Tracking... What’s the Big Deal?

I can’t say I’m a big fan of the tracking progress or monitoring myself with spreadsheets, documents or even the infamous post-it notes. It seems like all the new books on self improvements have a fancy form of self monitoring that consists of writing down some info all in the name of getting to know ourselves. My initial feeling is “If I do every exercise the books advise me to do then I won’t have time for myself at the end of the day but only a bunch of info on how I spent the day.

Do I need to “get to know myself” this much?

I do admit that I’m afraid of several things when it comes to tracking my daily activities. Let’s go through the list and try to give rational and positive answers to fears shall we?

Fear number 1: I’m afraid this will take even more time.

Answer:
Just like everything else in life that we have to learn. Tracking our progress and analyzing ourselves takes time and effort. The Irony is that most people who are gathering information to better know themselves already feel like they don’t have enough time from the start. This really puts a damper on trying out something new. It might be hard at first but remember that this can be temporary up until you have the info then you can have the data necessary to gain time permanently.

Fear number 2: I’m afraid it won’t work.

Answer:
It’s not about “work” or “not work.” it’s about having more info on yourself the results will follow after having the knowledge you need!

Fear Number 3: I’m afraid I won’t remember to right things down when I need to!

Answer:
There are plenty of ways to remember to jot down some info. You can put reminders on your phone. You can find apps that will help with tracking your daily activities. Even ask friends to hold you accountable in some way (Although I’m pretty sure you don’t want your friend to call every hour!). Remember that its not the end of the world if you forget.

In sports they track their progress all the time (I know that sports analogies are used often when it comes to self improvement but it works so) and for good reasons.

Professional athletes know their progress, their limits, habits...you name it! This helps them to achieve better results more quickly. They don’t leave progress to chance and why should you?

It's all about getting some knowledge of yourself in order for you to be empowered.

In my next post I will share some of the self tracking exercises and tools I'm going to try out and in a few weeks we will see the outcome together.