The Power of Personal Metrics

Finally getting caught up on some reading, and came across The Nike Experiment: How the Shoe Giant Unleashed the Power of Personal Metrics by Mark McClusky in the July 2009 issue of Wired. Most of you who know me know I've lost a significant amount of weight over the past two years (~40 lbs.) largely through increased exercise. Although I do not use the Nike+, I do use a Polar heart rate and speed / distance monitor and log my training on the PolarPersonalTrainer website. I've also started to use the MapMyFitness.com and Facebook sites to track my progress and share the results with friends. The results, for me, have been incredible. The tracking of metrics has allowed me to chart progress and identify what works well and what doesn't. And sharing my progress has generated words of encouragement that keep me motivated. Any operations manager will tell you that if you want to improve something, measure it objectively and set goals for improvement. Turns out it works for weekend-warrior athletes as well as olympians and companies.

While your at it, check out Wired's 10 Gadgets We’d Like to Throw Into a Black Hole.