“You are going to show me how to make that? That scribbly, little, childish, cheesy chart to the left?”

Hey, don’t knock it. I made that when I was 10 and it marks the first $1,000 I earned selling brownies with my sisters.

In this world of professionalism, judgmentalism (I know that’s not a word), and “look-good-so-they-like-you,” we don’t give ourselves enough permission to be cheesy.

But in this case, cheesy works.

The top three reasons to make a Cheesy Chart.

1. It will clarify your goals

2. You’ll be more motivated when you SEE progress

3. “If you want to manage something, you must measure it.”

As a life coach, my father utilizes the Cheesy Chart with many of his clients, and it has been a powerful tool in my life as well. Make success more tangible by pulling out the colored markers and flashing back to those grade-school years. (No one has to see it but you.)

Here’s how to make it.

 A Cheesy Chart can be as unique as your goal. Use graph paper, stickers, markers, sticky notes! We’ve unveiled some of our Cheesy Charts to freshen up those creative juices, but the sky’s the limit.

There’s only ONE thing your Cheesy Chart must DO. MEASURE.

A Cheesy Chart is the measuring stick of your success.

In a basic Cheesy Chart, like my Brownie chart, or Twitter Followers chart, I simply filled out a small step on the thermometer ladder. As the “liquid” filled up my success grew.

When teaching us to read, my Mother started a Caterpillar Cheesy Chart (although my dad hadn’t coined the term back then). For every “I See Sam” book we read, we got to staple a circle with the book name to the growing caterpillar.

Cheesy Charts have been around for ages. The very first was probably a simple notch cut into a belt to mark a number of pelts of dead coons (who knows?). Cheesy charts worked in the 1800’s and they’ll work again.

What is a Cheesy Chart you’d like to make? Please share in the comments, or send me your awesome Cheesy Chart! I’m always looking for new ideas.