You Manage What You Measure

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Further Secrets of Adulthood: You manage what you measure.

The fact is, if you want more or less of something in your life, it’s very helpful to measure it, because you manage what you measure. I’m now calling this the “Strategy of Monitoring.”

Maybe there’s something you’d like to change in your life—to get more of something good or less of something bad. Try this: figure out a very concrete way to measure and track it. By counting the things that count—and pushing yourself to find a way to count the things that seem as if they can’t be counted—you make sure they’re part of your life.

Agree, disagree?

From 2006 through 2014, as she wrote The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, Gretchen chronicled her thoughts, observations, and discoveries on The Happiness Project Blog.

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