Most of you are not measuring the key metrics for your business (and your life) every. single. day.
In the magnificent book Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength
, which I highly recommend you read. The book points out there is only one thing in all the diet studies in existence that has a direct correlation to losing weight.
Weighing yourself, every. single. day.
The fascinating thing about this is it's pretty much the direct opposite of what pretty much every diet program on the planet recommends. They mostly suggest you weigh yourself weekly or monthly.
If you measure what you manage, you can control it.
If you're not measuring, how can you possibly course correct.
Would you drive a car with a blindfold on?
Would you hire a car at Tel Aviv airport, not get a map, and instead of ending up at the Hilton, end up approaching a Gaza Strip check point a couple of hours later… (or is that just me)
The more often you check the map, the more likely you'll get to your hotel.
It's pretty hard to get through a forest without signs if you don't have a map and a compass to check you're on course.
Why would we not look at our business map (The stats we get from our business)
My experience is most people don't.
Funnily enough, the more successful the online business, the more often they check the stats.
Every business really has one or two key metrics, that's about it,
Most people don't measure. If they measure the key metrics, they don't look at them…
The reason…
Your brain is trying to protect you.
Your brain is thinking "If I let Ed check his blog stats and only two people read his blog yesterday, he's going to get sad, I want him to be happy, I'll get him to walk downstairs and eat a Tim Tam instead"
I'm slightly paraphrasing what Dr John Medina talks about in the awesome book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School
Successful people measure relentlessly.
Andy Ireland owns one of Australia's most successful surf shops. His profit per square foot is better than 95% of retailers in Australia.
The thing is Andy is about 186 miles from the nearest decent surf!
When you ask Andy about his key stats, he spits them out on the spot.
Can you do the same for your key stats?
Andy counts every person that comes in his store and knows what each person is worth to him.
Ever been to an Apple store, the tracking technology in an Apple store is crazy. It's incredibly subtle, but they track and measure everything.
They are also the most profitable retailer on the planet.
I don't think Andy or Apples success is a coincidence.
If you have a measurement you have something to improve.
Whatever it is, you need to look at it every. single. day.
Here's a mind-blowing scientific principle.
The mere act of observing the experiment, changes the experiment.
Whoa.
If you measure diligently every day, your results will change.
I bet that's a good thing…
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