Why my #1 Business Goal Isn't a Business Metric

For the first time in my career, my primary goal is not sales, dollars, revenue, or anything that smells like a traditional business metric.

My number one goal is curating joy rather than postponing it. My business metrics come second and third—and that is entirely intentional.

This decision emerged over the last two months as I evaluated my business and began planning for the new year. I have an identity built around achievement, and after my career change, I had to admit something uncomfortable to myself: changing careers did not change my relationship with work.

I’m motivated. I know how to execute. I can be consistent, disciplined, and productive.

What I am not naturally motivated to do is rest. Or slow down. Or have fun. Or engage in non-work activities that restores me. And no amount of professional success has fixed that.

The idea of joy as a metric was born in a goals workshop back in early November. Around the room, teammates were sharing ideas for their “Greatness Tracker”, a tool used to measure daily, consistent actions that drive results. Customer calls. Database updates. Note cards. Follow-ups. All excellent. All familiar.

And then my epiphany hit: I do not need to be motivated to work harder. I needed something that reminded me (aka made me) enjoy my life.

I am terrible at tracking joy. And if I’m honest, I don’t naturally prioritize it at all. Ths was when the idea of a Joy Trackerwas born. Not as a feel-good exercise. As a corrective one. As a necessary one.

For a long time, I treated joy as something earned after success. Hit the goal, then relax. Finish the project, then rest. Accomplish the thing, then reward yourself. The problem is that this cycle never ends.

What I’ve learned now, albeit slowly and stubbornly, is that joy doesn’t show up at the end of the work. It determines the quality of the work.

When joy disappears or doesn’t exist, business suffers. Patience thins. Service becomes transactional. Discipline turns into endurance. The business might still function, but it stops being livable.

That’s why, when I looked at my 2026 goals, I changed the order. Joy first. Metrics second and third. Not because numbers don’t matter but because they don’t tell the whole truth.

Traditional real estate metrics measure output. They tell you what you produced, what you closed, what you earned. They do not tell you whether your business supports your life, whether your energy is renewable, or whether your success is sustainable.

Joy, for me, has become a vibrancy metric.

Curating joy looks like designing my business in a way that allows presence, not just productivity. Choosing work, clients, and commitments that don’t require self-abandonment. Building in recovery, not just output. This isn’t about doing less. It’s about being intentional with what deserves my energy.

As we kick off a new year, most of us are refining goals, setting targets, and tracking progress. I’d offer one different question to sit alongside the numbers:

Are your metrics supporting your life or slowly consuming it?

For 2026, I’m choosing to track joy with the same seriousness I once reserved only for performance. I finally understand what ambition costs when it isn’t balanced by meaning.

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Sold on Me Pro Tip: If you’re setting goals right now, I’d love to know—what’s one thing you’re measuring this year that has nothing to do with production? Comment below or message me. The conversation matters.