23) Measure What Matters; Ignore the Rest
“What gets measured gets managed.” ~Peter Drucker
Whether trying to learn a new language or transform your body, it is imperative that you set realistic goals and track your progress on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. This can take the form of an accountability blog, posts on social media, using an app like Lift, or just periodically checking in with a friend trying to accomplish the same goals.
But what you measure is important. Smartphones and quantified-self apps make it easier than ever to track just about anything you want, but this also makes it all too easy to capture too much data, leading to paralysis by analysis and stalled progress.
Pick just a few key indicators to track and ignore the rest:
- For language learning, I suggest tracking how many minutes you spend listening, speaking, reading, and writing each day.
- For fat loss, measure your belly circumference at the navel once a week (at the same time, on the same day) and snap a photo of yourself once a month.
- For overall health, performance, and happiness, track how many steps you take a day using an app like Moves (shoot for at least 10,000 a day) and track both the quantity and quality of your sleep using an app like Sleep Cycle.
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