The Top 10 Online Goal Setting and Tracking Tools

The first step of any project is goal setting. Keeping up with your goals on paper or through a stand along application is often difficult. Online goal setting and tracking is much easier since your goal's details are available anywhere you have an Internet connection. This makes it perfect for group or business goals as well as those you set for your own personal pleasure.

Any goals can be tracked using the following tools. Many have a social aspect, which allow you to get the support you need to stay on track. You can also keep your goals completely to yourself if you'd rather wait and share your success later. With all of these tools, keeping track of your goals is completely free. They are easy to use as well. After all, you shouldn't be spending your time and money on goal tracking. Instead, focus your resources on completing your goal.

Staying on track with your goals can be hard. Without a way to track your progress or hold yourself accountable, you may be tempted to give up. Goal setting and tracking tools allow you to set a clear, concise goal and track any and all progress you make. Seeing yourself coming closer to completing your goal is essential to success.

Individuals benefit greatly from online goal tracking tools since many offer a social aspect. Friends, family and even other community members can be added to your goal to help keep you motivated. You can also get support and advice on how to complete goals.

Teams benefit from goal tracking by always knowing what has been accomplished and how close they are to completion at any point. Online tools let everyone on the team have access.

Any online goal setting tool should have a way to easily set a goal, view your progress, add notes and set individual tasks within your goal. Most importantly, it should be easy to use so you can focus the majority of your time on your goal.

Goalmigo

Goalmigo is an easy to use online goal tracking tool. If you need support to keep you motivated, Goalmigo lets you add supporters. Think of the site as a social networking goal tracker. Once you set your goal, you set a completion date and regular reminders. Reminders can be set up for daily, weekly or monthly. For longer goals, there is a milestone feature, which lets you track when you reach a pivotal point in your goal.

One of the best features of Goalmigo is the ability to add notes. As you work through your goal, you can add notes to remind you of how you completed a certain portion for help in future goals. If multiple people are working towards the same goal, the notes section is perfect for letting each other know what you have done towards the goal. The interface itself is very clean and professional. To help support the site, ads are displayed unobtrusively.

SuperViva

SuperViva works similar to Goalmigo. You can choose whether to share your goals or not. SuperViva uses the SMART goal system, allowing you to better organize and group goals. One neat feature is the ability to add difficult, budget and priority to goals to better sort them. While charting your progress isn't as easy, organization is a plus with this online goal setter. If you find yourself having trouble with a goal, use the social aspect to get help, in the form of ideas and motivation, from the community.

Joe's Goals

Joe's Goals is one of the simplest tools on this list. Like many other online goal setting and tracking tools, a social aspect is available if you want to share or benefit from community motivation. With the calendar type format, it's easy to add whether you made progress or not for a specific day or week. For groups, adding notes about what was accomplished and when makes tracking projects easy. While the name sounds less than impressive, keep in mind the program was created by someone looking for a better way to track their own goals.

MyGoals

MyGoals has predefined categories for setting and tracking goals. Online support communities are available in each category if you ever need help. You set up email reminders for when you want to start tasks related to your goal. The idea is to keep you on track by reminding you of when you need to work on aspects of your goal instead of focusing on either completing or failing your goal as a whole.

42 Goals

42 Goals is perfect for anyone wanting to track daily goals. Long term goals are harder to track with this tool, but still possible. This is perfect for personal or professional use and can be used by teams. If working on a team project, daily notes allow other members to see exactly what was and wasn't accomplished. The interface is extremely easy to use and understand. While a premium version is available, the free version works well for most users.

LifeTango

LifeTango allows you to set tools in a social environment. However, goals can be kept private if you want. With the social factor, team goals are easy to create and track. As you proceed with your goal, a tracker measures your progress from 0% to 100%. One of the best features of Life Tango is the Tasks section. Once you set a goal, you can also set individual tasks within the goal. You can tick off each task you complete so you don't have to handle the entire goal at once.

GoalBot

GoalBot is once again a social goal setting and tracking tool. What's different about GoalBot is the ability to create extremely detailed goals. Instead of a quick goal, you create an actual action plan for accomplishing your goal. This helps you stay focused by knowing what you need to do on any given day. Progress is tracked as you work towards each portion of your goal. You can use your existing Facebook account, if you want, to sign up.

Get Goaling

Get Goaling is a rather advanced free online goal setting tool. Any of the features you enjoy from many of the others on this list can all be found here. With task lists, you can track individual steps in your goal. Create goals and action plans for daily or weekly completion. All of your progress, along with any notes, are tracked in an online journal. Set reminders and even employee a few friends to help you along your path.

Achievr

Achievr allows you to set detailed goals with complete action plans. A calendar, along with notes, help you track your daily and weekly progress. You can review your goal, change it and track progress. Achievr follows the SMART guidelines, which you view in full as you set your goals. You can even add images to help motivate you or record progress.

WeekPlan

WeekPlan helps you to set and track week long or long term goals. The way WeekPlan is set up, it is easy for both individuals and teams to track their goals. The site was inspired by the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The idea is to ensure you do at least some small thing towards your goal every day. The interface is set up like a personal planner, with a notes section under each day. As you complete tasks, you check them off. The tracking portion of WeekPlan is what makes this online goal setter stand out. From the initial setup to reviewing what you've learned and accomplished, every step is tracked.

Nothing feels as good as completing your goals. Whether they are simple or complex, don't fail simply because you couldn't keep track. With these tools, there is no software to install and you have access to your goals anywhere you have Internet access. You have tools and support. Now, you can succeed.