Personal OKRs

Personal metrics or OKRs are something I’ve been investigating for a while now. I think they could create a very strong case for personal improvement and if used well can propel somebody in their goals. However, my problem has been figuring out how to measure intangibles. If I have an objective to have meaningful scripture study, then how do I measure that? There’s the saying “What is measured matters so measure what matters.”

Okay, maybe it doesn’t really say that, but the point is that what you measure becomes important so you better measure those things which have the greatest impact. When it comes to the word “meaningful” that can be difficult to do. At least that is what I thought until yesterday.

In my effort to learn more about OKRs I came across an article that explained how Bing Gordon uses OKRs to measure less quantitative things and instead was able to focus on how people felt about the energy in a room. Specifically the paragraph starting with “During his time at EA” was what set the lightbulb off for me. By taking that idea and mashing it with the live interview process, I could come up with a ranking system for rating intangibles and then using that system I could rate the intangible activities and begin to track key results for personal development objectives which are a little fuzzy. So that is what I have done. The following are my “Meaningful Scripture Study” ranks:

1. I didn’t read or read less than my goal for the day
2. My mind was somewhere else. I “read” but the words didn’t register. I can’t remember what I read 2 minutes after reading
3. I read but don’t feel like I got anything out of it
4. I feel uplifted after reading. I have a better attitude toward life. I felt the spirit
5. I had some insights or felt some spiritual promptings while reading.

Now, every day I ask the question, “How meaningful was my scripture study?” And then at the end of the week I can look at the average rank and ask, “Why was this my ranking? What kept it from being higher? What can I do to improve my score for the following week?”

I can also use the same questions for each month and quarter. I think anything more than that it it would start to become less effective. I can’t change a year, except as I change weeks, months and quarters. But the real point is that you can measure intangibles aid you are willing to create specific criteria which will focus you on really important activities and actions so you can influence those activities.

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Note: I mentioned the Live Inverview process in this post. I learned about that process in my MBA program. I’ve done sketchnotes of what I learned during that program and I’m working on compiling them into book.

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The image above is one of my own creations based on data I have.