Measure What Matters: How to Track Progress Without Obsessing
If you don’t measure your progress, you’re just guessing. Measurement provides feedback, validates your effort, and creates a powerful motivational loop. However, the wrong kind of measurement can be demoralizing. The key is to focus on what you can control. This is where understanding the difference between leading and lagging indicators, or input and output goals, becomes critical.
Leading vs. Lagging Indicators: The Secret to Staying in Control
A lagging indicator is a measurement of an outcome. It tells you what has already happened. Examples include “lost 10 pounds,” “got the job offer,” or “earned $5,000 in sales.” These are important because they confirm you’ve reached your goal, but you cannot directly control them. Obsessing over lagging indicators can be incredibly frustrating. You can eat perfectly for a week and the scale might not budge due to water retention. You can have a great interview and still not get the job.
A leading indicator, on the other hand, measures the actions and behaviors that are likely to lead to the desired outcome. These are the things you can control. Examples include “tracked my calories every day,” “applied for 5 jobs,” or “made 20 sales calls.” We also call these input goals, while the results are output goals. The secret to sustained motivation is to fall in love with tracking your inputs. Your primary focus should be on your leading indicators. Did you do the thing you said you were going to do today? Yes or no? This binary, controllable metric is the foundation of your progress.
By shifting your focus to inputs, you detach your sense of accomplishment from unpredictable outcomes. You build self-efficacy by consistently executing your plan, regardless of the immediate result. This creates a powerful sense of agency and control, which is a massive driver of motivation.
The Cadence of Review: Your Weekly Check-In
Measurement without reflection is just data entry. You need a consistent routine to review your progress and adjust your plan. The most effective cadence is weekly. Set aside 20-30 minutes every Sunday to do the following:
1. Review Last Week’s Focus: Look at your leading indicators. Did you complete your planned weekly actions? Celebrate your wins. If you hit 100% of your inputs, that’s a huge victory, even if the lagging indicators haven’t moved much yet. Acknowledge your consistency.
2. Analyze What Went Wrong (Without Judgment): If you missed some actions, ask why. Don’t beat yourself up. Approach it like a detective. Was the goal too ambitious? Did an unexpected event derail you? Was your energy low? The goal here isn’t to feel guilty; it’s to gather information so you can make a better plan for next week.
3. Plan Next Week’s Focus: Based on your review and your quarterly theme, define your 2-3 key results for the upcoming week. Make sure they are specific and measurable. Is the plan realistic given what you learned from last week? Adjust as needed. This simple ritual keeps you aligned with your quarterly objective and allows you to be agile, adapting your plan to the reality of your life.
What to Do When You Slip Up
Everyone misses a day. Everyone has a bad week. The difference between those who succeed and those who quit is how they handle these slip-ups. Do not fall into the “all-or-nothing” trap, where one missed workout or one day of procrastination convinces you that the entire goal is ruined. This is a cognitive distortion. Instead, adopt the rule: never miss twice. Miss one day? It happens. The next day, your absolute number one priority is to get back on track with that daily action, even if you can only do a smaller version of it. This simple rule prevents a single slip from turning into a downward spiral and builds resilience, which is even more important than motivation.
