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I mentioned some time back that I was making a spreadsheet to keep track of my personal growth progress. I’ve been keeping up with it, and I feel like it’s actually been a good thing for me.
In the first column of the spreadsheet I made a list of things that I wanted to work on. Things like “be more balanced”, “experience more calm”, “speak with loving purpose” and many others went on the list. I decided that about 50 items was good. In the second column I put a number. The number is how many % of that goal I think I have achieved.
For example, “Observe without judgement” started at 25%. I asked myself, how judgmental have I been? How far have I come to being how I want to be? I based the number on that answer. I had to be honest with myself, and I may have scored myself lower in some things than I really am, but I didn’t want to give myself too much credit.
Now at the end of each week I go to that spreadsheet and give myself points in each of the goals. Sometimes I realize I didn’t get any better in an area. Sometimes I grew a great deal. I give myself anywhere from 0.1 to 1.0 points per week in any area where there’s been improvement. I have a formula set up in the spreadsheet and it figures the total, divides it by 100 and gives me a level. The max level is 100, and I’m currently at a 10.6.
Having this goal sheet helps me to stay focused on the things I want to change about myself. I want to be able to add progress points and see that I’m becoming better. Sometimes it’s hard to see the benefits of personal change in your daily life, so I find this chart helpful in keeping me moving forward. In time, the benefits show in my actual life.
It’s also worth noting that this spreadsheet is only for personal changes. I don’t have anything in there about work or money. That’s something different. My focus is on being the best person I can be. everything else will flow from that.
Do you have any kind of system to motivate yourself to become a better person? Do you take time daily or weekly to think about your personal issues and work on them?
By the way, here’s a sample version of my chart with some ideas filled in. (Personal Leveling Spreadsheet Google Docs) You can replace any of them you like, and there’s a progress chart on the second page. If you remove any of the rows you’ll need to know how to edit the formula, but you can leave them blank if you want.
