Business Goal Check-In: How to Review Your Progress

A business goal check-in means putting the goal you set at the start of the year next to the number you actually have today, then deciding what to change. If you’re behind, you make corrections. If you’re ahead, you raise the goal. Either way, you walk away clear on where you were, where you are, and where you’re going.

Why check in at all?

By the end of April, one third of the year is gone. It sneaks up on you. You’re out there every day building a business, you’ve got competition, and you’ve got to win in your market. You also have to look at yourself in the mirror and win against yourself.

That doesn’t just happen. It takes intentional action.

Most people treat success like it’s random. Big mistake. Success is intentional, and the more intentional you get about it, the faster results show up and multiply. A check-in is one of the simplest ways to get intentional again.

We talked about this on a recent Tactical Tuesday, the live Zoom training MVMT members attend, and I challenged everybody to do it before they walked into our next room together. Here’s the same process.

How do you review progress on your yearly goals?

1. Pull out the goal you set. Not the one you remember. The one you actually wrote down.
2. Know your number. Through the end of last month, exactly where are you? Not an estimate.
3. Put both on a graph. Here’s where my goal for the year is. Here’s where I am. Seeing it beats guessing.
4. Answer four questions honestly.
   • How am I doing on the dreams and goals I set this year?
   • How clear am I on my actions?
   • What new actions have I taken so far this year?
   • What new results am I experiencing?
5. Decide: correct or stretch. If you’re behind, what corrections do you need to make to get there? If you’re ahead, how much bigger should the goal be?
6. Pick your daily focused actions. Name what you’ll do every day, starting now, that moves the number.

Don’t push this to the side. It takes less time than you think, and it’s the difference between drifting and steering.

What if you’re behind on your goals?

That’s okay.

I’ve had a few people tell me lately, “We’re not quite where we want to be.” My answer: at least now you’re clear. You know where you were. You know where you are. You know where you want to go. That’s enough to make a correction.

And what you’ve done in the past means nothing for what you can do next. All you have to say is, “I don’t know how to do it yet. I don’t have the abilities yet. I’m not taking the actions yet.” The word that matters is yet.

What if you’re ahead of your goals?

Raise them.

I’ve had a couple of people tell me lately they’re ahead of their goals. So we worked on new goals with them, bigger ones. Keep stretching.

Throw yourself so far out of your comfort zone you can never find your way back. Get uncomfortable. Take new actions. Take the jump and figure it out on the way down. Through our struggles we develop our strengths.

What does massive focused action mean?

I got asked this recently. What does “massive” mean? A whole lot. So massive focused action means a whole lot of focused action.

Success is about advancing the ball. What are you doing every day that moves you toward who and what you will be someday? You don’t get a million dollars in the bank overnight. It starts with a little bit every day.

And yes, it’s hard. Easy is not an option. But the harder you are on yourself, and the more disciplined you are about those daily focused actions, the easier it becomes.

Jim Rohn put it this way: don’t ask for it to be easier, ask to become better. And Brian Tracy once told me something that changed how I think about all of this: there are no limits to how much better you can become.

Clarity is power

Everything in a check-in comes back to clarity. What’s your clear aiming point? Are you taking clear actions every single day toward it?

Belief matters here too. A lot of us watch someone else hit a goal and think, “That’s possible for them.” My life started to change when I got into bigger rooms, around bigger thinking people, and started seeing results happen around me. That’s when I realized it was possible for me, and I could see what I had to do to make it happen for my business and my family.

Mission, vision, mindset, tactics

A lot of people don’t know this, but MVMT stands for mission, vision, mindset, and tactics. You have to know your mission. You have to have the right vision. You have to have the right mindset.

None of that matters if you don’t also have the strategy and the tactics to go with it. A goal check-in is where your vision meets your tactics. Do it now, not at the end of the year.

Quick answers

How often should I check in on my business goals?
At least at natural markers in the year, like the one-third mark at the end of April. The key is knowing your actual number, not a guess.

What should I do if I’m behind on my goals?
Get clear on where you were, where you are, and where you want to go, then make corrections and set daily focused actions to close the gap.

Should I change my goal if I’m ahead?
Yes. Set a bigger one and keep stretching yourself outside your comfort zone.

Want to work on this with other business owners? Book a discovery call with The MVMT team at themvmt.com/discovery-call.