Paying off debt can be a long, difficult road. During that period, it’s easy to feel like you’re not making progress and lose motivation. This is especially true if the only measure of success you’re tracking is whether you’re done yet.
If you wait until the very end to be happy, you’ll suffer through the entire process, and it will be hard to keep going.
Thankfully, there’s a more enjoyable and effective way to pursue your goals. That’s to track your progress using a portfolio of small wins. By figuring out a few useful metrics to track, you’ll be able to see progress in some area, even when others aren’t going as well as you’d like. It’s important to feel this way because it gives you a sense of agency and encourages you to keep going after setbacks.
Here are exactly seven small wins to track on the way out of debt:
- Knowing exactly what you owe, and being honest with yourself.
- Tracking your finances and any important metrics related to your debt payoff.
- Creating a realistic debt payment schedule and actually sticking with it for a long time.
- Doing something positive to increase your income, even if only a tiny bit.
- Watching your credit score rise, if your debt payoff plan includes reducing credit usage.
- Reining in impulsive spending and sticking to a budget or spending plan.
- Being transparent with your family about your goals and priorities.
We’ve listed seven small goals, but there’s no rule for exactly how many goals you should have, or even which ones have to be on your list. You might include paying off a certain amount of debt or a certain percentage of your total debt. But the main thing is to have a small list of goals to track and monitor progress against so that you feel a sense of forward momentum in your life. As you start making progress on your small wins, you’ll notice more power over your finances and a greater sense of control.
Tracking small wins is a great way to increase your agency and autonomy over your finances and avoid the sense of helplessness that often results from tracking only one goal that’s far off in the future. You’ll feel more ownership of your financial plan and can adjust it to make it more realistic or less stressful at any point. With that in mind, here are some practical ways to monitor your small wins.
1. Measure your key results. For each small win you’re tracking, come up with one or two metrics to track your progress. For example, if one of your small wins is to have a realistic debt payment schedule, you could track the percentage of payments made on time.
2. Update your progress tracker regularly. Keep track of your progress in a spreadsheet, on paper, or even with the help of an app. Make it a habit to update your tracker at the same time and place each time so that it becomes second nature.
3. Create a visual display of your progress. Consider using a visual element in your tracking, such as a thermometer for reaching an amount of debt paid down or a line graph for improving your credit score. Whatever you choose, the important thing is that you can easily see the trend over time and whether it’s in the direction you want.
4. Schedule regular check-ins. Most importantly, make sure you pull out your charts and progress trackers at least once a week to see what’s working, what’s not, and if there’s anything you want to do differently. There’s no shame in adjusting your goals or starting fresh if that’s what you need to renew your sense of momentum and motivation.