{"id":891,"date":"2009-01-15T11:46:19","date_gmt":"2009-01-15T18:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/"},"modified":"2018-04-04T02:57:06","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T09:57:06","slug":"you-only-know-what-you-measure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/","title":{"rendered":"You Only Know What You Measure"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m amazed at how many people fail to take an easy step when working on a goal: writing things down<\/em>. If you\u2019re trying to save more money, a good start is simply writing down the things you spend money on. If you want to get in shape, write down what you eat and what you do when you exercise.<\/p>\n

Measurement isn\u2019t foolproof. There are some disciplines it fairs poorly (relationships, learning, family). And even in areas where it can excel, there is the risk that you end up measuring the wrong things<\/a>. But just because measurement isn\u2019t perfect doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t an effective (and easy) way to make progress towards a goal.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a question to ask yourself if you recently made a new resolution for something specific: Have you written anything down to record your progress? If the answer is no, you\u2019re missing a great opportunity to get better results with little effort.<\/p>\n

Your Memory and Intuitions are Often Wrong<\/h2>\n

Why is measurement powerful? Because our intuitions about our progress are horribly flawed. Memory is anecdotal. We form assumptions based on looking at a few memorable examples and generalize. So your evaluation of how healthfully you eat isn\u2019t based on an accurate sampling of your diet, it\u2019s based on a few vivid pictures of the salad or hamburger you ate last week.<\/p>\n

Measurement has the advantage of being unbiased. You don\u2019t need any supernatural powers of unbiased memory recall to get insight. You just need to look down at what you\u2019ve written and count.<\/p>\n

There is No Willpower (Only Strategy)<\/h2>\n

Self-discipline is a great character trait, but it\u2019s over-attributed to success. Reaching a target has a lot more to do with strategy than feats of willpower. The reason measurement is powerful is that it helps you correctly aim your strategy.<\/p>\n

Over a year ago, I started the practice of recording everything I spent money on<\/a>. Although this sounds obsessive, it actually takes little time and it helps me make smart decisions when spending my money.<\/p>\n

Before I did this practice, I had distorted perceptions about where I was spending most of my money. I had assumed that small discretionary purchases (DVDs, books, etc.) were eating up a lot of my extra money. After recording for a year, I realized that was only a small amount of money, and more was being spent eating at restaurants or going to events.<\/p>\n

Had I not written down my expenses, I would have been focused on the wrong things. I would have tried to cut down my expenses by stopping buying new books, instead of looking for reasonable ways to limit my expenses at events, such as planning ahead to avoid a costly cab ride back.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve applied the same logic to other areas of life as well, including my website income and health. By writing things down, I was able to form a strategy that would actually target the biggest concerns. Often simply writing things down on an ongoing basis would clue me into huge areas of waste or opportunity that I\u2019d been missing.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t Measurement too Mechanical?<\/h2>\n

Writing down everything you eat or spend money on sounds like an unnecessary chore. I don\u2019t want to become a robot that itemizes everything I do, and I\u2019ll bet you don\u2019t either. For people who have reservations about writing everything down, ask yourself two questions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How much effort am I putting in to reach my goal?<\/li>\n
  2. Would I spend 5 minutes a day if I knew it would immediately inform me whether my strategy for reaching that goal had any chance of success?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I can\u2019t see the logic in being willing to exert months of effort towards a diet, budget, business or college course, and being unwilling to keep a pad of paper to make a few notes about it.<\/p>\n

    If it seems awkward writing things down, try sticking with it for a month. After that, it will be automatic and won\u2019t seem outside of your routine. You don\u2019t need to write down everything, just the things that are relevant to your current goals.<\/p>\n

    Look for Easy Record-Keeping<\/h2>\n

    I\u2019ve written before that the hard part about measuring is finding the right things to measure. Trying to measure a relationship or your social life sounds silly because any one measurement is meaningless. But although some areas defy record-keeping, others make it obvious. It doesn\u2019t take an advanced degree to see that health is a function of what you eat, or that frugality is the result of what you spend money on.<\/p>\n

    Figure out if your goal has easy records to keep that line up with results. If it does, ask yourself why you aren\u2019t writing them down today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019m amazed at how many people fail to take an easy step when working on a goal: writing things down. If you\u2019re trying to save more money, a good start is simply writing down the things you spend money on. If you want to get in shape, write down what you eat and what you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12,4,680],"tags":[168,163,284],"class_list":["post-891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-discipline","category-goal-setting","category-nc-productivity","tag-measure","tag-measurement-paradox","tag-record-keeping","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYou Only Know What You Measure - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Only Know What You Measure - Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m amazed at how many people fail to take an easy step when working on a goal: writing things down. If you\u2019re trying to save more money, a good start is simply writing down the things you spend money on. If you want to get in shape, write down what you eat and what you […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AuthorScottYoung\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-01-15T18:46:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-04T09:57:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Young\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@scotthyoung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@scotthyoung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Young\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/15\\\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/15\\\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Scott Young\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\"},\"headline\":\"You Only Know What You Measure\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-15T18:46:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-04T09:57:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/15\\\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":814,\"commentCount\":7,\"keywords\":[\"measure\",\"measurement paradox\",\"record-keeping\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Discipline\",\"Goals\",\"Productivity\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/15\\\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/15\\\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/15\\\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\\\/\",\"name\":\"You Only Know What You Measure - Scott H Young\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-15T18:46:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-04T09:57:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/15\\\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/15\\\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/15\\\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"You Only Know What You Measure\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Scott H Young\",\"description\":\"Learn faster, achieve more\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\",\"name\":\"Scott Young\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Scott Young\"},\"description\":\"Hello, my name is Scott H. Young and I am obsessed with personal development! When I am not reading several books a month on the subject I am constantly trying to find new ways to improve and get more out of life.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/scottadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You Only Know What You Measure - Scott H Young","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You Only Know What You Measure - Scott H Young","og_description":"I\u2019m amazed at how many people fail to take an easy step when working on a goal: writing things down. If you\u2019re trying to save more money, a good start is simply writing down the things you spend money on. If you want to get in shape, write down what you eat and what you […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/","og_site_name":"Scott H Young","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AuthorScottYoung\/","article_published_time":"2009-01-15T18:46:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-04-04T09:57:06+00:00","author":"Scott Young","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@scotthyoung","twitter_site":"@scotthyoung","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scott Young","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/"},"author":{"name":"Scott Young","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c"},"headline":"You Only Know What You Measure","datePublished":"2009-01-15T18:46:19+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-04T09:57:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/"},"wordCount":814,"commentCount":7,"keywords":["measure","measurement paradox","record-keeping"],"articleSection":["Discipline","Goals","Productivity"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/","name":"You Only Know What You Measure - Scott H Young","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-01-15T18:46:19+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-04T09:57:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/you-only-know-what-you-measure\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"You Only Know What You Measure"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/","name":"Scott H Young","description":"Learn faster, achieve more","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c","name":"Scott Young","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Scott Young"},"description":"Hello, my name is Scott H. Young and I am obsessed with personal development! When I am not reading several books a month on the subject I am constantly trying to find new ways to improve and get more out of life.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/author\/scottadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5490,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891\/revisions\/5490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}