Some people think in terms of metrics, others in goals, or in routines. But what if you thought in terms of achievements?
I’ll be honest with you, I’ve tried all the above. Goals are great, but too long-term to be motivated by. Routines are boring by definition, and so are hard to use as a thought structure as well. Metrics do help… until they start going down, then they don’t. And so, while I incorporate all three into my day-to-day life, they failed to motivate me to continue on my journey. This is when I found joy in looking at achievements.
After you’ve spent some time building something up – whether it be a blog, or a series of books, or a podcast, or all three – you can look at how far you’ve come.
It’s easy, when you’re so focused on progressing, to forget how much progress you’ve made. I was honestly shocked when I went back and found out I’ve already published three books, with two more on the way. It feels like I’ve barely done one! Another great way to do this is to use historical metrics – for example, look at how many page views you’ve gotten this year, and compare it to when you first started. It’s bound to be a lot more, given enough time difference between the two.
If you’re just starting out, using large gauges like “number of books written” probably isn’t a good idea. Instead, you can start a tally of your “number of words written”, and look at your “achievements” in that light. If you keep even a small consistent habit, you’ll be shocked by how much it ends up increasing!
So, that’s a small introduction to achievement-based thinking. In summary: use goals and metrics as a way to carve the path, and use achievements as a way to stay on it.
