I was reading Seth Godin's blog today, and this line hit me like a ton of bricks:

For every person who has proven the skeptics wrong, there are a hundred who should have listened to them and done the work they cared about instead of keeping track of the wrong metrics.

What landed with me was this idea of keeping track of the wrong metrics. 📏📐

When I started my career, I was focused on status.

How prestigious is my job.

How nice is my suit. 🤵

I remember judging a woman because she was wearing scuffed shoes on a date (we ended up dating for a while though, so I didn't let it colour my opinion of her - I'm not a total monster 👹).

As time progressed, I realized I wasn't happy. I started to focus on the things I could do outside of work.

Train for a half marathon. Get a PB.

Go to yacht week. Get some fun memories.

And yet still, there was a bit of emptiness. I think those are great things and I still value them (in a way I don't still value a nice suit), but they aren't the pillars that one can build a life around. That I could build an identity around.

I'm now focused on who I am every day.

What have I created? How present have I been? How have I made people feel?

They may not be the "right" metrics, if "right" metrics even exist. But I know I'm moving in the right direction.

What metrics are you measuring?

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📏📐 The Wrong Metrics