Energy

Why Tracking Your Pursuit is Critical

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Posted on October 25, 2022

Maximize Your Chances for Making a Quantum Leap to you²

The performance leap from you to "you squared" relies on an elegant and powerful four-step strategy to produce exponential results. None of the four steps in the quantum leap process are complicated, but each one is critical. You need:

1. An ambitious aiming point
2. Pursuit
3. Ritualizing
4. Tracking

Let's focus on step #4 in the process.

It Pays to Keep Score

You might think tracking progress toward your goal isn’t particularly important. Lots of people, and even companies, make this mistake.

A recent study of more than 250 small and medium-sized businesses found that only one out of ten set growth targets and track those goals in real-time. But the businesses that do set goals and track progress perform nearly twice as well.

Another study published in the Psychological Bulletin confirms that monitoring your progress increases your chances for success. In fact, the more frequent the monitoring, the more your odds improve. And the best results come when you physically record your actions in pursuit of you². Simply write down notes—keep a log or journal—detailing what you do and the results you achieve.

Why Tracking Makes a Dramatic Difference

As Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured gets managed.” Tracking means you’re paying attention to your actions. They become important. The monitoring keeps your attention on your goal and holds you accountable for steady progress.

Tracking is how you give yourself feedback, and feedback motivates. It also educates you and makes you more disciplined in your pursuit of you².

Even when you know the correct actions for executing your quantum leap, it’s easy to lose focus, drift off course, or allow slippage to weaken your pursuit. Tracking will reinforce your efforts and keep you moving in the right direction.

Consistency is What Counts

Your tracking process doesn’t need to be a complex or boring administrative exercise. Keep it simple! Superachiever Tim Ferriss says, “Tracking anything is better than tracking nothing.”

The most important thing for now is to make tracking a habit. Just capture a meaningful data point or two about how you’re progressing toward your ambitious aiming point and do it on a regular basis.