Measurement Improves Performance

On a conference call at work today, a consultant shared with us his perspective that measurement improves performance. I couldn't help but think about the truth in this statement. If you don't measure where you are going, anywhere you up end is fine. If you have a vision and goals to achieve, I doubt you want to end up just anywhere. You want to end up at your vision or desired outcome. 

The most relevant example I can think of that illustrates this point is my running performance over the last year. I started running about six years ago. When I first started running, I didn't care about time. In fact, I was the girl in the gym with the towel over the clock on the treadmill so I couldn't see the dreaded amount of time I had left to run. I ran nine half marathons, two marathons and several smaller races with this approach. My ultimate goal was to get across the finish line. The idea of breaking two hours in a half marathon crossed my mind, but I never really focused on it and I certainly didn't track the times and distances of my training runs. 

Fast forward to 2010. At the beginning of the year I sat down and wrote goals. One major goal was to break two hours in a half marathon. I printed Hal Higdon's training schedule from online, hung it on my fridge and tracked every run. I invested in a Garmin watch so I would know the distance, time and pace per mile of every one of my runs. I was more prepared to run a half than I had ever been and I also measured my performance along the way. In September I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon and crossed the finish line in 1:54...goal achieved! I did it again in the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon in October with a time of 1:52, and I set a new PR in the Los Angeles Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon with a time of 1:47 in late October. Measurement definitely improved my performance. Tracking my runs, recording the times and focusing on logging the right amount of distance ensured I was prepared on race day. 

How are you measuring what you plan to achieve this year? Are you doing enough of the right things to be successful? The first important step is to write down your goals. Next, make sure your goals are specific and measurable. You need some sort of system or matrix to know if you have achieved your goal. Lastly, you have to review and record your progress. 

There are only a couple of days remaining in March. 2011 is essentially 1/3 of the way over. Are you on track to achieve your goals? If you are not measuring, how will you know?

Time for a Rewrite?

I was talking with one of the women in WIN BIG the other day and asked her about her progress towards achieving her goals. She mentioned that she did in fact plan a trip (one of her goals), but it wasn't the trip she originally talked about planning. During the planning process she realized what she truly wanted to get out of taking a trip and visiting a tropical time share just wasn't it. What she wanted was to reconnect with family on the east coast.

This interaction made me realize that we can discover a lot about ourselves and our true desires through the pursuit of achieving goals. How many times do we set goals around things that we actually think we want to achieve? How many times are those goals not in alignment with what we truly want?

I think it is time to review the goals we set at the beginning of the year (if you haven't set goals yet, there is no better time than the present!). What is it that you are truly seeking to achieve with the goals you set? Do you have the right goals in place? Are your goals helping you move closer to your vision?

I always thought of goals as being set in stone. Once I wrote them down that was it. I would either achieve them or not, end of story. I am starting to open up to the idea that goals can't be so black and white. Going back to the interaction I described above, did this woman achieve her goal?...No. Did this woman achieve something greater than her original goal?...Probably.

I think it is ok to rewrite and edit goals based on new life circumstances, new learnings about yourself and new desires. Just be sure to check in with yourself to make sure you are not rewriting a goal because you are giving up on the pursuit of that original goal.