Apple Watch is an incredible device for many reasons, but none are as great as how it helps people track their exercise and movement. The watch does this by using rings—closing the rings means you had a great day of standing, exercising, and movement. But what if you don’t close the rings?

People contact me quite often about how the watch has helped me in my efforts to exercise more. The conversation inevitably comes down to closing the rings every day. While that is a great goal to have, it’s not one that everyone can achieve.

For an athlete or someone who exercises regularly, closing the rings is a trivial thing to do. However, as I’ve said in the past, Apple Watch has the potential to help more people than those who are already exercising every day. It can help those of us who are overweight and need to start exercising.

The point I try to make tho these people is that they should use the Apple Watch as a tool to help them achieve their goals.

They are doing 100% more exercise than what they were six months ago. Closing the rings is a nice thing to do, but you have to track your own progress. Are you moving more than before you started exercising? Are you moving more than last month?

Yes. Then you’re doing good. That’s what matters.

Compare yourself to your goals, nobody else’s. Don’t worry about closing the rings for now—look at your own history and see how well you are doing and judge your progress from there.

The fact you are getting out and exercising should be celebrated. At some point all of those rings will close, but until then, don’t worry about it.