Trailhead Thoughts
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
- Benjamin Franklin
Trail Map - Learn. Think. Act. ™
Start Measuring THIS
Most people track too much or too little. That’s the problem.
If you want to see real progress (in work, fitness, finances, or relationships,) personal KPIs are your secret weapon.
📚Learn
KPI = Key Performance Indicator
Think of it as a simple scorecard that answers, “is the work I’m doing actually working?”
3 Types of KPIs to track per goal:
Leading - What predicts future results ( e.g. workouts/week, calories burned, pipeline created)
Conversion - Where’s the hand off? What reflects your effort turning into progress (e.g. pace improving.)
Lagging - What happened because of your actions (e.g. weight lost.)
Keep it simple. Too many KPIs = confusion. Three is enough per goal.
🤔Think
Are you tracking things that matter?
Are you measuring actions or just results? What about the results before the end result?
Are your KPIs showing trends or just single moments?
Your KPI dashboard is not a speedometer. Use it as tool to highlight trends over time. Turn the dashboard into illustrative momentum. TWHen you do this, it will help you spot:
What’s working.
What’s not working.
Where you’re stuck.
💪 Act
Pick One Goal: Health, work, relationships
Define Three KPIs: One leading, one conversion, one lagging
Track the data over time: Daily, Weekly, and in two 2-week sprints.
Review: Reflect - when you look at sprint tracking (3 sprints in a row) ask yourself - Is the work working?
Bonus: Use AI to brainstorm KPIs for any area of life.
Ask:
What are leading, conversion, and lagging KPIs for (enter your goal?)
Measure what matters. Manage what you measure.
If you want to share what KPIs you’re tracking or experimenting with, hit reply. We’d love to hear.
Beyond the Trailhead
Be Driven By Greatness
Most of say we want to reach for more, but then we measure nothing and hope for the best. That’s not ambition, that’s wishful thinking.
KPIs aren’t about becoming robotic or sucking the joy out of your work. They’re about getting honest with yourself (ouch, we know.) They help you separate motion from momentum. Busy from effective. Effort from impact.
If you’re not measuring something, you probably spend some time negotiating with yourself about it.
KPIs have a way of giving you a mirror. Sometimes the mirror says, “Nice work, keep going.” Other times it says, “We might be fooling ourselves a little here.”
If you’re driven by greatness, you will see both as gifts.
How To Make KPIs Work Without Hating Your Life
This week, don’t overhaul everything. That’s how KPIs earn a bad reputation.
Try this instead:
Pick one area where you genuinely want more (energy, performance, connection, progress.)
Choose 3 signals that tell you if you’re moving forward. Don’t aim for perfect here. Aim for honest.
Track weekly. Remember, this is about trends, not perfection.
After 2 weeks, ask: “Is this helping me make better decisions?”
If the answer is yes, keep going.
If the answer is no, adjust the work not your ambition.
KPIs shouldn’t limit you. They should protect your effort so that it actually goes somewhere.
A Quick Gut Check
If this made you nod, laugh, or feel slightly called out (sorry, not sorry) chances are someone on your team or in your circle needs to hear this too.
Forward this to a colleague who:
Wants more but feels stuck
Is busy but not sure they’re progressing
Is ready to be driven by greatness instead of guesses
Measure what matters.
Reach for more.
And stop letting “I think it’s working” be your strategy.
Voices from the Trail
Meet Mike – founder of Find My Catalyst
This is a repost of one of our original podcasts on Key Performance Indicators.
We discuss some common errors when creating KPIs, general best practices, and some practical examples. We also discuss how KPIs can be established outside of sales, and be used to measure other aspects of the organization's success.
Listen to this episode on Spotify
Hitting the Trail
If you’re tired of January enthusiasm that fades by February 1st, our upcoming Goal-Setting Webinar is for you. It is designed for people who want goals that work in the real world.
We’ll talk through how to set goals that translate into clear priorities, realistic rhythms, and follow-through you can sustain.
Join us to design goals that actually hold.
Announcements
Brent and Mike are relaunching their Monday - Thursday livestream. Check it out on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Mike and Brent go live at 8:00 AM ET, 5:00 AM PT. They discuss current trends in emerging and enablement technology.
Subscribe to the Catalyst YouTube channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@catalyst_acts
That’s it for this week.
Keep putting one intentional step in front of the other - the view gets better and better as you climb.
We’d love if you would share this with someone who could benefit from setting their own KPIs.
The Find My Catalyst Team