LX: Why Life Experience Matters, Too

LX: Why Life Experience Matters, Too

Ah, summer. Time to enjoy the good life. Right?

After all, we talk about experience allllllll the time these days. Studies and conversations about customer experience, employee experience, total experience, and all the other experiences pile up – so why aren't we talking about Life Experience?

Now we are.


The Irony of Studying Experience

You remember learning about the observer effect in physics? That's the idea that simply observing or measuring something can cause a change in whatever you're observing or measuring. If you're trying to check how much air is in a tire, you're probably letting air out in the process of measuring it. Tricky.

Of course, those of us who focus on measuring and improving employee experience do hope that even the act of measuring employee engagement levels can help us to alter and improve our workplaces. We're engaging, so that's good. Measure that.

Customer experience works the same way. We're focusing on CX and we hope that this focus itself can have a positive impact.

Here's the ironic part, though: Many folks who dedicate so much time to measuring and improving experiences in others' lives fail to recognize potentially negative impacts on their own lives. Life Experience, which we'll call LX for now, suffers when the person looking out for others misses looking in on themselves.

Hustle is one thing, but it's not everything.


LX Metrics

Okay, so let's say that we can agree that a positive life experience is a good goal. How, then, can we measure our success toward that goal? For all the CX and EX metrics floating out there, there seems to be a lack of consensus on how to measure LX.

A few ideas (not necessarily good ones!):

  • Wealth: The more money a person has, the better their life must be.
  • Longevity: The longer a person lives, the better their life must be.
  • Family: The more family members a person has, the better their life.
  • Friends: More = better
  • Strength: The more one can shoulder -- physically or mentally -- the better.
  • Physical stats: Weight, height, blood pressure...
  • Steps taken / Calories burned / Caloric intake: Anything a fitness tracker can tell you

What else comes to mind? It's pretty rare that someone sends you a survey to assess how you're feeling about your life. Who would send it? Companies ask their customers and employees, providers ask their patients... We talk about CSAT and eNPS, but the only LSAT that comes to mind isn't a study of Life Satisfaction.


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LSAT

Really, who would be the right person to ask you Life Experience questions? Short of a medical professional or a spiritual advisor, the right person is probably the one in the mirror.

  • How satisfied am I with what's happening in my life right now?
  • How confident am I that my life is heading in the right direction?
  • How fulfilled do I feel as a person?
  • How happy am I with the relationships in my life?
  • How's life?

Once you ask the questions, then you have to analyze the results, look for trends, take action on what you've learned... It might sound exhausting, but it's your life.


Well, Maybe Wellness

Summer is a great time to conduct a Life Experience study. The year is half over (what??), which makes it a perfect time to check in on any resolutions you set (if you remember them) and to look ahead toward the end of the year.

Maybe measuring LX will impact your life, but maybe that's a good thing. Anyone who's ever counted calories or logged food knows that awareness can change behavior. What would you like to change this summer?

Sometimes "self-help" or "self-improvement" carry a certain connotation, but maybe "wellness" and "personal development" sound better to you. Whatever you call your LX study, the best thing you can do is start.


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Pick Your Metrics

Maybe Life Satisfaction is too complicated of a metric. Maybe "How's life?" is better. Would you send yourself a daily survey asking you this question as a quick pulse check? There are tons of personal wellness apps that do the same kind of thing with the same idea in mind: Bringing awareness inspires reflection and sometimes, when needed, improved actions.

Or, maybe you prefer something that's super measurable.

Setting a personal challenge can be really helpful if you're trying to build or rebuild healthy habits and improve how you feel about life in general. Do any of these sound familiar?

  • Drink 64 ounces of water per day
  • Walk 10,000 steps per day
  • Read one book each week
  • Practice no-screen mealtimes
  • Sleep at least 7 hours each night
  • Take one day off each month
  • Cook a new recipe every weekend

This list could go on and on (check out more wellness challenge ideas!) but picking something specific to focus on can be really helpful. When you feel you're achieving your goals, your LX is very likely to improve.


So Do It Already

At this point in an article, we often loop back around to how important it is to listen to your customer or employees, to learn from their experiences, and to take action to improve so you'll earn their engagement, trust, and loyalty. We'd talk about personalizing employee wellness programs or helping consumers improve their financial wellness, all through better listening, feedback analysis, and proactive outreach to improve their journeys every step of the way. You know, the usual sort of thing.

Not today.

Let's not call it selfishness, but sometimes you really do need to make it about yourself. After all, it's your life. It's now or never. And yes, that's a mic drop.

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