The famous management writer Peter Drucker once said “what gets measured, gets managed”. I’ve found that to be true, for the most part. There is a reliable relationship between the measured and the managed. But what about another category of stuff that begins with “m”?
I’m talking about the stuff that matters.
I have a theory about how those 3 “m” things work together.
Measure what matters, and you’ll manage it more effectively.
The longer you can measure what matters, the longer you’ll manage it. Along the way, you’ll also get better at deciding what really matters.
That process is what the card, and its score, are all about. But beyond just the score you get each day, and the one you put on the scorecard (if you use it), is the most telling score of all: The lifetime score.
On the scorecard, the lifetime score is also labelled as the “Running Avg.”. It’s the sum of all your actual points to date divided by your possible points to date. It represents something bigger than the daily score, or even the weekly score. It measures how good you are at keeping the commitments you make to yourself on an ongoing basis. It measures how good you are at deciding what matters to you, and getting it done–come what may.
A few months ago, my lifetime score had dipped to about .690. It was a significant dip from where I had been just weeks before. As I looked at the weeks preceding that dip, I could see that I just lost my motivation and focus. The numbers didn’t lie.
So I made a resolution to get my score back up to .750 as quickly as possible, and then go for more. I’m happy to report that I’m back up to .732. I’ve got a ways to go, but each time I see that lifetime score tick up–even by a little bit–it motivates me to keep spending the time and energy putting the right things on the card, and getting them done.
So take a look at your lifetime score–even if you’ve only been at it for a little while. See how high you can get it and keep it.
Decide what matters to you. Then measure it, and manage it. It’s as simple as filling out a card–TODAY.