Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
For years, I got lost in metrics.
Views. Followers. Revenue. Opportunities. Growth. Achievement. I kept chasing the next number, convinced that once I hit a certain milestone, I'd finally feel successful.
The problem was that every time I reached a goal, the target moved. There was always another benchmark, another comparison, another reason to feel like I wasn't quite there yet.
It was exhausting.
The shift that changed everything was surprisingly simple: I stopped asking, "How am I doing?" and started asking, "How can I help?"
Now, my favorite metric is whether I was useful.
Did I share something that made someone's life easier? Did I help someone navigate a challenge? Did I give a person the confidence, information, or encouragement they needed to take the next step?
Ironically, focusing less on myself and more on being helpful brought me more fulfillment than any metric ever did.
Numbers can tell you how much attention you're getting. They can't tell you whether you're making a difference.
These days, my definition of success is simple: leave people better than you found them.
What's a metric you've stopped caring about as you've gotten older?
For years, I got lost in metrics.
Views. Followers. Revenue. Opportunities. Growth. Achievement. I kept chasing the next number, convinced that once I hit a certain milestone, I'd finally feel successful.
The problem was that every time I reached a goal, the target moved. There was always another benchmark, another comparison, another reason to feel like I wasn't quite there yet.
It was exhausting.
The shift that changed everything was surprisingly simple: I stopped asking, "How am I doing?" and started asking, "How can I help?"
Now, my favorite metric is whether I was useful.
Did I share something that made someone's life easier? Did I help someone navigate a challenge? Did I give a person the confidence, information, or encouragement they needed to take the next step?
Ironically, focusing less on myself and more on being helpful brought me more fulfillment than any metric ever did.
Numbers can tell you how much attention you're getting. They can't tell you whether you're making a difference.
These days, my definition of success is simple: leave people better than you found them.
What's a metric you've stopped caring about as you've gotten older?
