Track Less, See More: The Career Dashboard That Actually Predicts Your Next Move

The Dashboard That Caught Everything Except What Mattered

Francisco Alzantara tracked 12 career metrics: salary, GitHub commits, LinkedIn views, skills, network size, seven more. Updated weekly. Optimized relentlessly.

He missed 18 months of misery his dashboard never caught.

Eighteen months building ad tech he didn't believe in, watching his energy drain every Sunday evening. His metrics looked great—GitHub contributions up 40%, LinkedIn profile views climbing, salary on track. Everything green.

Meanwhile, Sarah McCarthy tracked three things: how aligned she felt with her work, how much she was learning, and whether her pace was sustainable. Her dashboard took 90 seconds to update monthly. It caught her McKinsey misalignment a year and a half before Francisco's 12-metric system would have flagged his problem.

The difference? Sarah's dashboard measured what actually predicted her career decisions. Francisco's measured what he thought he should optimize.

Over 40 years, track what predicts decisions, not what's easy to measure.

Why Tracking Everything Means Seeing Nothing

Here's what Francisco discovered when he compared his 12 metrics to Sarah's 3:

Noise drowns signal. When you track 12 dimensions, you can't tell which drop in which metric predicts you'll quit in six months. Everything fluctuates. Everything seems important. Francisco's GitHub contributions spiked while his actual learning (depth, challenge, growth) flatlined. The metric went up. The thing that mattered went down.

You optimize for measurement, not satisfaction. Francisco increased his output while his alignment score (if he'd tracked it) would have been dropping from a 4 to a 2. He was hitting targets while heading toward burnout.

Short-term variance obscures long-term patterns. One bad week tanks your scores. One great project spikes them. You can't see the 18-month trend that predicts burnout or the 3-year pattern that predicts your best work.

The 40-year lens requires a different approach: track less, but track what compounds.

The LA4P Framework: Your Dashboard Foundation

Sarah's three things? They map to what we call the LA4P framework—six dimensions that actually predict career satisfaction over decades.

Use the LA4P framework (Learning, Alignment, People, Prestige, Pace, Profit) as your foundation. Each dimension rates 1-5. The full framework article explains the theory and research. Here's the quick reference for building your dashboard:

Learning (L): Are you growing and facing challenges that stretch you?

• 1 = Stagnant, no growth
• 3 = Steady, incremental learning (one new pattern/month, occasionally challenged but mostly comfortable)
• 5 = Transformative growth, steep learning curve
• Example: Learning Rust after years of Java—uncomfortable but energizing

Alignment & Purpose (A): Does the mission matter to you?

• 1 = Fundamentally misaligned (dread explaining your work at dinner parties)
• 3 = Neutral, it's a job (can explain it without enthusiasm or shame)
• 5 = Deep purpose, mission-driven (would work on this even with financial independence)
• Example: Moving from ad tech to climate tech because the problem finally matters

People (P1): Team quality, manager, culture, relationships

• 1 = Toxic, damaging relationships (Sunday anxiety, avoiding colleagues)
• 3 = Professional, functional (cordial, collaborative, no drama)
• 5 = Exceptional team, energizing culture (actively look forward to meetings)
• Example: A manager who actually coaches you vs. one who just delegates

Prestige (P2): Brand recognition, resume value, career capital

• 1 = Unknown, potentially harmful to resume
• 3 = Respectable, neutral signal (recognized in industry, opens some doors)
• 5 = Top-tier brand, significant career capital
• Example: The FAANG logo that opens doors vs. the unknown startup

Pace (P3): Work-life balance, sustainability, flexibility

• 1 = Unsustainable, burnout territory (regular 60+ hour weeks, weekend work expected)
• 3 = Standard hours, manageable (occasional crunch, mostly predictable)
• 5 = Exceptional flexibility, highly sustainable (true async, control over schedule)
• Example: 60-hour weeks with weekend Slack vs. true async work

Profit (P4): Compensation, equity, financial security

• 1 = Below market, financial stress (struggling to save, anxious about bills)
• 3 = Market rate, comfortable (saving 15-20%, no financial anxiety)
• 5 = Top percentile, wealth-building (aggressive savings, real wealth accumulation)
• Example: The difference between $120K and $280K total comp

Your total score ranges from 6-30. But here's what matters for dashboard design: you don't need to track all six dimensions. You need to track the 2-3 that predict your satisfaction and drive your decisions.

Your dashboard will evolve—what you track at 28 differs from 48. Early career might optimize for Learning and Prestige. Mid-career might shift to Alignment and Pace. The framework stays constant. Your priorities shift.

How to Choose Your Dashboard Dimensions

Here's the method:

Step 1: Rate Your Last 3-5 Career Experiences

Go back through your work history. For each role or significant project, rate all six LA4P dimensions honestly. Use the 1-5 scale. Be specific.

