What gets measured gets improved.
I’m reasonably obsessed with personality tests, measurements, data, information and using those tools to make better decisions. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to collect data and then do nothing with it [*”Some day I will,”* I assure myself] or to flat out collect the wrong data.
I normally measure the success of my day by how many things I accomplished and how many things I left unfinished. I never check off all the boxes on any given day because I’m constantly thinking of more things I need (or would like) to do. Instead of evaluating my day by the number of boxes checked and list items crossed off, I felt led to completely change my method of evaluation.
At the end of each day, I’ve started to ask myself these two questions.
Do I love God more today than I did yesterday?
Did I love people better today than I did yesterday?
As I’ve shared before, comparison robs us of joy, but self-reflection and personal evaluation leads to a life well-stewarded. If we don’t evaluate where we’re heading, we set off with no destination, and we’ll surely end up somewhere unintentional without course correction.
Now, at the end of my day, I simply ask the two most important questions [those that Jesus summed up as the key to the entire law in Mark 12:30-31].
Love God and love others.
Here are a few sub-questions for each to dig deeper into evaluation.
Do I love God more today than I did yesterday?
- Did I experience communion with God today?
- Did I spend time connecting with God through his Word and prayer?
- Did I honor him with my thoughts, words and actions?
- Did I flee temptation and quickly confess sin when I fell short?
Did I love people better today than I did yesterday?
- Did I go out of my way to help people?
- Was I patient with those I interacted with?
- Did my words and actions encourage or discourage others?
- Did I point people to Jesus?
- Did I think more often of others than I did of myself?
- Did I mostly serve or was I mostly served?
Two simple questions, but as I’ve already begun to experience, difficult answers. A much-needed reality check and course correction at the end of my day.
Here’s to measuring what truly matters.
[Not to mention, good questions to add to the end of my manifesto to set the tone for my day.]
This post really sums it up. We get so enamored with checking off boxes or lining through completed tasks (just in case someone is looking at our to do list) that we forget what’s really important (and what we are called to do).
For me it’s a “sense” that I actually completed something that made a difference someone, maybe a phone call or an encouraging word to a family eating at a restaurant.