The other night, as I was going through my usual bedtime routine, TK looked at me and said, “What the hell are you doing?”
Now, I do have a nightly routine — nothing fancy, just a bit of reflection before bed. But recently, I added something new. I pulled out what looked like an Excel spreadsheet (though, for the record, it was a printed Word document — not quite as bad!) and started filling it in.
TK watched me quietly for about ten minutes before she couldn’t resist any longer. “I have to ask,” she said, “what on earth are you doing?”
I told her I’d started a new ritual: measuring myself every night against a few personal and professional criteria. She asked, “How many?” and when I sheepishly said, “Twenty-one,” she laughed and said, “Only my husband could do this.”
She’s not wrong — I do have a tendency to go all in. And I know I can sometime be a little extreme. But hear me out.
In this video, I want to share how tracking just a few small things on a regular basis can have a surprisingly big impact on your performance — and on your life.
I’m currently in the Netherlands, spending time with my son Cameron, who’s playing professional football here. I recently watched him play with his team, ADO Den Haag, in a big stadium — what an incredible experience.
Cameron’s been working with a peak performance coach named Jonathan. During one of our chats, he told me something fascinating: Jonathan asked him to rate himself weekly across 40 criteria — things like focus, nutrition, recovery, mindset — on a scale from 0 to 3.
Zero meant not doing it at all.
One meant a little bit.
Two meant pretty good.
Three meant smashed it.
Cameron admitted something interesting: he thought he was doing great with his daily habits — until he started measuring. Out of a possible 120, his first score was around 40 to 50. A big surprise. But once he saw the gaps, he improved fast — and now he’s up around 110.
Inspired by Cameron, I decided to create my own system. I came up with 17 personal criteria and 4 business-related ones — covering things like sleep, mindset, exercise, and nutrition.
Every evening, I give myself a score from 0 to 2:
- 0 means I didn’t do it,
- 1 means I sort of did,
- 2 means I nailed it.
And just like Cameron, I realised — I wasn’t as consistent as I thought. I thought I was good but the reality was different. When I started, I was average. Quite humbling. Measuring it made me aware of all the small things I’d been letting slide.
This experience reminded me of so many leaders I work with. They’re driven, focused on big goals, and always chasing results. But when we look closely at the small habits — the things that actually lead to performance — they often discover they’re not doing as well as they assumed.
I call these small habits leading indicators — the little things that, when done consistently, create outsized results over time. Success and failure rarely come from one big move; they come from the tiny, almost insignificant actions we repeat daily.
So, measuring those things — even just three or four of them — can be an absolute game changer.
You don’t have to go full “Cyril mode” and track 21 things every night (TK would definitely advise against it). But what are three or four small actions — personal or professional — that, if you measured them daily, could change your performance and your life?
Wishing you a great day ahead!
A bientôt,
Cyril
