Many people want to know what the one key secret to success is. I think many successful people would agree that you can’t narrow it down to just one thing. One key thing you can do is track what it is you are attempting to attain success in. If you keep a scoreboard, you will know how you measure up to your goal.
Very often, tracking your progress is such an easy task that many people overlook it. The first thing I recommend to anyone seeking success in an area is find a way to track it. If someone is looking to eat healthier and lose weight, they should track what they eat. If you are looking to improve your finances, track your spending for 30 days. If you want to work out more often, set a goal and track your progress. The key thing is to have complete personal integrity in doing this (which is a whole post in itself). Track every little thing that enters your body, drinks, candy etc. Track every penny you spend, even the $.89 soda at the gas station.
For anyone that watches business related TV shows, you know how often people preach to “know your numbers”. On Shark Tank if someone gives a presentation and they don’t know the numbers from their business (annual sales, profit margins, etc.) the investors will rip them apart!! Knowing your key statistics for your business will put you ahead of 65% of your competitors! (Did you know 84% of statistics are made up on the spot?!) Marcus Lemonis, investor on CNBC’s The Profit, always tells his business partners “if you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know your business.”
Why is tracking so important? In order to hit your goals (see last post for tips) you have to know how you are progressing towards them. Again this seems rather obvious and is so easy to do, but it’s just as easy not to do. For example, I set a goal this month to stay under 2000 calories 20 days (starting the year small and easy). A) if I didn’t track my calories on a daily basis that would be pretty hard to know how I was doing. B) I use a calendar to track the days I stay under so I know throughout the month how I am progressing towards my goals. The month’s that I haven’t done this and just logged my food everyday without tracking progress, I failed almost 90% of the time (that is a real stat 😃)
How often have you spent a lot of time thinking about doing something, yet realized that you never actually progressed towards it? Maybe you are a salesman looking to make 60 calls for the week and you spend a lot of time thinking about who you will call, what you will say, where you will get their information. However when you track your progress, you realize you only made 40 calls. Your mind can play tricks on you to think you are doing more or better than you actually are. You spent so much time thinking and planning that you felt like you made the 60, only to fall short.
Whatever kind of success you are looking for in 2019, set a goal and track your progress! Feel free to email me any questions or for help on how to achieve your 2019 goals at Chris@elitebusinessadvising.com.