Francisco's history looked like this:

Notice: Same total score (21) for two completely different experiences. The aggregate hides everything.

Step 2: Identify Your Decision Triggers

Look at when you left each role. What scores predicted your departure?

Francisco's pattern:

• Left Startup A: External (failure), not his choice
• Left Big Tech: Learning = 2, Alignment = 2
• Current role: Happy, both Learning and Alignment = 4-5

His trigger: When Learning OR Alignment drops below 3, he starts job searching within 6 months.

Sarah's pattern was different:

• Left consulting: Pace = 1 (unsustainable)
• Left startup: People = 2 (toxic founder)
• Current role: Happy, Pace = 4, People = 5

Her trigger: When Pace OR People drops below 3, she's out.

Your triggers are your dashboard dimensions. Francisco needs to track Learning and Alignment. Sarah needs to track Pace and People. Their 12-metric dashboards would have been identical. Their actual needs are completely different.

For more on how different dimensions trigger career changes, see Exit Patterns: Which Career Dimensions Actually Trigger Job Changes.

Step 3: Add One Financial Dimension

Always track one financial metric, even if it's not your primary driver. Profit (P4) grounds your decisions in reality.

Francisco tracks three things monthly:

1. Learning (1-5)
2. Alignment (1-5)
3. Profit (1-5)

That's it. Three numbers. 90 seconds to update. Caught his Big Tech misalignment 18 months earlier than his previous system would have.

The 15-Minute Monthly Dashboard (Manager Edition)

If you're managing people, have kids, and limited reflection time, here's the streamlined version:

Example (David, Engineering Manager):

• Tracks: Learning, People, Profit
• January: L=4, P1=5, P4=4 | "New architecture project, team hitting stride"
• February: L=4, P1=5, P4=4 | "Steady state, good momentum"
• March: L=3, P1=4, P4=4 | "Architecture done, back to maintenance. Team member left."
• April: L=2, P1=4, P4=4 | "Trigger alert: Learning below 3. Schedule reflection."

The system caught David's learning plateau in month 2 of decline, not month 18.

6-Week Pattern Tracker

Track your trigger dimensions weekly to spot patterns before they become problems

💡How to Use This Tool

Rate each dimension 1-5 at the end of each week. Be honest - this is for you, not performance reviews. After 4-6 weeks, look for patterns (not individual bad days). If a dimension is consistently 1-2, treat it as data to act on.

Dimension	Week 1 (Current)	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
Learning	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5
Alignment	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5
Profit	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5
Pattern Recognition
What dimensions are consistently low (1-2)? ________
What patterns do you notice? ________
What one dimension would you change in your next role? ________

40 Years Career Playbooks | LA4P Weekly Tracker

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📊 Track your dimensions

Spot patterns over 4-6 weeks

Start Tracking Your Dimensions →

💡 Remember: Track for 4-6 weeks to distinguish patterns from bad days. If a trigger dimension stays below 3 for 2+ consecutive weeks, schedule a deeper reflection.

Start Tracking Your Dimensions →

What Happened to Francisco

Francisco redesigned his dashboard in January 2023. Three metrics: Learning, Alignment, Profit.

By March, his Big Tech scores looked like this:

• Learning: 2 (no improvement, still maintaining legacy code)
• Alignment: 2 (ad tech still felt hollow)
• Profit: 5 (still great comp)

Both triggers below 3. He started job searching immediately instead of waiting for the misery to become unbearable.

Transition cost: 4 months to find the right role (climate tech startup). Profit dropped from 5 to 3 (market rate, not top percentile). Learning and Alignment both jumped to 4-5.

Recovery time: Zero. He made the move before burnout set in. His energy returned within weeks, not months.

The old dashboard would have shown: "7 of 12 metrics green, everything looks fine." The new dashboard showed: "Both decision triggers red, time to move."

That's the difference between tracking everything and tracking what matters.

If you're wondering whether your current dissatisfaction is a pattern or just a bad week, read Burnout or Just a Bad Week? How to Read the Signals Over a 40-Year Career for a framework to distinguish signal from noise.

Your Dashboard in Action

Start here:

1. This week: Rate your last 3 career experiences using all six LA4P dimensions
2. Identify your triggers: Which dimensions predicted your past departures?
3. Build your dashboard: Your 2 triggers + Profit = 3 metrics
4. Set monthly reminder: First Monday, 15 minutes, update your three numbers
5. Create your rule: When any trigger drops below 3, schedule deeper reflection

That's it. Three numbers. Monthly updates. Catches misalignment 18 months earlier than complex systems.

The question isn't whether you should track your career. It's whether you're tracking the signals that actually predict your decisions.

Francisco tracked 12 things and missed 18 months of misery. Sarah tracked 3 things and caught her misalignment early.

Track less. See more. Decide faster.

Over 40 years, that's the difference between reactive career management and intentional career design.