Goal Tracking Template: Google Sheets, Printable PDF or Online

A goal tracking template comes in three formats: a spreadsheet you build in Google Sheets, a printable PDF you fill in by hand, or an online tracker that does the arithmetic for you. None is best for everyone. This page compares them, shows the columns any template needs, and walks through the Sheets version step by step.

We make GoalTracker, an online tracker, and we give away a printable PDF, so we have a stake in two of the three. We don't ship a Google Sheets file, so the Sheets section is instructions you follow yourself.

The three formats side by side

Pick Sheets if you already live in spreadsheets and want to bend the layout. Pick paper if you track one goal and want it in sight. Pick an online tracker if you have several goals with sub-steps and don't want to maintain formulas.

A sample layout that works in any format

Whatever you use, a goal tracking template needs the same five columns:

The "Why" column is the one people skip. When motivation drops in week four, it's the line you reread. The "Metric" column is what stops a goal from being a wish: if you can't write a number or a yes/no, rework the goal with the SMART goal generator. More on picking a metric in how to measure goal progress.

Set up the Google Sheets version in five steps

1. Create a new sheet and type the five column headings above in row 1. Freeze row 1 (View, then Freeze, then 1 row).
2. Add one row per goal. Keep each to one line and put a number or yes/no in the Metric column.
3. Add two columns, Done and Total, for the steps completed and the steps planned. A "Progress" column then holds =Done/Total, formatted as a percentage.
4. Add conditional formatting on Target date: turn the cell amber when the date is within 14 days (custom formula =AND(E2-TODAY()<=14, E2>=TODAY())) and red when it has passed.
5. Add a second tab called "Weekly" with a date column and one cell per goal, and fill it in on the same day each week.

That's the whole template. Its weakness is the one most people hit: sub-steps. A sheet has no natural way to nest steps under a goal, so you end up with extra rows and hand-edited totals.

The printable PDF

The goal tracker template page prints one goal with up to eight dated steps. Download the A4 PDF or the US Letter PDF, write the goal at the top and date each step. Paper is hard to beat for a single goal on a desk, and it never needs updating by hand to stay correct. It's poor once you have more than two or three goals, because there's nothing to add up. If you track habits rather than goals, use the habit tracker template instead.

The online version

In GoalTracker you type a goal, add subgoals with due dates, and break each into microgoals. The progress bar and the daily streak are calculated for you. Goals are stored in your browser, with no account and nothing sent to us, so there is no syncing between devices; you move them with the export and import buttons. Nothing will remind you either, which is why a ten-minute weekly review matters more here than in any other format.

Which one to start with

• One goal, tight deadline: the printable PDF.
• Many goals, comfortable with formulas: Google Sheets.
• Many goals with sub-steps, no appetite for maintenance: the online tracker.
• Unsure: print the PDF this week and move to a tracker if you run out of room. The five columns carry across.

Whichever you choose, the template matters less than the weekly check. Put it in your calendar before you close this page.