The other week I lost my Fitbit. And for a few days I didn’t work out because I didn’t know how to measure my progress. (Yes, I realize that was a lousy excuse for not working out.)

Of course, fitness goals were achieved and records broken before the arrival of Fitbits and other tracking devices. I, though, had become dependent on mine. While I waited for my replacement to be shipped, I found other things to track, including the number of miles I walked on the treadmill and the number of flights of stairs I climbed in a day.

The same holds true at work. How do you know if you are succeeding? My team has monthly goals, and toward the end of each month, we review our progress against the goals. Sometimes we need to step up our games. Sometimes we need to recalibrate.

A professional group to which I belong is concerned about membership. When I ask how many members we have and how many have renewed, no one knows immediately. I do because I’m tracking it. I suspect I drive the parent organization crazy because during renewal season I ask for our membership list about every two weeks. I want to track and determine where follow-up needs to happen. If members aren’t rejoining, I want to know why. If we’re getting new members, I want to know what has drawn them to the group.

When I decided to visit all states within the U.S., I listed them and tracked my progress. I knew I wanted to see all the states before I turned 50. Without a plan and means of tracking, I was not going to get to see all 50 states. I worked my plan and, in the end, I visited all of them by 50.

Management guru Peter Drucker is often credited with saying “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” If you want to succeed, figure how to define your success and how you will achieve it.

Here’s to your success.