We know we need to identify our major life purpose or big hairy audacious goal (BHAG), but what's the right way to get started and make meaningful progress? Here's one of the easiest things you can do: start measuring. Read on: blog.WednesdayWin.comβ Read time: 4 minutes Decades ago, management educator and author, Peter Drucker wrote in the Effective Executive, "what is measured, improves." Sure, measurement helps by providing data and insight, but this simple concept cuts much deeper than you might think at first. Use it to your advantage and watch your progress accelerate. Here are four major ways that explain why what gets measured, gets improved: 1. Measuring increases awarenessA fundamental change occurs when you commit to regularly measuring your progress: you increase your awareness. It naturally leads to increased focus--both consciously and unconsciously--on the goal you are seeking to reach.
2. Measuring supports accountability and habit buildingHabits drive the majority of our daily actions. Building healthy habits that support our goals is essential for achieving at a high level. One of the easiest benefits from regular measurement of something important to us is that it requires a routine of regular checking. And routines that require conscious action, regularly practiced, become habits which we follow without thought or mental effort. When we make the effort to measure consistently, we are reinforcing the importance of our priorities in our own mind and marking a clear step of progress. No matter the specific result, that regular act of checking in supports healthy habits.
Establishing positive habits reduces our mental workload and allows us to put our focus on the ultimate outcome instead of just getting started. Make measurement a part of your habit-building tool box. 3. Measuring encourages continuous improvementInstead of trying to catapult to a new, higher level in big leaps, think of reaching your goal as a large collection of tiny steps of improvement. The key is to make steady incremental improvements and compound that progress over time. Regular measurement allows you to make those tiny, easy changes instead of building up significant goal debt before you even notice. A burden which often leads to giving up.
4. Measuring leads to clarity of goals & quantifiable progressUsing measurement has another powerful impact. The regular reflection helps us align our goals to our sense of self. If the measurement ceases to be important to you, that's a valuable insight to your core values. When you are focused on the right things for you, you'll feel that resonate daily. The other great benefit is the ability to see quantifiable progress. You are building meaningful metrics that you can use to help you better understand your pace of change and ability to set accurate goals on achievable time scales in the future.
Action SummaryIt may seem too simple to be effective, but taking the time to regularly measure your progress towards an important goal creates value in that simple act.
The more you follow this practice, the more you'll want to add counts and measures to your daily practice to super-charge your results. β What do you think? Reply to this email and let me know. To your success, Christopher Looking for a deeper dive on these topics? Connect here and reach out:
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