Creating and Defining Metrics 3 – For your Personal Life

Today I’ll continue with this series of articles where I talk about metrics in different scenarios. In the past two entries, I talked about metrics in a corporate environment and also for Internet. It is true that metrics are usually developed and analyzed in companies, but they are also available for our personal life. I will talk about this last topic, personal life, in this article.

I’m a person that could be defined as goal-centric. Having goals and objectives are a very important aspect of my professional and personal life. They maintain me focused working towards my next objective. For instance, I’m always planning ahead for my next venture, business, trip and much more.

In a way, goals are what keep me going on and give my life some sense. Without goals, I loose focus and my life just isn’t the same. And as you can see this is not only work related, but has a huge impact in my personal life.

However, when we define these goals, it is quite important to measure them and analyze the results. To start, we have those goals that you achieve and mark with a yes. For instance when I am creating a new business, I define the time I want to achieve it in and when I accomplish the goal, I check it as done. However, if for some reason the time frame can’t be accomplished, I try not to quit, but instead analyze what happened. Maybe I find that I didn’t have the time to accomplish this goal, there were some additional problems I didn’t had in my mind and more. If this is the case, I can quit or maybe I define a new timeframe and a new path.

The other types of goals are those in which I can track with numeric values. An easy example is when I’m loosing weight. It’s very easy to keep track and I can have a time frame for this. Lets say I want to reduce 0.5 Kg (1.1 Lbs.) per week for the next 4 months. If I can accomplish this, my goal is set!

Another example is when I want to save money for something, such as a trip, to study or to buy something (such as a car or a house). When I start I know how much money I have to save and the time needed to do it. An easy math equation will tell me how much money I have to save per week or per month. If I do it correctly after this timeframe I’ll have saved enough money.

Many years ago I understood that goals are easier to achieve when I can track them down. For this to work, we require some mental structure, order, compromise and patience. Some people are not cut out for this structure, but if you do, you’ll find it a great advice. Plus, when I measure my results, I’m pushed further as I know I can give more.