Breakout: Goal Setting

Quantified Self 2014 QS Europe Conference
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In this thread, we would like to discuss the role of goal-setting as a cornerstone of self-tracking.

Setting personal goals gives you targets to measure yourself against and hence makes self-quantification practices more dynamic and more meaningful.

But how best to leverage Quantified Self in order to achieve our personal goals? Can all the goals in our lives be quantified and should they? How do we set the right targets and analyze our progress?

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Whether or not you are attending the 2014 QS Europe Conference, I’d love to invite you to share your opinion or your questions on the topic of goal setting and monitoring in the context of quantified self. Let me perhaps ask you a few questions:

  • Do you have clear personal goals? How many would you say you have?
  • Are they all measurable? Do you measure yourself against them?

Personally, I track about 50 personal goals / subgoals. I tend to believe that 90%+ of our goals are quantifiable and should be measured in order to enhance success, self-realization and ultimately happiness.

Measuring for the sake of measuring has certainly virtues, but introducing the notion of goal / target gives a whole new perspective to self-tracking. Instead of just observing where you stand, you can analyze the gap between where you are on one hand and where you want to be on the other hand. The feedback loop induces a dynamic approach as you set goals, reach /miss them, reassess, adjust targets, and so on.

Happy to hear your views and have a healthy debate!