Tag Archives: targets

What are you measuring?

I never used to measure anything and loved living in the land of always being ‘nearly there’.

No matter what I was working towards, I was never that far away from completing it and the end was always in sight.

Until it wasn’t and the target was missed.

On a diet? Yeah, those pounds are coming off. How much have you lost this week? Oh, I think I had salads on Tuesday and Wednesday so I’m definitely going to be lighter…

Training for that marathon? It’s going brilliantly. How many miles have you done this month? Ahh, I reckon I could have run three this week already…

And when it came to business, I would always let my bank balance and the accountant give me the good or bad news. The day of that meeting was always high anxiety.

And then I started measuring. I really went for it.

I track as much as possibly can to make sure I’m heading towards my goals and it’s made a massive difference.

I can see clearly when I’m on track and improving. I can see the areas where I’m falling behind. And, most importantly, I can see the pieces of the puzzle that are missing as I work towards a specific target every day.

One of my metrics is all about meetings with contacts and connections. I would happily sit at my desk all day and meet as few people as possible but I know this is no way to grow a business and build a network. So I track the numbers of meetings I have through each week.

And the fun starts when I watch how much new business I close as the number of meetings I take each week increases.

It’s a clear and simple feedback loop that tells me that I’m heading in the right direction.

Measuring makes it clear what works and what doesn’t. I know what needs to change. I know what I can improve on.

In the areas that matter the most to you, this process can be invaluable. If you’re looking for work, for example, knowing that you have hit your target of five new applications every day will give you confidence that it’s only a matter of time until the phone starts ringing with offers.

Measure and track progress. Obsess on it.

It’s a step on the path to success, no matter what goals you have.

What’s your next challenge?

The daily grind can really get you down. Commuting followed by the same old faces in the office and the same old problems in your job leads us into the ‘living for the weekend’ mentality. Add some bigger personal goals to your life – challenges to your everyday existence of any kind, physical or mental – and use them to drive your life forwards and basically do more, live more.

My challenges are quite often related to sport. I have a challenge in April next year to ride 50 miles on my bike on a very hilly course in a race in West Wales. Now, I’m not a full-on rider so it’s going to take a lot of work to get fit enough for this. And I’m also not all that strong in the legs so hills just stop me stone dead, so the work is going to have to be really hard to make sure I can finish this thing.

The point I’m making here is that this bigger challenge – bigger than the everyday stuff we all have to do – is getting me focussed and making sure I train hard and put in the work to make the ride a success. It might also lead me to do more racing and get my legs strong enough to go up some bigger hills. Maybe even the French Alps one day. Who knows?

Set yourself a challenge and see where it takes you. Until you try, you’re never going to really know what you’re capable of. Use it to give you focus and create some energy and drive to achieve.

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Ian Mountford is a global recruitment expert and strategy coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally.

What’s your target?

As we head into the final quarter of the year, with dark nights, christmas present lists, next year’s summer holiday plans, etc, it’s time to think about targets for next year. They don’t need to be sporty ones (although mine mostly are – I do a lot of sport) but they can be anything you like. They can be a real help in motivating us to do something new, improve ourselves, find a new hobby or interest, meet new folks – whatever you fancy, really.

What are yours?

I’d love to hear from you. Even you lurkers out there, too. Come and join in, let us all know what you’re up to…

Mine? Well, the biggest one, anyway – Paris Marathon next April in a new best time for me that’s a long way off right now – 3.15. I’m going to throw everything at it!