We’ve all heard that lying voice in our head at one point or another. It speaks to us in different ways and at unexpected times, but it goes somewhat like this:
“I’m not good enough.”
“I don’t have what it takes.”
“I’m a fake.”
“I’ll never reach my goals.”
“I’m a failure.”
It tempts us to give up, to quit, to forsake the path we are on. It tries to deceive us into believing a lie about ourselves.
I can’t tell you how many times this voice has tried to deceive me with these lies. These lies have tried to pull me away from God, my wife, my family, my friends, my business, my integrity, and my dreams.
But eventually, I learned how to overcome these lies: by keeping score.
The scoreboard tells the true story
In sports, no one can argue with the scoreboard. The scoreboard tells us who is winning. The scoreboard tells us the story. The scoreboard tells us the truth. The scoreboard doesn’t lie.
Just as we keep score in sports, we should also keep score in business and in life.
Why is it important to keep score? So that when this lying voice tries to deceive and discourage us, we can look at our ‘scoreboard’ and remind ourselves of the truth. We can tell that voice to shut up and get lost, because we know the real story. We can stay encouraged, motivated, and focused, because we know that we’re on the right path and making progress.
How to keep score in business and in life,
stay encouraged, and persevere
How do we keep score? Two main ways:
- Keep track of important numbers, and
- Collect feedback.
In my business, I have a spreadsheet called my ‘executive dashboard.’ It tracks leads, conversions, revenue, email list growth, and other important metrics that help me know the health of the business. When I look at the numbers in this dashboard, I know where we’re doing well, what needs to be eliminated, and what areas need improvement.
I also have files of case studies, survey responses, and testimonials, which remind me of the good work we’ve done for other people and organization’s around the world.
The main way I ‘keep score’ in life and stay encouraged, is by
- Collecting feedback from people I care about
- Humbly looking at the truth (as God defines it in the Scriptures) and determining whether or not I need to change something in my life
- Assessing the ’emotional pulse’ of life (most of us can feel whether or not life is meaningful or empty)
For example, I collect and keep track of people’s verbal feedback – either through mentally collecting and remembering something someone said to me, or through directly asking a question and jotting down the response in a file or journal. I remind myself of the constructive feedback people have given me, about how my life, writing, advice, and relationship has impacted the other person for the better, and also of ways that I can improve in an area. I collect and store this feedback in my heart, and in an Evernote file.
Remember why we keep score…
We don’t keep score to compete against others and ‘beat them.’ No, not at all. We keep score to remind ourselves of the truth, to overcome the lies that try to sabotage us, and to stay encouraged.
And if we don’t like the score we see on the scoreboard, it’s time to make hard decisions, change, and do things differently.
powerful article, thanks