In Finance and Economics, there are inputs called leading and lagging indicators. Leading indicators occur before the big result or event and lagging indicators occur after.

Leading indicators show what is on the horizon and require appropriate inputs to be made up front to get there. Some examples of leading indicators for an entrepreneur would be,

• How many contacts are made to prospects daily.
• What percentage of follow-ups are made after first attempts?

On the other hand, lagging indicators are measurable outputs. So, using the same entrepreneur example, lagging indicators would show,

• How many of the prospects contacted made a purchase.
• How much new or repeat business was generated from follow-ups.

At times we tend to be looking for lagging indicators before committing the appropriate amount of energy or grit required for our leading indicators. For married couples, leading indicators can be,

• Consistently spending quality time spent with each other.
• Regularly doing acts of service for each other.

Lagging indicator examples then may be,

• Your spouse shows love by buying an item you desire.
• Your spouse takes the children and encourages you to spend a recreational day as you please.
• Or, well you get the picture.

For those who are learning a new skill, leading indicators can be,

• Practicing consistently.
• Regularly getting good rest to help retain what you learned.

Lagging indicators may be,

• Executing the skill with little to no mistakes.
• Being able to effectively teach somebody else.

We all have areas where we want a particular result but need to improve our smart and consistent efforts. The multiple examples were to drive home this point.

Our challenge this week is to create or improve one leading indicator. We have done it to accomplish something significant before. So let us do it again. If you said, “I’ve not achieved anything significant yet,” you are in for a treat! God can provide you the capacity you think you are lacking to follow through.

The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

(NIV, Exodus 15:2)