What type of measure indicates whether you have achieved your goal?

A lagging measure is a type of performance indicator that reflects the outcomes or results that occur after a particular period. It provides evidence of whether a goal has been met by looking at past performance data. For example, if a company's target is to increase customer retention by a specific percentage over the year, the actual retention rate at the end of that year is a lagging measure. It shows whether the goal was achieved based on realized outcomes.

In contrast, leading measures are predictors of future performance and can indicate how you might achieve a goal, but they do not confirm whether the goal has been met. Predictive measures typically estimate future outcomes based on current data trends and are used for forecasting, while qualitative measures focus on subjective attributes, opinions, and insights rather than quantifiable data. Thus, the most accurate reflection of whether a specific goal has been achieved based on actual results is captured by lagging measures.