Hello Quantified Self Community,
I’m a new member here, and like many of you, I’m fascinated by the idea of self-tracking. My journey in this space has led me to develop an Android app called ‘The Goal Compass’. I think it is a really interesting way to learn more about myself and I think (hope) that some of you might find it worthwhile to play around with. My purpose in posting here is to make a contribution to the community and to get some of your valuable insights and feedback in exchange.
My Story:
My day job involves woking at an auction house - not programming apps. I read a lot; particularly with regard to work. A while back I read a few really interesting books about management and KPIs (Key Progress Indicators). I thought to myself that those concepts could be really effective if I applied them to my personal life, particularly to my sense of personal fulfillment. As an experiment, I built a spreadsheet to map out the relationships between my actions and ‘Fulfillment’. Starting at the top, I categorized fulfillment into ‘Mind’, ‘Body’, and ‘Spirit’. I then broke those categories down into sub-categories. Mind became ‘Education’ and ‘Level of Engagement’. Body became ‘Exercise’, ‘Diet’, and ‘Sleep’. Spirit, the most interesting, became ‘Relationships’, ‘Finances’, ‘Creativity’, and ‘Adventure’. I kept breaking things down until I was left with the discrete actions that I take in support of these concepts; actions that I can directly measure and, most importantly, change at will: number of books read, number of healthy breakfasts eaten, number of days with cardio workout, etc. Then, at regular intervals, I’d survey myself on my performance of each of those actions and calculate an overall fulfillment score. I discovered, from the data, that I could pick out the actions with the most unrealized potential to contribute and concentrate on them to improve my overall sense of personal fulfillment.
It was a really thought provoking and worthwhile experiment.
As an amateur programmer, I eventually got the idea to turn my spreadsheet into an app that could give me a framework to apply the concept of KPIs to other goals. In addition to Personal Fulfillment I could track my level of spanish comprehension or specific parts of my workout routine. I imagined also using it to track the level of effort that one of my salespeople was putting in at work.
I think there could be a whole bunch of self tracking applications that the app could be used for and I’m curious to see what you in the community might do with it.
Why I Need You:
I’m not here to sell anything. The app doesn’t cost any money and it doesn’t have any ads. I’m just here because I need guidance and support from people who understand the value of self-tracking. Your feedback is worth its weight in gold in making this tool something truly useful for people like us.
How You Can Help:
- Try out the app, available on Google Play
Android Link
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.metrodataco.goalcompass
Web Link
https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.metrodataco.goalcompass
- Use it in a way that fits your lifestyle.
- Share your honest feedback, suggestions, and criticisms.
What This Means to Me:
Your support means a lot. It’s not just about improving an app; it’s about growing in this journey of self-tracking, learning from a community that shares this passion, and contributing my share back to the community.
Thank you for reading my story and considering being a part of this journey. Any feedback, big or small, would be immensely appreciated.
Sincerely,
Dwayne Reilander
Calgary, Alberta, Canada