Measuring Success and Progress: The 3 Methods
Ever wonder if you’re doing the right thing? You use these methods to find out.
Success is something we all want, whether we’re knowingly chasing it or not.
We want to be better and do better, for ourselves and the people around us.
But we can get lost in our pursuit, wondering if we’re making progress.
It’s in those times when critical decisions are made that can make or break our chances of success.
Continue reading to learn which method is best when trying to accomplish goals.
What is Success?
Most people hear success and think of financial success, but it’s more than that.
Success is simply the achievement of goals, and you can have goals in many different arenas.
Like achieving a healthy body weight, achieving a certain figure in the bank, or simply trying to become a better person.
You know the endpoint and where you’re starting, but how can you tell if you’re heading in the right direction?
It’s in the journey where doubt can creep in, that’s when some self-reflection is critical.
3 Methods to Measure Success and Progress
Learn the pros and cons of the mindset changes that accompany these methods to measure success and progress.
How Much Further?
This method is probably the most common.
You see your goal and a distorted view of how far you’ve got left.
I say distorted because on good days your goal seems to be in sight, but on bad days it’s still very far off.
That’s a good or a bad thing depending on how motivated you are.
If you’re motivated, it doesn’t matter if the goal seems close or far, you’re going to put in the same amount of work, or possibly even more if the goal feels far off.
But if you’re unmotivated, a goal appearing far away is a reason to give up. Whilst a goal that’s close at hand gives you a reason to relax.
Being forward-sighted is a good thing, but you should understand your predispositions when trying to gaze into the future.
How Far You’ve Come
This is another common method to measure success and progress and it’s technically the opposite of the above as you look into the past rather than the future.
You observe your journey so far, counting the many checkpoints you’ve surpassed.
In some ways, this method is better than the prior as it gives you reasons to keep going.
Each checkpoint you’ve blazed through entailed some level of difficulty which you overcame, giving up now will feel like all that sacrifice was fruitless (but in reality, it isn’t, as we’ll see in the next method).
A drawback of this method is dwelling on the past.
Spending too much time in the past can change how you feel and perform in the present.
Dwelling on prior setbacks could put a negative spin on your mood, affecting your attitude to the tasks you need to complete today.
Meanwhile, dwelling on prior wins can make you lazy. You feel more accomplished than you should, causing you to slow down.
You should learn from the past, but spend as little time there as possible.
Personal Growth
This method is the least common, maybe because it’s the most uncomfortable since it forces you to look inward.
As the saying goes, it’s the journey, not the destination.
The destination is usually a physical manifestation, whilst the journey is more internal, and that’s what this method observes.
Rather than dwelling on the past, or seeking validation from the future, you look at yourself in the mirror and see how much you have or haven’t changed.
The prior two methods require you to see success as the achievement of goals, as is the common definition.
With this method, your definition has to change.
Success is now defined as how much you’ve positively changed as a result of the goals you pursue.
With this method, you adopt a mindset that uses and creates internal motivation, which is more powerful than external motivation.
By focusing on your personal growth, as well as your goals, you create an internal environment that makes success likely.
Takeaway
We’ve touched on a few different topics like the past, the present, the future, the external, the internal, and your predispositions.
The key takeaway is to use all three methods to measure success and progress but in different quantities depending on your current mindset.
For example, if you know you dwell on the past too much, look to the future.
Or if you feel as though you’ve still got a ways to go, look at how far you’ve come.
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