I sat through our company’s annual planning conference last week.
The marketing person was presenting. Screen full of charts. Numbers. Analytics.
Where people came from. Which countries visited our online platforms. Which posts got the most engagement. Which content drove action. Which ones were ignored.
There was a pattern.
Clear. Undeniable. Right there in the data.
And I watched my colleagues lean forward. Taking notes. Asking questions. Making decisions based on what the numbers were showing.
Then I drove home and realized something uncomfortable:
We track our business obsessively. But we barely pay attention to ourselves.
The Quote That Would Not Leave Me Alone
There is a saying in business: “Data is the new oil.”
Or another version: “Data is the lifeblood of business.”
Companies spend millions collecting it. Analysing it. Using it to make decisions.
Which product to launch. Which market to enter. Which strategy to double down on. Which one to abandon.
They do not guess. They do not rely on feelings alone.
They look at the data. Then they decide.
And it works. Businesses that use data well grow. Businesses that ignore it struggle.
I have heard this concept before. Multiple times. Nodded along. Made sense.
But sitting in that conference room, something finally clicked:
If data is vital for business decisions, why am I making the most important decisions in MY life without any data at all?
The Data Set You Already Have
Here is what I mean.
You are generating data every single day. About yourself.
What drains you. What energises you.
When you are most productive. When you are just going through motions.
What makes you give up. What keeps you going.
Which relationships add to your life. Which ones quietly take from you.
When you feel clear. When you feel foggy.
All of this is data.
Not complicated. Not requiring fancy systems or apps.
Just patterns. Waiting to be noticed.
But most of us never look at it.
We just react. Day after day. Making the same decisions. Getting the same results. Wondering why nothing changes.
What Happens When You Start Paying Attention
Let me give you an example.
Someone keeps saying they want to save money. “This year, I will be disciplined with my finances.”
Month after month, nothing changes. The money still disappears.
Then they decide to actually look at the pattern.
Where does the money actually go?
Not where they think it should go. Where it actually disappears.
And here is what the data shows:
Friday evenings. After a long week. Exhausted from work.
They stop at Shoprite or Levy on the way home. Not for planned groceries. Just browsing. “Let me pick up a few things.”
K500 gone. Sometimes more.
It does not feel like much in the moment. But Friday after Friday, that is K2,000 per month. K24,000 per year.
That is the data.
So instead of continuing to say “I need to be disciplined” and continuing to fail, they adjust:
Avoid the shops on Friday evenings. Go home directly. Shop on Saturday morning with a list.
Not because Friday shopping is evil. But because the data showed: That is when unconscious spending happens.
Small shift. Based on reality. Not willpower.
Another Example: Energy and People
Here is another pattern I noticed when I started paying attention.
There are certain people—family, friends, colleagues—who, after spending time with them, I feel lighter. Clearer. More myself.
And there are others who, after just thirty minutes, I feel drained. Tired. Like something was taken from me.
I am not talking about bad people. Just people whose energy does not align with mine.
For years, I ignored this data.
“It is just in my head. I am being selfish. I should spend time with everyone equally.”
But the pattern kept showing up.
After time with Person A: energised, clear-headed, motivated.
After time with Person B: exhausted, foggy, needing to recover.
Once I saw the pattern clearly, I made a decision:
Protect time with Person A. Limit time with Person B.
Not because Person B is bad. But because the data showed me which relationships fuel me and which ones drain me.
And my energy is limited. I need to invest it where it compounds, not where it disappears.
One More: Work and Focus
Last example.
I always thought I was most productive in the afternoon. That is what I told myself.
But when I actually paid attention—tracked when I did my best thinking, when I wrote clearly, when I solved problems well—the data showed something different.
Mornings. Specifically 6am to 9am.
After that? I am still working. Still busy. But the quality drops.
So now, instead of treating all hours equally, I protect those morning hours.
That is when I write. When I think deeply. When I tackle the hard problems.
Afternoons? Meetings. Admin. Things that do not require peak mental energy.
Same amount of work. Better results. Because I aligned my actions with the data.
How to Start Tracking Your Own Data
You do not need apps. You do not need complicated systems.
You just need to start paying attention.
Here is how:
1. Notice patterns in your energy
Track this for one week:
What activities leave you feeling alive? Which ones leave you drained?
Not what you think should energise you. What actually does.
Write it down. End of each day. Just notes.
By end of the week, you will see patterns.
2. Notice patterns in your follow-through
Think about the goals you have set before.
Which ones did you actually do? Which ones did you always abandon?
What was different about the ones that worked?
Time of day? Who you did them with? How you structured them?
The data is there. You just have to look at it.
3. Notice patterns in your relationships
After spending time with different people, check in with yourself:
How do I feel right now? More energised or more drained?
Clearer or more confused?
Motivated or discouraged?
Track it. Not to judge people. But to know where to invest your limited time.
4. Notice patterns in your productivity
When do you actually do your best work?
Not when you plan to. When you actually do.
What time of day? What environment? What conditions?
Then design your life around that data. Not around what sounds good.
Why This Matters More Than You Think
Businesses that ignore data eventually fail.
They make decisions based on assumptions. Feelings. What worked before.
And when the market changes, they are caught off guard.
Your life is no different.
If you keep making decisions without looking at your own patterns—what actually works for you, what drains you, when you thrive, when you struggle—you will keep getting the same results.
Not because you are not trying hard enough.
But because you are not using the data you already have.
The Connection to Last Week
Last week, I wrote about burning out four days into the year.
Trying to do everything at once. Ignoring the warning signs. Collapsing.
That was me ignoring my own data.
The data was there. My body was telling me: “This is too much. Slow down.”
But I did not listen. I kept pushing.
And I paid for it.
This week, I am doing something different.
I am paying attention.
Not just to what I want to be true. But to what is actually true.
And that data—the honest, uncomfortable, undeniable patterns—is showing me how to build a life that actually works.
Not a life that looks good on paper. A life that I can sustain.
One Step at a Time
You do not have to track everything.
Just pick one area. Career. Health. Relationships. Energy. Whatever feels most urgent.
And for the next week, just pay attention.
Notice the patterns.
Write them down if it helps. Or just be aware.
And then, next week, make one small adjustment based on what the data showed you.
Not a massive overhaul. Just one shift.
Because that is how you build a life that works. One data point at a time.
What is one pattern you have been ignoring about yourself? What would change if you actually paid attention to it this week?
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