What Gets Measured Gets Done
Last week, Sarah approached me with an idea. She wanted to buy a walking pad to get more walking in during the bleak winter months. Think of it as a baby treadmill compact enough to go anywhere in your house, and quickly get stored away between uses. It was $120, and since we had allocated $150 to our home furnishings category this month, we agreed to buy it on the spot.
Fast forward a week, and I'm the one loving it. Out of curiosity, I pulled up my step count in the Health app on my iPhone. My general assumption is that I probably walk about 8,000-10,000 steps daily. Needless to say, I was WAY off.
Since July, I averaged 4,800 steps per day. If you look at the image above, I've had many weeks where my daily averages were in the 2,000s and 3,000s. Yikes! As Michael Jordan famously said in The Last Dance, "And I took that personally." That's when I drew the line in the sand. From here on out, I will average 10,000+ daily steps every week. No excuses. It will be measured, and it will be accomplished. Look at the far right line on that graph.....boom! A 10,000+ average this week.
“What gets measured gets done.” This is a famous saying, though I have no idea who said it. I've had mentors and colleagues tell me this over the years, and I couldn't agree more. When we measure something, we're more likely to accomplish it. In my financial coaching world, clients must send me an updated net worth statement before each meeting. If I've met with a client 30 times, we'll have 30 data points, side-by-side-by-side. We measure everything!
If a client is trying to get out of debt, we'll track their paydown and payoff progress closely.
If a client is trying to stay on pace with their budget, we'll track how far off they were each month.
If a client is trying to get a better grip on their dining out spending, we'll precisely track how many times they go out to eat, how much each cost, and the running total.
If a client is trying to sell x widgets in their business, we'll set up tracking systems to measure the inputs and outputs of their mission.
One last one, and it applies to this blog. One of my missions is to provide a high-quality read, but in a condensed package: No more than 500 words per day. Therefore, I write each post using a tool that measures every word I type. If my post is 510 words, I must pare it down. Powerful and concise.
What gets measured gets done. This applies to nearly every aspect of lives. Whatever you're trying to accomplish this week, month, or year, measure it. Find a relevant way to record it, measure it, and track it. Put it visually in front of you. See it for what it is…..and what it could be. Then crush it!
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