Day 26: Leads & Lags

Today I went for a run. This is not normal for me, but it felt good so I started thinking about how to do it more often.

Then (of course) I thought about the process that lead me to actually start running.

Am I running a marathon soon? No.

Did I want to run today? Not really

Should I run regularly? Probably

Do I consider myself a 'runner'? No.

So what made today different?

There were a few key factors in the process that lead me to running a modest and slow three miles today.

1. I told myself that I was going to go for a run today -- last night
2. I put out my shoes and socks and running shorts.
3. I woke up and looked at listed items, and remembered that I SAID I would do it.

I didn't promise myself any length of time, or distance. I just said I was going to do it. Out loud.

And even though there's nobody here to see me chicken out, and the stakes were pretty low to ditch, I did it.

In my video today I was talking about how this process works.

When building a business, bar, or brand, take a moment to think about lead indicators, vs. lag indicators.

To sum it up quickly - Leading indicators are the signals you get when running a process. Lagging indicators are the results of the process.

Leading indicators for a brand:

• How many accounts you visit
• How many times you sample someone
• How many people you meet

Results (Lagging Indicators):

• More Sales

Leading Indicators for a Bar:

• Onboarding Schedule for New Hires
• Continuing Education for Staff
• Enforced Time Off
• Benefits

Results (Lagging Indicators):

• Positive Reviews --> More reservations

Outputs are a multiple of quality inputs.

In other words...EVERYTHING IS A PROCESS