One Year of Gratitude — Day 20

Good morning. It’s the beginning of a new week. There’s new things on the agenda at work. New things on my personal agenda. I have things to focus on that got put on the back burner last week. Lots happening.
In a previous article, I mentioned the SELF Journal. I’ve been using it every day for a month now. I think it’s fair to link to them now, because their product has been a big help to me. It’s been a big help in keeping track of the things I need to focus on. Even the things that seem like they’re things I don’t need to remind myself of. Things like dinner. Or, things like getting to bed on time. I remind myself to be nice to people. One of my daily goals is to avoid making assumptions, and to be a good listener. I remind myself to stay away from digital devices during family time. Then, in the evening I reflect on these goals.
Here are a couple of pics of my daily journal:


Sure, there are productivity websites and apps out there. The act of writing these down is a strong reinforcement for me. I’m not sure what it is about the physical act of writing. Maybe it takes longer than typing. Maybe writing the goal gives me more time to think about it. Maybe writing has some neurological benefits. I don’t know. All I can say is that I feel more productive. And, of course, I am thankful.
Another thing I do manually is my budget. I realize there are great tools out there for this. Mint.com. My bank offers a budget tool. Geezeo.com (shout out to my nephew, Ben) offers budgeting solutions to banks. These are all great tools. And I supplement my budgeting with them. For me, nothing beats rote budgeting. That’s why I created my own little budget spreadsheet.

I based this on Dave Ramsey’s Complete Money Makeover budgeting suggestions. It’s not perfect but it works for me. You’re welcome to use it and edit it to fit your needs. I’m thankful to be making money. I’m thankful to have a handle on it.
If you’ve been following along, you may remember an article about measuring things. Today’s article may seem to contradict that idea. I believe some things are worth measuring. These would actionable metrics. Actionable metrics tie to specific and repeatable tasks you can improve [source]. They help keep us on task. If we can gain value from the numbers, it’s all good.
Some things are what I would call vanity metrics. The number of people who read these articles is a vanity metric. Those numbers don’t mean anything. Aside from gloat, I can’t do anything with the information. Unless I tie that number to some goal, the numbers are irrelevant. According to techcrunch.com. vantity metrics:
[Vanity metrics] are easily manipulated, and do not necessarily correlate to the numbers that really matter. — source
Maybe I’ll write more about this in the future. We all have a tendency to put more value in vanity metrics than actionable metrics. Again, I’m thankful to be aware of the difference. In my quest for self improvement I can focus my efforts on measuring things that will help me reach my goal. I can take the other numbers with a grain of salt.
And that’s your gratitude for today…
