This is my 200th post since I started blogging. A real milestone, right? Not really. 200 is just a number. It may make me feel good about writing, but have I accomplished a real milestone... something that's getting me closer to my goal?
The ultimate goal of my blog is to share my experience with other people and try to challenge each of us to be better at this life thing. I hope to stir up dialogue and be challenged by all of you so that I can grow also. So, what does writing 200 blogs have to do with that? Nothing.
But here's the real problem: How do I know how many people I've challenged? How do I know if one person had one better day because of my blog? How do I know if someone has changed their daily routine for the better (or for the worse) because of what I've written? That's much harder to measure than the number of blogs I've posted. And much more important.
The point is this. Make sure you're measuring (or trying to measure) the right thing. Don't measure how much money you have in the bank. Measure how you've spent the money that you don't have in the bank. Don't measure how many Facebook friends you have. Measure how many people you've truly connected with in the last month. Don't measure how many hours you've spent at home. Measure how many hours you've spent truly listening to your children and your spouse.
Milestones are good. Real milestones are better, and sometimes harder to measure. Look for milestones along your path, but just make sure you're measuring the right thing.