November (+1), and did 0 in December.
Find the reasons: October and November had extra soccer games; the homework club closed for the holidays in late December; exams are coming in January.
Is the goal still right? Yes. She enjoys it and wants the hours for her diploma.
Is the strategy working? Not quite: her schedule changed. To reach 20 by Jan 31 she'd need 13 hours in January, during exams. That isn't realistic.
Revise the timeline: new goal, "20 hours by March 31." She needs 13 more hours over January, February and March: 13 ÷ 3 ≈ 4.3 hours a month, about 1 hour a week, on Tuesday evenings when she has no soccer.

Sophie is 9 hours behind at the December check-in. The goal still fits her, so she keeps the goal but changes the timeline (to March 31) and the schedule (Tuesdays, about 1 hour a week).

The dashed line is Sophie's plan; the solid line shows her actual hours. At the December 31 check-in, the gap is 9 hours.

Obstacles and if-then plans

Obstacles come in two kinds:

Internal (inside you): low motivation, fear of failing, perfectionism, procrastination, tiredness.
External (outside you): time, money, transportation, a change in schedule, a family responsibility, a program that closes.

An if-then plan decides in advance what you'll do: "If I have a shift on a study night, then I'll do my practice questions on the bus." "If I feel like skipping the run because it's -15°C, then I'll do a 20-minute workout video inside." Deciding ahead of time means you don't have to make a new decision when you're tired or stressed.

Keep going, adjust or change?

When you're off track, you have four choices:

Keep going. You're a little behind, but the plan is working. Persevere.
Change the path. The goal is right, but the strategy isn't working. Try a new one or get support. (Studying alone isn't working, so join a study group.)
Change the size or timeline. The goal is right and the strategy works, but the goal was too big or too fast. (Sophie moved her date.)
Change the goal. You've learned something new about yourself or your circumstances, and the goal no longer fits.

Changing a goal is not the same as giving up. Giving up means dropping a goal because it got hard. Revising means making a thoughtful choice based on new information. Many successful people changed their goals several times.

Ask two questions in order: is the goal still right for me, and is my strategy working? The answers tell you what to adjust.

Worked example

Let's revise a goal using new self-knowledge

Amira's long-term goal was to become a pharmacist. Over the March break she job-shadowed at a community pharmacy for a day. She liked learning about medications but noticed she most enjoyed the few minutes she spent talking with patients, and she wanted more of that. What should she do?

Is the goal still right? Partly. She still loves health care and science, but she has learned she wants more direct contact with patients.
Don't make a sudden leap: one day is new information, not the whole picture.
Gather more information: list health careers with lots of patient contact (for example nursing, physiotherapy, paramedicine and pharmacy roles in hospitals) and talk to her guidance counsellor.
Keep options open: the Grade 11 and 12 science and math courses she was already planning are useful for many of these programs, so her short-term goals barely change.
Revise the long-term goal: from "become a pharmacist" to "work in a health care career with a lot of patient contact; research three by June and job-shadow one more".

Amira revises her long-term goal based on new self-knowledge, without giving up her interest in health care. Her short-term goals (strong science and math marks) still fit.

Just for fun

Why did the student bring a ladder to their goal-setting meeting?

They heard it was time to take things to the next level. (Turns out a goal ladder works better. And it fits in a backpack.)

Hands-on activity

Build a tracker and an if-then plan

You need: one of the goals you wrote last lesson, paper, a ruler and pencil (or a spreadsheet), and a fridge magnet or tape.

Choose one goal that will take at least a month.
Set check-in dates (every 1 to 2 weeks) and write them in your calendar.
Build a tracker: a checklist, a habit chart (days across the top, a box to tick each day), or a graph with a planned line drawn in now.
Post it somewhere you'll see it every day (the fridge, your bedroom door, your phone's lock screen).
Write three if-then plans: at least one for an internal obstacle and one for an external obstacle.
Tell an accountability partner (a family member counts) about your goal and your first check-in date.
At your first check-in, use the two questions in the diagram and write down your decision: keep going, change the path, change the size or timeline, or change the goal.

What to look for: a tracker with a planned target, real check-in dates, if-then plans with a specific "then", and a written decision at the check-in.

Your turn

Why should you set check-in dates at the same time you set a goal?

What is the difference between tracking actions and tracking results?

Classify each obstacle as internal or external: (a) the bus doesn't run on Sundays (b) fear of failing (c) a family member needs you to babysit.

Write an if-then plan for this obstacle: "I often skip my practice when friends invite me out."

Name the four choices you have when you're off track.

How is revising a goal different from giving up?

A goal is 12 hours by the end of 4 weeks. After 2 weeks you have 4 hours. How many hours a week do you need now to finish on time?

More practice: warm-up

What does monitor mean?

Name two kinds of trackers.

Is "perfectionism" an internal or external obstacle?

What are the two words that start the two parts of an if-then plan?

What is an accountability partner?

More practice: on your own

Jae's goal is to read 6 books by June 30 (starting January 1). On April 1 he has read 2. Is he on track? Suggest a decision.

Your goal is to make the senior basketball team. Your skills are improving, but the coach says you need to work on conditioning. Which of the four choices fits, and why?

Give an example of new self-knowledge that might cause someone to change a career goal.

Why is it useful to celebrate small wins along the way?

Sophie needed 13 more hours over 3 months. If she volunteers 1 hour every week for 13 weeks, will she reach her goal? Show the calculation.

Challenge

A student set the goal "Save $500 by June for a used bike" and is far behind because their part-time job hours were cut. Walk through the two decision questions and recommend an adjustment with reasons.

Explain why a goal with no check-in dates is more likely to fail, using the canoe example.

Design a complete monitoring plan for a medium-term goal of your choice: the goal, check-in dates, a tracker, two if-then plans, and what result at the first check-in would make you change the path.

Check your understanding

Quiz

What is a check-in date?

Which is an external obstacle?

Which is a correctly written if-then plan?

The goal is right and progress is happening, but more slowly than planned because the goal was too ambitious. What should you change?

A student learns through co-op that they don't enjoy the field they planned to work in. What is the best response?

A goal is 20 hours by January 31. By December 31, the student has 7 hours. How many hours are still needed?

Why track actions as well as results?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Expectation A2.1 asks students not only to set goals but to evaluate and revise them as they learn about themselves. The curriculum encourages students to monitor progress, identify obstacles, and decide when to adjust their path or goal.

How to help: Offer to be the accountability partner. At check-ins, ask the two questions ("Is the goal still right for you? Is your strategy working?") rather than giving advice first. Normalize changing goals: share a time you changed direction for good reasons.

Common difficulties:

Setting a goal and never looking at it again. Check-in dates in the calendar fix this.
Treating any change as failure, or changing a goal at the first obstacle. The flowchart helps tell these apart.
Arithmetic for catching up (hours or pages left ÷ weeks left). Do one together.