I finished a book this past Friday called 10x is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy that was recommended to me by one of my board members and I loved it. It was choked full of interesting and helpful things, and near the top of the list is what I’ll be sharing today, which is the author’s instruction to measure backwards. Let me explain…
As leaders we strive to achieve ideals. We read books, attend conferences, do site-visits, seek wise counsel, and join coaching networks, wherein we learn ideals. Well, this is both a blessing and a curse because the moment we learn an ideal is more often than not the same moment we become aware that we’re not hitting whatever the ideal is, which can be discouraging, especially for the perfectionists among us. The perfectionist often feels like a failure, and often walks around deeply discouraged, even though he/she is usually outperforming everyone around them, because they’re constantly measuring against the ideal.
Well, to combat this tendency the authors contend that we must learn to measure backwards, not forward. In other words, we need to learn the art of measuring against our progress vs our ideals (i.e. our progress towards the ideal vs whether or not we’ve achieved it). When we measure backwards, against our progress, we’re encouraged (e.g., Look how far I’ve come!). Conversely, when we measure forward, against our ideals, we’re discouraged (e.g., Look how far I have to go!).
Since at New Day we’re constantly learning, and therefore constantly learning new ideals, we must become adroit at measuring backwards to avoid discouragement and feeling like we’re failing, when in fact we’re winning.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: To help us experience the benefit of measuring backwards (against progress) vs forward (against our ideal), I want each of us to share the answers to the following two questions: Where is one area where right now you’re feeling like you’re not yet where you want to be? And what progress have you made towards getting there? (Hopefully, after the realization that you’re making progress toward the ideal, you’ll feel encouraged).
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