“Some days are meant to be counted, others are meant to be weighed.”
–Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

It’s easy to count things. New clients. Facebook likes. Dollars in, dollars out. The number of to-do’s crossed off your list.

What’s tougher is weighing. What’s that new patient worth? How valuable is a Facebook like? How much does the thing you just did matter?

A patient who doesn’t follow your treatment plan and doesn’t come back or refer counts. But she doesn’t weigh much. Your last tweet counts on the list of marketing to-do’s. But does it weigh as much as the relationship you’re building with the new doctor?

How do you decide? The things that stretch you weigh more. The things you avoid tend to have real substance, too. And the scary stuff? Heavy, indeed.

By all means count. But don’t forget to weigh.