One conversation can change your life.

It was summer-time. I was 19 and trying to get big or die trying. Moving iron every morning at the local gym in Paramus, NJ before going to life-guard at the pool I worked at.

One day a guy who was spotting me, probably around my age now, asked how I was tracking my progress.

I didn’t. I told him I try to do a little more than the previous week.

He said, “no one can remember what they did last year, track your numbers so you can actually see your progress”.

Surprisingly, I took this strangers advice.

That was 10 years ago, and it completely changed my physique as it allowed me to follow the principles of progressive overload over a longer time horizon.

But I’m not writing this so you can get into great shape. (Although all of us should.)

I’m writing this because it is one of the most important lessons I learned:

What gets measured gets managed.

Everyone should track changes at work like they would in fitness.

The only way to hold yourself, or your team, accountable is to actually know & show what we’re being held accountable to. What gets measured gets managed.

The best thing to track is leading instead of lagging indicators whenever possible. For lifting, leading indicators are set, reps, or load and lagging indicators are your body weight or muscle size.

A winning formula looks like this:

Establish goals, measure progress, apply deliberate practice to get better along the way.

Of course, in order to have a conversation change your life – you need to be willing to change. But that is for another day. Until then, measure the things that matter.

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