Measuring success with the wrong indicators
"Success will not lower its standard to us. We must raise our standard to success." - Rev. Randall R. McBride, Jr.
How do you measure success? Success in any field is certainly attainable but not always for each individual. It can come in so many different forms that to gauge whether it has been reached can only be determined by a set of specific indicators that pre-empted its arrival.
What I consider to be a success may look nothing like how you would consider success. For me it may be quantitative factors such as material wealth, or numbers that I can chart. For you it might be a more qualitative measure such as depth of relationships, networks or feelings of peace, security and happiness.
However you decide to gauge success you will find the results of such a gauge to be directly proportional to your self worth. If the indicators are pointing upwards all is well with the world, but if they start to decline doubt begins to fester and you find that success seems to be unreachable.
So it would seem that having the right indicators are paramount to measure your success.
Define success and then you'll be able to measure it.
Before you can measure anything you need to have a clear vision of what it is that you are building. Try constructing a house without first clearly understanding how it will look and it won't be built.
Define your life if it were successful? Would it be more income? Better relationships? A good reputation? Would it be more freedom to do the things you like or perhaps being able to help more people in their own lives?
Envision what it is that will make your life significant. Ask yourself the question, "If I were to die today, what would people say about me in their eulogy?"
Find some measuring indicators that show true performance.
Up until now there has never been a better instrument to measure time than a clock. There have been previous attempts , such as sundials, to try and measure time but the clock has thus far been the most accurate. If I were to try and measure time with a barometer I would fail and find myself completely frustrated. A barometer is good gauge for measuring weather but poor at measuring time.
Once you've defined your idea of success you need to find indicators that will measure that success accurately. There is no use writing spreasheets and graphing charts if a deeper relationship with your spouse is your dream of success. There needs to be a better gauge. In this instance, keeping a journal of the changes in your relationship over time may be the required indicator.
Dare to get opinions from others.
Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed.
(Proverbs 15:22)
Challenge yourself to discuss your plans with people you know care about your success. They may have some advice for indicators you could personally use to achieve your dream.
Always check the indicators you use.
There is nothing worse than heading off into the bush with a compass that doesn't show true north. When our indicators are skewed in some way against the direction we are trying to head in we inevitably will find somewhere we weren't looking for and miss the very thing we were trying to attain.
In my past I have used finances as a basis of measurement but when I really sought out what it was that really fuelled me, I found that money was not a good indicator of that success. In fact, looking at the money actually took me away from my direction and made me feel less worthwhile.
Good (or should I say 'appropriate') indicators shouldn't do this. They should always move us forward.
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