Last night my teenage daughter and I went to dinner to celebrate my upcoming birthday. We have a tradition in which we gussy up in our fanciest gowns. After all, birthdays are special occasions! (Actually, we’ll dress up even when the special occasion is Wednesday.) She suggested I wear my gorgeous silver gown that I wore at a National Speakers Association banquet last July.
It didn’t fit.
That’s not entirely true. It did fit, thanks to a Herculean effort on both our parts to get it zipped up. But I couldn’t walk in it. Or sit. Or exhale.
Wearing that dress comfortably is a metric for me. I want to be able to shimmy in and out of it easily, just as I did last July. Last night reminded me that my health needed a tune-up: less sweets and more sweat. I knew I had let the busyness of the Fall speaking season get the better of me, and now I had proof. As a result, I am kicking off a 30-day cleanse/reset after my birthday celebration on Friday to help me get back on track.
What is a metric that could help you? A survey of your employees? Your close ratio? The number of outbound calls? Your bank deposits? Give yourself the gift of metrics to show where you can improve. They can help clarify “what is” and be just the nudge you need to make more mindful choices.
Theresa Rose is a business motivational speaker, award-winning author and expert on mindful productivity who helps organizations and their teams make more time, get more done, earn more money and have more fun. Her mission is to inspire and energize as many people as humanly possible to make more mindful choices so that they may improve their lives, their businesses, and their world. For more information, visit TheresaRose.com.