Two key things I measure in business.

I never used to monitor all the usual business metrics.

When you're a small business it feels like there are a million other things to do than stare at numbers and monitor KPIs...

You value action instead of analysis.

But as time went on, I started getting frustrated that my results were unpredictable.

Instead of jumping in the deep end and combing through data, I wanted to point to something quickly that we could do to start winning consistently.

Even though we rely on data so much these days before we make a decision, sometimes you can overvalue analysis. 

Often it's better to do more of what's already working.

The ACTION. Not the outcome.

When it came to measuring outcomes, sometimes I'd go weeks without seeing any results.

I'd just report "no progress"

The data was so boring.

And it wasn't giving me the dopamine hit I needed to keep pushing, especially when the work was hard or progress went backwards.

In that situation, if you’re measuring outcomes (ie results) like I was, making no progress or going backwards is soul-destroying.

But there's a different way to look at measuring things.

Instead of measuring outcomes (things like progress, results and milestones).

Start to measure inputs (the actions, standards and consistency).

To give you an example, think about measuring sales growth. 

If you were focusing on results, you'd be trying to measure:

• How much revenue increased
• The number of new clients landed
• How many new clients I'd onboarded

But when you’re not making quick progress or when you lose a client, it’s easy to lose momentum.

The reality is none of those are really in your control until you figure out your system anyway.

You can't force a sale to occur once every week like clockwork.

But you can do the ACTION that gives you the best chance of getting that sale.

For example…

If I wanted to measure progress towards the same sales goal and measure ‘action’, I'd look at the things that gave me the best chance of getting that sale. For example:

• Did I send 10 LinkedIn DMs today?
• Did I call 20 potential clients today?
• Did I have a lunch meeting with a prospect today?
• Did I send 5 hand-written follow-ups to prospects today?

See how these are easier to measure?

They're fully in your control and you can gamify the shit out of it to make it feel like you're crushing your streak.

Then it becomes a quest to do those things better before turning them into a repeatable system.

I've found that measuring the right actions makes it way easier to stay motivated, hold yourself accountable and be consistent.

That's not to say measuring outcomes or results is bad. 

It's great for tangible targets and projects that have physical outcomes.

But measuring action is better for things that are hard to see progress on, or that feel out of your control.

For example team culture, long-term growth and things you haven't mastered a system for yet.

I realise that everyone's different, some people are deeply analytical, while others prefer to wing it so it's your choice.

At the end of the day, the key thing I've learned about making progress is to measure something...

Because what gets measured, gets done.

I hope this helps!