Eye contact is my KPI

If pressed to come up with a reliable indicator to reflect how I’m doing, I’d choose this: the quality of my eye contact.

Life is mysterious. It doesn’t play well with optimization. What’s truly worth optimizing for when Q1 brought a baby into your life, and Q3 took your partner or loved one away? Or you got laid off right before End-Of-Year without much in the way of notice, candidness or kindness after years of hard work and unfulfilled promises. That project you were excited about fell through…and an unforeseen opportunity just…fell from the skies and right on your lap.

Optimized lives, I can only imagine, are bereft of gifts, chance encounters and possibilities.

Small interactions with the cashier at the grocery store. Sitting across the table from partners, friends and family members. Reminders all around me. My gaze shows my presence, my resolve. Eye contact is my KPI.