If you read my post about self-accountability then you know I like to keep track of stuff. As the old saying goes “what gets measured gets done”. You are your own Personal Trainer. Without accountability, things don’t happen and you stagnate. My previous post covered tracking personal health but we don’t have to stop there, tracking achievements is another way to push for self-improvement.
Leisure is more important than work
Unless you’ve escaped the daily grind and you’re already doing something awesome you enjoy, then I won’t be recommending work achievement tracking in this post. Aristotle believed leisure was more important than work, and I’m inclined to agree. It makes perfect sense. Who really wants to get good at emails and meetings, anyway?!
Aristotle’s concept of leisure was far from relaxation, true leisure is an activity and an activity in which a person finds their greatest joy. If all you’re improving in your leisure time is your ability to watch Netflix shows and get drunk then you need a plan to turn things around.
Achievements tracker
In summary: improve your life by tracking what you’re doing: “what gets measured gets done”. Conversely, very little gets done (AKA: wasting your life) when you’re not keeping track. You’re rewarded by tracking your achievements as you can see progress. This, in turn, spurs you on to achieve more as you want to see year on year improvement. No one wants to see regression!
Here’s how my tracker looks (using Google Spreadsheets). I’ve started in 2018, it’s obvious this year is already outperforming last since my change in mindset.
Once I have something listed in my tracking spreadsheet then it becomes front of mind. It’s a small psychological shift that makes me push for improvement that wasn’t there before. It’s a neat trick and you should try it.
