This is true in my experience, and it can also be misleading.
Let’s say I measure:
sales year over year
social media engagement (likes, comments, and clicks)
time I spend at work
the minutes I meditate
the number of books I read in a year
my mile time
the grams of protein I eat
I can learn something helpful, or at least interesting, from each of these measurements, over time. But what am I forgetting to learm from? What can’t be quantified?
Client transformation
Readers’ emails about blog posts that resonated with them
Long ongoing jokes with my best friend
Conversations with my family over dinner
The feeling of being stronger and faster in my life
Laughing at the sight of our dogs romping in the back yard
I need both. Measuring gives me a baseline and an anchor. (And I’m motivated by streaks.) But I can’t lose sight of what actually matters to me and to my work, and what the streaks are actually in service of.
