Goal Metrics

Evaluation is a critical component of goal-getting. Goal setting is a great thing but it is only half of the job you need to do. Goal getting is what moves you from where you are to the next level. Evaluation helps you tell how far you have gone in reaching your goals at any given time. What metrics do you use in evaluating your performance?

In his great book Deep Work, Carl Newport suggests the use of two important metrics you can use to show you how far you have come. They are Lead and Lag measures. In this article we will explore what the two metrics are and why you need to pay attention to them as you go along.

Lag Measures describe the ultimate thing you are trying to improve. They come much later and by the time you measure them, it is too late to change your behavior. By the time you receive them, the performance that drove them is already in the past. This explains why we say that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. When you think too much about the final outcome with little focus on your actions today, you are likely to miss out on the immediate adjustments you need to make. Lag measures have a way of taking care of themselves if only you learn to do a better job of tracking your lead measures.

It is wildly important to distinguish between your lead and lag measures because when you focus too much on what is so far out there, you might lose track of what you can change immediately.

Lead measures tell you what new behaviors you need to track that will have an impact on your ultimate outcome.  They help you turn your attention to improving the behaviors you directly control in the near future that will have a positive impact on your long term goals. For every goal that you pursue, it is important that you are clear on the actions that are in your direct control. This gives you what to act on in the short term.

Let’s say you have the goal of raising Kes. 10 million by the end of the year. That acts as your lag measure. You will only tell that you have done it or how far you have gone in doing it towards the end of the year. On the other hand, there are certain actions you can begin to measure right away. If you are a salesman, you will be asking yourself, how many presentations have I made today? That becomes an important lead measure for you. This is because the higher the number of presentations the greater your chances of reaching the intended goal of Kes.10 million. You have greater control over the number of presentations you are doing every day. It is something you can adjust relatively quickly by booking more appointments. If you get paid by the hour, your lead measure will be along the lines of how many hours you are putting in every day. Since the number of hours you can work in a day is limited, you will also want to ask yourself what you can do to increase your hourly rate. To hit your income goal, you will want to deploy your hours in the most productive of activities and deploy as many of those hours as possible.

Think about all your goals in great detail today. What metrics are you using to track your performance? It is easy to get discouraged when all you focus on are lag measures. This is because you will feel like you are not making any progress whatsoever in the short term. When you shift your focus to lead measures, your motivation increases and you are able to build momentum. There is nothing better at building momentum than to know that you are making progress every day.

Lead measures also help you improve your behavior right away. This is important because it means you have the ability to take action on your goals in the short term. This has an impact on your self-esteem as well because you begin to see yourself as capable of setting targets and going for them from the get go.

It is important to track your goals because you act differently when you keep score. When there is no mechanism to keep score, as humans we are likely to let things slide. If you want to excel as a goal getter, clarifying your lead measures is something you cannot afford to operate without. 

I am curious to know. What is your wildly important goal? What lead measures have you been using/are you going to use going forward?

I am strongly invested in helping people reach their goals. If you would do with a little hand-holding, do not hesitate to get in touch with me on +254725832477.