When you think about your life what are you currently measuring?
Maybe you are at one side of the scale and overwhelmed by trying to measure hundreds of things or maybe you are at the other end tracking nothing. Regardless of where you are right now, it is still important to sit down and ask yourself “What should I be measuring to help me achieve my dream life?”.
When you make a decision to measure something you automatically focus on it more. Therefore, it is vital that you are measuring the right things.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY MEASURING?
Right now what do you measure? With the rise I technology people are measuring more and more things on a daily basis. Here are a few common things that people measure:
- Calories
- Alcoholic units
- Miles ran
- Steps taken
- Glasses of water drunk
- Minutes meditated
- Money in the bank
- Value of pension
- Number of homes / cars / designer handbags
- Countries visited
- Followers on social media
Do you measure any of the above? Can you think of other things you measure? Jot down everything you currently measure and then ask yourself “Does the thing that I’m currently measuring directly support me achieving one of my goals or helping me move closer to achieving the success I desire?”. If the answer is no, you need to make a decision about whether you should stop measuring this aspect of your life and concentrate on monitoring other things.
WHAT SHOULD YOU BE MEASURING?
Do you have a clear vision of what success means in relation to your own life?
If you were put on the spot right now could you vividly describe what your dream life would be like?
Most people couldn’t answer either of those questions. However, if you want to achieve great success in your life it is vital that you start to formulate an answer to both of those questions.
Success looks different to everyone and it is vital that you determine what success means to you. If you don’t have your own definition of success then it is easy to compare yourself to others and start chasing their version of success.
Once you’ve identified what success means to you then you can work out how you can measure against your definition.
If your goal is to be a millionaire then it makes sense to measure your income, expenditure, savings or net worth.
If you are currently overweight and in your dream version of your life you are healthy size X then you might measure what you eat or the exercise you do.
In both these examples, it is easy to see what can be measured. Some things can be easily quantified, but for other things, you might have to be more inventive.
If success for you is maintaining a good relationship with your sister even though you have a demanding job you would have to identify what actions would help ensure you maintain a good relationship. You could measure the number of times you pick up the phone and call your sister or you could measure how many times you physically meet.
Now it might find weird to measure phone calls or meetings. However, if you’ve decided that maintaining a good relationship is key then isn’t it worth the extra few minutes of measuring the effort you are making to ensure that relationship remains healthy.
HOW TO MEASURE
Once you’ve decided what to measure you’ll need to create a system for your measuring. When it comes to measuring there are multiple ways to keep track. I don’t believe there is one holy system. You just need to find something that works.
That could be
- Using a paper diary
- Have a wall calendar
- Having a list in your phone
- Having a spreadsheet
- Using a specific app (such as My Fitness Pal for a food diary)
If you are tracking something that you aiming to do daily then you could consider using the Don’t Break The Chain Method. You can read all about that method here.
Don’t spend too much time thinking about what method is best. You can always change in the future, but get started today.
“What’s measured improves” – Peter Drucker
This quote is used in businesses around the world and it applies for business and life. Naturally, we’ll improve the things we measure. That thing is more likely to be top of mind and even the act of knowing you are measuring something will act as extra willpower where necessary.
Hopefully, by now, you can see the importance of measuring the right things in your life and by answering the questions above you’ll start to know what you should be measuring for your own life.
In the comments, I would love to know one thing you are going to be measuring as a result of reading this article.
