Measure what matters — 12 months from now

Welcome to 2023! Yes, I know this is soon going to be outdated, but this marks the beginning of this journey (what journey?), so I’ll leave it as a milestone.

“A goal properly set is halfway reached” — Abraham Lincoln

They say that not planning is planning to fail, so this year I’ve put an extra thought and effort into defining the right goals. So much so that I’ll be using OKRs. What are OKRs? OKR is a framework that stands for Objectives and Key Results. This framework was first developed by Andy Grove at Intel (see the delightfully simple original explanation here) and later popularized by John Doerr in his book “Measure What Matters” (learn more about the book and the framework here). Essentially, you set your Objectives as audacious goals and measure your progress into that Objectives using Key Results, or how to get there. Key Results should be tied to a date or timeline and be measurable.

I’m not much into wishes. I’ve always believed that our outputs happen because of our inputs (both good and bad). And our inputs occur and should be measured during all the year, not just at the beginning of January. The popularity of New Year’s resolutions suggests that people are more likely to tackle their goals immediately following salient temporal landmarks. This is called the “fresh start effect” (more on this here), so I’ll just take that extra motivation! As I mentioned in my “Goals, not wishes” article I will set my goals (or Objectives) as outputs, for the end of 2023 and track my progress using monthly Key Results, as inputs.

“Compare Yourself To Who You Were Yesterday, Not To Who Someone Else Is Today” — Jordan Peterson

Ok, let’s go!

Details and financials

I will detail the process I’m using, what I’m learning along the way, the successes and the failures. When I talking to others about this journey, the two main concerns where whether I should share the details (in like giving the gold to the bandit) of the business, and also if I should share the financials. Well, regarding the details I’ll share as much as possible. There aren’t that many secrets to success nowadays. All advice has been written in books, articles, interviews, podcasts and it’s all available online. I think the personal experience here is the most relevant differentiator. Regarding the financials, I think I should be more careful as I have business partners, customers and other companies that partner with my companies. I will try to show numbers and metrics as much as I can, though.

Personal

I just started developing my personal brand. I have a lot of experience (and passion) in digital marketing and entrepreneurship, and I believe I can help others on a more personal level by sharing not only my knowledge but also my personal experiences and points of view.

Goals for December 2023

1. Be recognized as a respected expert in digital marketing and growth
2. Be part of an ONG with my time and expertise
3. Be more confident in myself and be a better person

Evidensys

I’ve been evaluating on rebranding Evidensys (https://evidensys.com) as a productivity solutions company, as we currently have a more focused view on the software and systems side. We have a set of frameworks that we custom build for each project in order to boost our client productivity (from user to team to company). In a nutshell, we have some sessions to gather requirements and observe the team or company workflows before building custom CRM, time-tracking or SOP (standard operating procedures) solutions to solve and improve the productivity issues our clients are having.

Goals for December 2023

1. Be recognized as a productivity authority for small to medium sized companies
2. Become a global company (regarding both clients and team)
3. Double our yearly operating profit

Fuzelift

We are currently in the process of rebranding Clinica do Site as Fuzelift (https://fuzelift.com) as our original name is meaningless outside Portugal. We sell digital marketing services in our online store. You can buy or subscribe any of our fixed priced services directly online. Each service is delivered based on a well defined, personalized and optimized process, focused on results.

Goals for December 2023

1. Be recognized as a leader in digital marketing services for small businesses
2. Become a global company (regarding both clients and team)
3. Create a vibrant community of clients, partners, and enthusiasts

Compare

I’m reading Jordan Peterson’s book “12 Rules for life” and rule no. 4 really resonated with me. It says “Compare Yourself To Who You Were Yesterday, Not To Who Someone Else Is Today”. Hopefully I’ll end up being a better version of myself by the end of the year, and in the process I’ll also be helping others whether by sharing my successes (and showing everything is possible) or my failures (and showing what we can learn).

You can help me by sharing your experiences, and the things I write about can also help someone else. Leave your comments, and take this journey with me.

Next update will be about the Key Results for each Goal and how I choose them.