Habits That Update Your Goals
A habit can update one or more goals every time you complete it. Each goal gets its own action: add a fixed amount, subtract one, or pass on the value you log. A "Cycle" habit can add every ride's kilometers to a "Cycle 1000km" goal, and a "Takeaway lunch" habit can take €15 off a "Fun budget" goal.
The setting saves you from logging the same thing twice. Without it, finishing a ride means completing the habit, then opening the goal to enter the kilometers. With Update goal progress on, completing the habit updates the goal too.
You set it up per habit, with the On complete field in the habit dialog. The Update goal progress section has a Beta badge.
Linking a habit to a goal doesn't change the goal's number by itself. This setting is one of the two ways a habit can move a goal: each completion changes the goal's number, like its kilometers or euros. The other is the Habit completion success metric, where the goal's progress is how consistently you keep its habits. See Habit Completion Goals.
One habit can do both for different goals. "Cycle" can add its kilometers to "Cycle 1000km" and also count toward a "Stay fit and healthy" goal it's linked to.
Setting Up a Habit to Update a Goal
To make a habit update a goal:
Create a habit, or open the habit you want to change. On Desktop, an existing habit has the field on its Settings tab.
Open the On complete dropdown and pick Update goal progress. To also enter a value each time you complete the habit, pick Multiple actions... instead. Both open the When habit is completed dialog. With Multiple actions..., you use Log value to habit and Update goal progress together.
In the Update goal progress section, pick the goal under Goal.
Under Add/Subtract, pick an action. It starts at Add value. The five actions are listed in the table below.
For Add value or Subtract value, enter the amount under Value.
To update another goal, tap or click Select goal to add a row.
Tap or click Save.
Log value to habit asks for a value the moment you complete the habit. It's the quickest way to give the Logged value actions a number.
To stop a habit updating a goal, remove that goal's row with the trash icon.
A habit can only update goals that track a number: goals whose success metric has a unit, such as Money, Weight, Distance, or Pages. See Progress Tracking for the options.
One habit can update several goals in different ways. A single completion of "Cycle" can add the kilometers you log to "Cycle 1000km" and add 1 to "100 rides".
Available Actions
The Add/Subtract dropdown splits the actions into two groups. Actions under Predefined value use the fixed amount in the row's Value field. Actions under Logged value use the number you log on the habit that day.
Action | Group | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Add value | Predefined value | Adds a fixed amount every time | "Meditate" adds 1 to "Meditate 100 times" |
Subtract value | Predefined value | Subtracts a fixed amount every time | "Takeaway lunch" takes €15 off "Fun budget" |
Log new total | Logged value | Makes the value you log the goal's new total | "Check savings" sets "Save €10,000" to the balance you log |
Add logged value | Logged value | Adds the value you log to the goal's total | "Cycle" adds the kilometers you log to "Cycle 1000km" |
Subtract logged value | Logged value | Subtracts the value you log from the goal's total | "Eat out" takes what you spent off "Fun budget" |
Choose by where the number comes from. If every completion is worth the same amount, like one session or one €15 lunch, use a predefined value. If the amount changes each time, like kilometers ridden or pages read, use a logged value.
Completing a Habit That Updates Goals
With Log value to habit on, completing the habit opens the Update progress dialog: "Enter progress to update your habit and goals." It shows:
One field for the value
A Habit row with the habit and its value for today, such as
0 kmA Goals row for each goal the habit updates, with that goal's change for today
Tap or click Save to log the value on the habit and pass it to every goal with a Logged value action. Cancel closes the dialog.
Example: Logging a Ride
"Cycle 1000km" stands at 65 / 1k km, and the habit "Cycle" uses Add logged value for it. You complete "Cycle" and enter 100. The habit shows 100 / 100 this week, and the goal moves to 165 / 1k km.
Logging a Value Later
Log value to habit only changes when Griply asks for the value. You can always set a day's value afterwards with Log progress from the day menu: right-click the day on Desktop, or press and hold it on iOS and Android. See Updating Progress.
A value set with Log progress reaches the goal the same way, and it replaces that day's earlier value on the goal.
Where the Updates Show Up
Each update is a regular progress entry on the goal, so it appears on the goal's chart with the rest of its progress. In the goal's progress history (View history), entries added by a habit show the habit's name.
Which Days Update a Goal
Only a completed day updates a goal. Skipped and failed days don't. If you change a completed day to skipped or failed, Griply takes its update off the goal again.
Habits Completed More Than Once a Day
Some habits have a daily target above one, like "Drink water, 3 times a day". For these habits, Add value and Subtract value run once per day, when you reach the daily target.
Say "Drink water" adds 1 to the goal "Drink 1,000 glasses":
First and second glass: the goal doesn't change yet.
Third glass: the day is complete, and the goal goes up by 1.
Undo a glass, skip the day, or fail it: the 1 comes off again.
Habits with a weekly target, like "3 times a week", work per day. Each day you complete runs the predefined action once.
Logged Values Count Below the Daily Target
Log new total, Add logged value, and Subtract logged value use whatever you log, even when it's below the habit's daily target.
Say "Run" has a daily target of 5 km and uses Add logged value for "Run 1,000 km":
Log 3 km: the goal goes up by 3.
Change that day to 4 km: the goal counts 4 km, not 3 + 4.
Change it to 0, skip it, or fail it: the 4 km comes off again.
Predefined values on the same habit still need the daily target. If "Run" also adds 1 to "100 runs" with Add value, that 1 only counts on days you reach 5 km.
Subtracting Can Take a Goal Below Zero
Subtract value and Subtract logged value always take off the full amount, even when that takes the goal below zero or below its start value. Some goals can go negative, like a budget you overspend.
Say "Fun budget" is at €10 and "Takeaway lunch" subtracts €15. Once you complete the habit, the goal shows -€5. Uncomplete the habit and the €15 is added back, so the goal is at €10 again.
When a Goal or Habit Is No Longer Available
The Goal Is Archived, Deleted, or No Longer Tracks a Number
Completing the habit stops updating that goal. A goal stops tracking a number when you switch its success metric to one without a number, such as Completed tasks.
The goal then shows as unavailable in the habit's When habit is completed dialog. From there you can remove it or pick another goal.
Undoing a Completion Still Works
If you uncomplete a habit day that already updated a goal, that progress comes off the goal again. This works even if you archived the goal in the meantime.
The Habit Is Deleted
The progress the habit already added stays on its goals, as part of each goal's history. The entries keep the habit's name in View history, and you can delete them there one by one.
Best Practices
Log progress in one place → Adding the same kilometers on the goal counts them twice.
Use Log new total for balances → Adding today's balance to yesterday's would double-count your savings.
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