Even though you might not be a fan of measuring and tracking yourself with numbers, metrics are a part of optimizing yourself. Measuring progress can take the form of many different things and ways. If you’re good with computers, you can track your progress with spreadsheets or other software that you might be good at using.
If you don’t love measurement or using computer tools, you can simply track your progress with a notebook or journal. You also want to make sure you aren’t aimlessly working too hard without any real progress. Just because you are working hard doesn’t mean you are making the optimal amount of progress. Measuring can show you ways that you can cut back on work and make more progress. Don’t get the process wrong though, you always have to work hard when it comes to unlocking your potential.
Measuring can ensure you are making the most amount of progress possible though.
The easiest way to do is this to make thorough checklists and task management systems. This allows you to mark off and check things as you complete them. You also need to think about the quality of the tasks. For example, if you see that you are accomplishing many tasks in one day, but you aren’t seeing too much progress, you might need to rethink the quality of those tasks. Maybe you’re accomplishing a lot of tasks but those tasks are not really doing a lot when it comes to your end game plan.
You also need to monitor your progress daily. Weekly and monthly progress tracking are not enough. Goal tracking can be weekly though. You can take a weekly goal and break it up into daily tasks. This allows for weekly and daily progress tracking.
Breaking down the task into smaller tasks will allow the feeling like you are getting more done. If you have a large task or large goal, you might find yourself waiting weeks and months to get it done. This can easily be discouraging, especially if you have a personality type that likes to see things being deleted or checked off a list.
Breaking goals into small tasks gives you the power to check off or cross off items on your to-do list every single day. If nothing else, this makes you feel accomplished and gives you the push and drive to keep going.
As you move along the journey of unlocking your full potential, you might find that you set some goals too low. This is a great discovery, and you can begin to change your goals as you see this happening. As you keep making personal progress, you can update and upgrade your goals. With progress, you will find that some of your goals become too easy. While it’s great to accomplish easy goals, you want to ensure you are also continuously challenging yourself.
Upgrading the goal doesn’t always mean changing it completely. If you are doing a weight loss journey as part of uncovering your potential, you might find that you are getting through the planned workouts and diet plan much easier than anticipated. This means you can add more workouts or maybe change the ones you have currently to make them harder.
As you can see, you’re not changing the overall goal, you’re just making it more in line with your current accomplishments.
Realizing you can upgrade your goals is a great feeling and will give you an extra push to possibly uncover your potential sooner than you expected.
With any real accomplishment, you have to plan ahead. You won’t get to where you want to go without a plan. Without a plan, you might even find yourself wandering around aimlessly and not sure how to get to the next step. With a concrete plan laid out before you get started, you’ll be more likely to find yourself making progress.
Even if you aren’t tech-savvy, there are many optimization apps and progress tracking apps that are easy to use. Having it right on your phone will also encourage you to actually use it because of its convenience. If you prefer the paper and pen approach, do whatever makes you feel comfortable. However, many people find that apps encourage them to dedicate more time to metrics and goal tracking.
Some apps can also show your entire project, your habits, your averages, and your target. The app or method you use doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated, it just has to work for you and the process you are following to unlock your potential.
Remember that no matter what kind of metrics you choose to optimize yourself, don’t spend too much time planning. Some people never actually get to their real goals and progress because they spend too much time planning.
Spending too much time planning might mean you are scared to actually start the process. Try to get past this step. You also don’t have to plan from start to finish, you just need to have the beginning to get you started.