The Dangers of Not Tracking + Three Ways to Kick-Start a Tracking Mentality

Encouraging message on my desk while I work. The unicorn helps too!

Never has one thing debilitated me more than the idea of tracking the things I want to keep tabs on in my life. Through this blog, I’m exploring my own personal growth and development and had every intention of doing so. Until I assigned myself this task. 

Now February has come and gone with nary a post!

What do you do when the thing you’ve decided on leaves you incapable and feeling like a fraud?

For me, it meant a deliberate burying of my head in the sand because if I didn’t look at it, it didn’t exist. Right?

Wrong! Ignorance is most certainly not bliss. All that information is still there, free-floating until it gets the attention it deserves. Through tracking.

Here are some things I learned by failing to implement a method of tracking for my life…

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

I have found that a lot of the time when I’m feeling distressed, I often wish I had more information or if I do have the information, that I wished I’d known it sooner. I would work myself up over it and I realized quickly I needed to detach my emotions and view this information in a way that would be beneficial to me. 

In a world where data is king, the information companies get from you are worth gold. Why not take advantage of your own data? The same way these major companies use your data to curate ads for you and entice you into buying things they think you’d want, you can use the data you collect in your own life to entice you towards certain behaviors and curate habits to lead you to the life you want. The best way to do that is through tracking. Yes, it’s an exhausting process to write every single thing down, however, that’s the only way to really know what’s going on. 

Start Now!

This one is pretty self-explanatory. I’ve learned that I’m a perfectionist and as such have perfected the art of procrastination. Everything must be perfect before I begin so I must wait!

Except that it really doesn’t have to be anywhere near perfect. Actually, it’s usually best if you start now no matter what the conditions are. You may move slowly at first, however, it is damn near guaranteed that if you wait until conditions are “perfect” you’ll never get started. 

Forgiveness Is Key

Negativity and self-sabotage feed on the judgment we dump onto ourselves. How often do we promise ourselves we will take care of some task and when we haven’t done it, berate ourselves endlessly? Or when we’ve done something we’re embarrassed about, what’s the likelihood we’re speaking kindly to ourselves after the fact? Not very likely if I’m being completely honest.

I firmly believe that taking a forgiving view of yourself and your circumstance is hands down the most important aspect of tracking. I believe that the most difficult thing to face is yourself and tracking forces you to see yourself through the choices you’ve made. And say you’ve got a streak going while tracking but end up missing a day, what happens then? Well, if you are living in the mindset of perfectionism or negative self-talk, that one day can easily lead to a year of not doing the thing you intended to do. Don’t let it. 

Instead, practice forgiving yourself for all the “could’ve, should’ve, would’ve’s” and focus on moving forward from where you are. I’m learning that it’s truly liberating in practice, trust me. 

Wish me luck as I start implementing systems of tracking within my life...I’ll let you know how it goes! Meanwhile, I’d love to hear about some of the things you are tracking in your own life and what kind of systems are you’re using to track. I’d love to be inspired by you!