Why you should measure your progress

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”

So the famous saying from management guru Peter Drucker goes.

Thing is, this doesn’t only apply to business.

A study by the American Heart Association tracked 1,042 adults over a year and found that people who weighed themselves once a week or less did not lose weight, while people who weighed themselves six or seven times a week did.

As put by Amy Walters, a psychologist and director of behavioral services:

“That’s an action we call self-monitoring, which is an evidence-based strategy that we use with all kinds of behavior change.  Tracking your behavior gives people some accountability, it can create some natural feedback, and it can serve as a source of motivation. They see, ‘Gosh, if I really follow my plan, I start to see some changes.’”

Sound familiar? Yup, it’s the habit reinforcement loop we have talked about before kicking in.

You can apply this philosophy to anything - that’s the beauty.

Find you’re constantly waking up late?
Start measuring the time you wake up, sleep the night before, and the reasons for the late nights.

Want to be happier?
Measure the days you are happy, and capture what caused that.

Knowing thyself is the foundation of all self improvement, and measurement is the enabler of that.

Now think for a minute - what could you measure, that would really make a difference towards your life goals?

Happy logging my friend!