Life is always sending us signals. The question is whether we're paying attention.

Back in the Aisle

This past weekend, I was walking through my local ShopRite with my left knee acting up. I had surgery on it back in 2008, and for the last two weeks it has been reminding me that it's still there.

But every time I walk into that store, I also remember the evening my family and I moved into our house.

We went to ShopRite together that night to get food for the fridge. It was an ordinary thing to do after moving, but there was nothing ordinary about what I was feeling. I stood there overwhelmed with emotion.

After all that time commuting more than four hours every day, I finally felt like I would have a life again. My family would have some peace and a space they could call home. I remember the feeling so clearly: I am where I am supposed to be.

I've bought and sold many homes over the years. I've seen clients cry at closings. I've seen fathers and sons hug because they were so proud to be buying their first home. But standing in that ShopRite was the first time I truly felt that happiness about moving and buying a home myself.

That night was a signal that I had gotten something right. This weekend, in the same aisle, my knee was sending a different kind of signal.

Don't Take Your Health, or Your Business, for Granted

Your health and your business work the same way. Both are easy to take for granted until something speaks up, and both need regular checkups.

That's why I get my blood work done every quarter. I track my vitals so I can get ahead of things instead of waiting for a problem to find me.

Ever since I started doing quarterly blood work, I've been able to tackle lifelong health challenges. I've become more conscious about the food I eat. That may not make a difference right now, but over a long period of time, it absolutely will.

You see, life is about accountability. Nothing good or bad happens overnight. It's an accumulation of your decisions. That's true for your health, and it's true for your business.

In business, though, the signals aren't always as loud as a sore knee. Sometimes the only way to hear them is to write them down.

Track It, or You're Guessing

If we don't track something, we leave it to chance. Everything has to be purposeful.

I thought October was going to be a terrible month. Then I compared it to last year's numbers, and we actually blew it out of the water. I only knew that because I had tracked it last year.

More often than not, we are hard on ourselves for no reason. And even if we had done worse than last year, the numbers would have given me a reason to pause and ask what needs to change. Either way, tracking turns a feeling into something you can act on.

Back Where I Started

So I'll be back in that ShopRite aisle this week, knee and all, grateful for my home, my family, and my health, and paying attention.

Here's my challenge to you: track your business the way you'd track your health. Compare this month to the same month last year. Look at your appointments, your conversations, and your closings. Let the numbers tell you whether you're doing better than you feel, or whether it's time to change something. Your results are the sum of your daily decisions, so make them on purpose.