The Most Important Metric I’m Tracking in 2022
Photo of a graph going up with pens & rulers by Isaac Smith.
One of the books that has impacted my thinking and lifestyle the most is The Power of Full Engagement by Tony Schwartz and Jim Leohr. In fact, a number of years ago I saw Tony talk about his work with business leaders that he and his team do at his consulting company, The Energy Project.
A key takeaways I’ve gotten from Tony’s work is that it’s much more effective to orient your decisions around managing energy rather than managing time.
2021 was an extraordinary year for me. I did well financially - surpassing my income goals, purchasing a home, etc. And even more than that, I made 3 other very meaningful shifts in my life:
I upped the fitness and wellbeing aspect of my life. I’ve talked in other places about getting more involved in running ultramarathons and doing some of the most epic adventures in my life in 2021.
I started taking a week off every 4-5 weeks to have an adventure or work on a meaningful, non-work project.
I shifted my focus to working with social entrepreneurs and visionary founders who are pushing the edge in terms of positive impact.
2021 was one of the best years in my life - both personally and professionally (though I do wish we were doing better on some of our collective challenges).
The Most Important Metric I’m Tracking in 2022
I’m someone who likes to grow and loves to try new things. Yet, coming into 2022, I was a bit at a loss at where to look for further optimization.
And then in a recent conversation with my mastermind buddy of 7+ years, Jason Stein, it got clear.
One of the long standing suboptimal patterns I have is investing in relationships where things aren’t really mutual. I’m probably the only compassionate, helping oriented person who’s ever struggled with this. 😂 I heard myself saying:
“The most important thing for me to track is Return On Energy invested. ROE is what I need to pay attention to the most in 2022.”
3 Questions to Help You Pay Attention to ROE
And so, ROE is my frame of the year for 2022. In other words, I’m dedicating this entire year to an exploration of what Return On Energy invested means and committing to reassessing where I invest my energy in my life and business.
If you’d like to get more return from the ways you invest energy in your business and life, here’s 4 specific aspects of ROE I’d encourage you to do an inquiry with:
Mutuality. How much attention to mutuality does the person or organization I’m considering investing energy with demonstrate? And at the end of the project/end of the year, what was my experience re: mutuality in this connection?
Impact. What’s my best sense of how investing energy in this way will have on the impact I am wanting to have in the world? And at the end of the project/end of the year, how much of the desired impact has there been?
Quality of life. What’s my best sense of how investing energy in this will have on my quality of life? And at the end of the project/end of the year, what has been the actual effect on my quality of life?
Income. What’s my best sense of how investing energy in this way will have on my income. And at the end of the project/end of the year, how has this investment effected my income?
Wrapping It Up
I hope these musing and questions help you have a very meaningful and impactful 2022. Does Return On Energy invested feel like a useful frame for you? If so, what feels like the most helpful way for you learn from your investment decisions? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to share via my contact page.