Self Metrics, or You're Life's Value
Part 1 of a 2-part article that will help you identify the value of self-assessment and how to build powerful tools that will accelerate your progress toward any goals.
There are studies suggesting that merely weighing yourself each day or taking photos of your meals can lead to weight loss without any other prescribed actions. Are the photos and scales magically extracting body fat from the participants?
Of course not.
The studies reveal that, even subconsciously, people will modify their behaviors when they pay attention to metrics. In these studies, they’re increasing awareness around one metric, body weight, which caused participants to make small adjustments to their daily behavior.
If they can make progress through simple awareness, imagine how much more progress they’ll make once they tie specific actions and protocols to their daily behaviors. This is exactly what highly-effective people do.
The most successful people I know have developed detailed mechanisms for analyzing their performance. They can quickly tell you where they are in life:
Financially
Physically
Professionally
Their minds are organized and clear. They have already determined their pathways, and they understand exactly where they are on their path.
They have unlocked the power of self-assessment.
Self-assessment is one of the key differentiators between those who succeed and those who fail. Think about examples of people who obsess over performance metrics, and you’ll find elite athletes, prolific artists, successful entrepreneurs, and efficient producers.
Alternatively, think about people with no specific measurements of any kind in their life. You’ll find stress, obesity, debt, confusion, lethargy, conflict, and dozens of other horrible concepts I could continue to list.
Most people are not elite performers. You don’t have to be in order to live a great life. Unfortunately, most people fall under the “Never Measures Anything” category. They float from moment to moment, reacting to what’s put in front of them. Imagine giving them a simple pop quiz:
How much money do you spend per month on discretionary items?
How much do you weigh?
How many hours per week do you spend thinking about other people?
How many steps do you put in each day?
How many hours do you spend per week in complete focus and productivity?
I could list any number of specific questions, and most people wouldn’t know where they stood. Instead, they would cringe at questions like this, subconsciously recognizing that they haven’t taken control in any of these areas of life.
The problem is clear: You can’t fully understand what you don’t examine.
This is especially problematic, because humans have a convenient way of breezing past thoughtful, reasoned examination by replacing it with vague, ill-defined emotional responses. If you want proof of this, pick one opinion you hold. Sit for 30 minutes and write a bullet-proof persuasive essay on why I should hold the same opinion. You’ll find out quickly whether you’ve really examined this idea carefully or if you’re clinging onto it with emotional fingertips.
When you rely on emotions instead of metrics, you commit yourself to a pattern that values feelings over facts.
The problem with feelings is that they’ll lie to you. They’ll make excuses. They’re driven by impulses. They don’t care about accuracy. They’ll deflect and coerce until you arrive at a place where you “feel good” and stop thinking about it.
On the other hand, facts don’t give a shit about your feelings. This is what makes facts so important. They don’t care about anyone’s feelings. Feelings aren’t part of their equation.
Most of us were raised in the Participation Trophy era. We were trained to believe that trying is the same as achieving excellence. Here’s what sucks about exalting the mere act of trying: You don’t have to measure anything. You only have feel like you did something meaningful.
Look, I’m fine with participation ribbons. But, trophies are meant for people who perform at the top level. We should have been taught the importance of trying new things and having fun without equating it to the value of achieving something really difficult.
And, you’re not a child anymore. It’s time to grow up and face the realities of life. It’s time to get intentional about what you really want and how to get it. You can start by shifting your attention from your emotions to the factual state of where you are in life.
“Do or do not. There is no try.” - Yoda
This is where metrics come in handy. Metrics are basically a measurement of the factual state of your life. They reveal the blunt, emotionless truth.
You either have $5,000 in savings or you don’t.
You can either bench press 200 pounds or you can’t.
You can either run a mile in under 8 minutes or you can’t.
You either spend 2 hours a day focused on you or you don’t.
You either learned the profitable skill or you didn’t.
Your relationships are either powerful or they’re not.
You get the idea. It will be uncomfortable to think this way if you’re not used to it. That’s a good sign. Discomfort means that you’re pushing back against the emotional “feeling good” state mentioned above. It means that little part of your mind that values comfort above all else is being challenged.
In real time, you’re feeling your mind shift from the state of pursuing “feeling good” to the state of valuing actual reality so you can act to improve it. In an ironic twist, you can use this feeling as a guidepost for when you’re on the right track. Then, put it to use and reap the benefits of seeing reality clearly.
Benefits of self-assessment
The examples I shared at the beginning of this article demonstrate how simply being aware of certain aspects of life can bring improvement. That’s encouraging, but it’s barely the tip of the iceberg that is the power of self-assessment. As you build the habit of routinely assessing where you are in the key areas of life, you’ll develop:
Trends over time that define where you were and where you’re headed.
More specific data that wasn’t obvious on the surface.
A clear picture of the progress you’ve made.
Definitive actions and steps that can tie directly to specific goals.
Control over the actions you’re assessing.
An analytical framework that removes emotion so you can objectively assess what needs to be done.
A connection between your inputs and outputs.
In Part 2 of this article, I’ll introduce specific actions you can take to begin building powerful self-assessment tools. These tools will help you identify the primary areas for self-assessment:
Time
Health
Finances
Relationships
Purpose
Virtually all of your actions can be subcategorized under these primary headings. Think of each of these as a box filled with an incredible amount of clutter. You kinda know what’s in there, but you won’t fully know until you open each box and start identifying the contents.
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Take Action:
In preparation for the next stage, begin by simply thinking about each of the five primary areas of life listed above. Observe your thoughts and feelings around each one. Do you constantly feel behind? Is your body as fit and strong as you wish? Do you dread thinking about your finances? Are your relationships as strong as you want?
These initial observations will help pave the way for the specific actions that will help you assess your actual state of reality. You can then dive right into Part 2, which will empower you to begin your self-assessment journey.
Remember that journaling provides an outstanding framework for exploring thoughts just like this. While you’re taking the time to explore, here’s Volume 2 of my 20-minute Journaling playlists for you.