Redefine Your Success Metrics

What this is

In the Reset, we focused on stabilizing capacity and direction. This issue goes deeper: the metrics shaping your career.

Most people track progress, but few ask what they’re really optimizing for. You can earn a better title, pay, or scope, and still feel disconnected from meaningful work.

Write down your top 1-2 signals for success. You’ll revisit them later.

How goals get decided for you

Most people think their goals come from personal ambition. In practice, they’re often picked up implicitly from what gets rewarded, praised, and modeled around them.

Teams, cultures, and social signals shape what feels admirable, realistic, or worth pursuing. Over time, those signals harden into identity, which is why certain paths feel obvious and questioning them can feel uncomfortable, even when they exhaust you.

Which goal in your career feels self evident rather than chosen? Consider where that came from.

A personal thread: how my scoreboard changed

Three years ago, I looked closely at my own scoreboard. On paper, things were going well: promotions came quickly, I was leading a team. Internally, it felt off.

I was optimizing for proof, not depth. I moved into management before building the engineering confidence I wanted. At the time, it felt like progress, but it aligned with a visible metric I hadn’t questioned. This is the first time I’m writing this publicly: I rushed. If I could do it again, I’d solidify myself as a senior engineer before transitioning. Building depth while managing others created friction and made it harder to show technical judgment, and it clarified that I had been optimizing for visible success, not the kind that builds lasting confidence.

The same pattern shows up at smaller scales. Four months ago, I started sharing my thinking on LinkedIn. At first, I tracked reach and impressions, which led to surface-level engagement and little real connection. Switching to thoughtful replies DMs created slower, more valuable conversations.

Change your scoreboard

Focusing on metrics that matter (curiosity, sustained energy, and meaningful challenge) has made my work more fulfilling and sustainable.

These metrics guide my daily choices, and over time, those choices shape the career I want to build.

Look at where your time and energy actually go today. Which metrics are influencing your decisions? Are they about visibility, or lasting growth?

If this feels uncomfortable, treat that discomfort as information, not failure. Use it to reflect on what you really want to optimize next.

Write down 1-2 metrics you want to optimize for this year. Not ones that sound impressive, ones you would pursue even if no one noticed.

Optional: reply to this email with 1 metric you’re changing this week.