X-Challenge: Examination Day

It’s time for an examination!

When I found out I was pregnant in 2004, I was like…

“Okay, how big am I? Because in my head I’m a size two but I haven’t been that size since 1st grade. So that can’t be real!”

I needed a real picture of my size (a realistic picture to work back to after having Ashtyn) so I wouldn’t get depressed.

It took me a year to just get back in my jeans (not even the shape I was before… just getting them zipped)! Just being real!

Without knowing where we are starting from, it is impossible to measure any progress at all.

So I measured my thighs, my waist and my hips. And no, I am not sharing what those measurements were or are today!

When the church first started, my husband didn’t want to know how many people were in the room. It bummed him out.

I’d tell him “Sweetie, we had 200 people today.” The next week, “We had 180 people.” He freaked!

“Twenty people didn’t come. Quit telling me about how many people we have.” So I kept counting, examining and benchmarking but just didn’t tell him.

Examine is basically a corporate term called benchmarking. Or if you don’t know where you are, how do you know where to go from here? That’s the question to ask.

We usually don’t get so excited about benchmarking because benchmarking in life is kind of like this, “Sweetie, did you know that your crowd has grown by 30 percent in the last three weeks?”

“What?” He liked the good news, but in order to get to the good news (to know the good news), we had to measure the news when it wasn’t what we wanted it to be yet.

Don’t despise the day of small beginnings.

Don’t be scared to look at where you are today. We have to examine where we are so we know where to start from to get where we are going.

So today is the day. Measure now! Not tonight when you get home… Right now!

Ask yourself some questions. Here are some ideas to prime the pump, but you are the one that knows the tough questions in your life. You know exactly where you want to grow and improve. So measure every metric and every item that has to do with that area in your life.

Financial Questions

• Do you have a budget?
• Are you keeping your budget?
• What weeks do you stay on budget?
• How much do you go over/under budget each week?

Then deeper…

• How much should I spend each week?
• How much did I go over/under?
• How much did I save or invest this month?
• How much did I decrease my debt this month?

Physical Questions

• How much do I weigh?
• What is my cholesterol and blood pressure?
• What are my measurements?
• What is my energy level?

Are these making sense?

Join the Conversation

Ok, now write yours down. Share one with us to make the rest of us think!

Tell us a story about something you measured and tracked and how it encouraged you.