January and February are already behind us, and the year is off to a roaring start. As you look back on the previous year, what is your observation? Did you achieve what you hoped? Did you live with no goals and just get by? Was it more damage control than freedom and peace?

Were you the ambitious one taking on more than you could serve, only to blow out early due to a lack of internal personal infrastructure?

I wanted to share with you my measuring stick for success, but more importantly, my success metrics. I believe this will help you.

I once read a quote, “The two most important objectives in life are relationships and developing people.”

Listen, my friend, you can spend the next day pounding away at your keyboard answering every email and text message about your job, but let’s be honest, you weren’t placed on this earth to be addicted to the slot machine of your devices.

That said, my primary aim and focus, as a Husband, Father, friend, business owner, author, coach, and creative entrepreneur, is to establish deep relationships and develop people. To achieve success in that focus, I created the following criteria and standards.

Here are my metrics questions I use to see how “successful” this last year was:

1. How much did I “become” who God designed me to BE? Or was I busy doing a lot of activity with no yield?
2. Using my personal testimony: How many people did I share the good news of Christ with?
3. How many disciples did I develop? This includes my wife and children
4. How many people did I baptize?
5. How much did I encourage and develop my team into who God is calling them to be?
6. How much did I use my business as a platform to honor God and use work as worship?
7. How much did I leverage my business to underwrite and finance my ministry and other gospel-centered ministries?
8. How much did I make and keep my wife as my number one client?
9. How much did I pursue the heart of my children in helping them become who God’s called them to be? Devotions in the morning and prayer.
10. If I left this earth, would my investment grow on other people’s trees/lives?

My personal time and relationship with God: If I want to pour wisdom and love into my wife, kids, and others, I will need to steep myself in solitude and time with my heavenly Father. My actual full-time job from 5 am-10 am is to inquire of my Heavenly Father and to acquire as much wisdom as possible to use once I step into the realm of my family and business during the day.

It’s difficult to pour out into others if you don’t first top off your reserves of grace and love that you’ve received from the Father.

Start with the ministry of you and Abba establishing deep roots, help your wife establish hers, then your children. Then take it to your community.

It’s going to be a fruitful year for you.

In your corner,

Noah