Hello, I know it's been a while since I posted, and even longer with anything substantial about my life. This is not going to be one of those personal posts. It's for a project I started working on recently. I'll post a personal news update when I get a little more time.

So, without further ado:

In a world where you can get metrics for nearly everything you do, how do you define and measure success?

This is a question that has gotten under my skin for the last few weeks. I think it all started when I first listened to Jocko Podcast #174. I highly recommend it if you are interested in self-development at all.

Everything we do professionally is measured, and our success within a company is usually driven by the metrics that are measured for performance reviews. This includes sales numbers, KPIs, etc. Of course, metrics can be gamed if they are not well thought out, but this is an efficient system for the most part, and works well in companies that put real thought into their implementation.

So that got me thinking, why hasn’t anyone done this for life? There’s literally an app to measure just about everything you want. Smart watches constantly measure heart rates and sleep patterns. There are apps that track and measure your fitness patterns. There are apps for that measure and analyze your finances. And there are plenty of data available online to compare your professional achievements.

I’ve looked around, and mostly I find common practices in the areas of self and life development, but there isn’t much talking about actual metrics. So, that’s what I’m doing now. I’m trying to decide what metrics I’m going to use to help me set (quite possibly the most difficult part) and achieve goals for myself.

I found a website that is a good start. It provides a list of different areas to focus on, and it includes a few metrics for each area. But as everyone defines personal success differently, I feel like the specific metrics would be different for everyone.

So, having said all that, what metrics would you consider if you were, as the boss of your own life, going to realistically give yourself an annual review? Why would you choose those metrics?