During the next two weeks, most of the nation's public companies will release their first quarter results to the public. I suggest you take the next few moments to compile your quarterly results as well.

At the beginning of this year, you probably set some goals. Perhaps, you set a goal to double your income or lose 20 pounds. Or perhaps, you set a goal to run a marathon or to write a screenplay. Or maybe your goal was to be a better spouse or parent or to volunteer more of your time within your community. Regardless of the goals you have set, now is the time to measure your progress

Very often, we set long-term goals but we don't follow up with short-term progress reports. As a result, we find ourselves so far away from our target that the whole thing seems senseless. For instance, if your goal was to earn $250,000 this year, then the time to check your progress towards that goal is now. If you break than down into daily numbers, you would have to have earned approximately $685 a day. If you multiply that by the first quarter of the year, you would have earned over $62,000. If you discover now that you are behind in your goal, you can make adjustments that will boost your income over the next nine months. However, if you wait until Thanksgiving to tally the numbers, then it's too late to make any meaningful changes at that point.

A quarterly report is even more important for what I like to term "all or nothing goals." As the name implies, an all or nothing goal either happens or it doesn't. Examples are goals like taking your family to Disney World, starting your own business, or winning a Grammy. At the end of the year, you will have either done it or you won't have done it. It's not like losing weight or making money, where you can lose and still win. For instance, if you set a goal to make $1 million and you "only" make $850,000, you can still consider yourself successful. On the other hand, if you set a goal to have your art shown in a gallery and it doesn't happen, you have failed with respect to that area of your life. This is why it's so important to check your progress with respect to all or nothing goals because coming close doesn't count. Therefore, you need to know now if you're on target to reach your goal and if not, you need to take immediate corrective action.

Of course, some goals aren't easy to measure, like being a better parent or being more spiritual. Yet, it's still crucial to take a look back at the last three months and ask the tough questions. For example, if your goal was to be a better spouse, then you should ask yourself, "Have I improved as a spouse? What things am I doing (or not doing) to strengthen my marriage that I wasn't doing before? What additional things do I need to do (or not do) to further strengthen the marriage?" Without taking stock of your quarterly results, it's too easy to get caught up in the tide of day-to-day living and find yourself drifting away from what is most important to you. You could easily find yourself in a position where you are winning in terms of your finances and career goals, but losing in the more important areas of life.

And while you're reviewing your goals, don't forget to take a moment to acknowledge the progress you have made. This is true even if you find yourself falling short of your goal. For example, let's suppose your goal in January was to lose 60 pounds this year and you've lost 10 pounds so far. In this case, you are 5 pounds off schedule but don't let those 5 pounds keep you from appreciating the 10 pounds that you did lose. Sure, the pounds may not be falling off as fast as you had hoped but they're coming off nonetheless. Remember, some progress is always better than no progress.

However, you can only celebrate your progress if you first measure it. So take a few minutes out of your day to complete your quarterly report for Q1 2004. If you've been living by the DASH Principles, then I suspect you will be please to see just how much your stock is rising.