I've been reading "The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F***" recently by Mark Manson; and while there might be further blog posts to come about thoughts that got stimulated by this book, I want to kick it off with this one.
What KPIs do you use to measure your life?
This comes from two angles.
1) Values
There is only so much you can influence and you don't want to give any power away, read: be in full ownership of your goal knowing that you can completely influence it while being in charge. So, being patient, friendly, helpful, good friend, curious, honest, standing up for your values, ... are all values that you can directly influence and that only require you.
On the other side, being famous, owning car x, more money, being liked by everyone, being beautiful ... are often things that require external validation. And what if you suddenly don't get that external stimulation any longer? You are in a vicious cycle trying to apply to other people standards and following what makes them like you or praise you. You are not playing by your own rules any longer, but try to fit into what they like.
With that approach, you won't be real and lose yourself, being a b*** to what other people want.
Btw. no one cares about you. Let's face it, they don't care that YOU are famous or have money. They like you because they need someone who is famous, has connections and money, because that's what they need in their lives and if someone else is there that has more to offer or is nicer to them and will bring them further, bye bye.
2) Actions
If you have been following my writing, you might notice a recurring event. Every once in a while it gets quiet here, before there is a blog post like this, when I pull myself out again to hit the keyboard. Often the break comes from a feeling of that I don't have anything new to say at that point and I feel like hammering on themes again, again and, well, again. But then, it's not about being unique, right, special or having a mind expanding post every day. And let's face it, not sure I had one good one at all. But that doesn't matter.
What matters is, repetition and the process. So the KPI by which I measure this, is not how unique it is, but just by doing it every single day and over time I will automatically get better at writing and generally wondering about my own thoughts making me more aware of them. So my value here is self conciousness and exploration, also maybe getting better in writing. There is a hidden little wish of actually being good and making this into something, but, that I don't consider this to be the main driver. How do I achieve continued self questioning? By going through the process every day.
So the KPI is the action, and I am in full charge of this action. No one else.