Different people see me in different ways, or they see different fragments of who I am. Students see me as their professor. Acquaintances know me as a husband and father with a passion for aviation.

People who know me well understand that I’m a recovering alcoholic with more than two decades of sobriety. It’s the last part – staying sober – that makes the other parts possible.

I was unfortunate to have fallen prey to alcohol addiction in my teens and that affliction intensified in my early twenties. By the time I was 26, I was drinking myself into a blackout every day, and my personal and professional lives were in tatters. Bankruptcy was just around the corner, and death due to mishap was a matter of how soon, not if.

I made the best decision of my life on May 6, 1991, when I walked into my local hospital and checked myself into a detox program. They had a bed for me, as did a 28-day rehab program a few weeks later. They helped me get sober. Then I had to figure out how to stay that way. And to get better. A lot better. My solution was the Personal Sanity Index.

The Personal Sanity Index (PSI) is a simple tool that helps you keep track of how you’re interacting with the world on a daily basis. It’s not a tool for weight loss or counting steps or saving money – though you may find it easier to do those things when your PSI is in stable territory.

The idea is to identify specific behaviors that indicate when all is well with you. This will be very personal – thus the P in PSI. What works for me likely won’t be exactly right for you. But I’ll share mine with you to give you an idea what a typical PSI might look like.

I start with three physical indicators: sleep, food, and exercise. When I’m at my best, I’ve gotten a good night’s sleep, I’ve eaten well, and found time to exercise. And this is where it gets really simple. You don’t have to track the number of hours you slept last night, or tally up the calories in your meals, or record minutes in different training zones. I know what it feels like when I wake up feeling well-rested. That means I got enough sleep. I know what a day of healthy eating looks like (hint: on those days, I don’t use the phrase “Supersize Me!”). And I know whether I got a good workout in. And you know these things about yourself. The scoring is one point each. Nothing complicated. Just yes or no. You did or you didn’t.

There’s one other indicator that makes up what I call “The Core Four,” and that is human connection. If I spend all day by myself without making a quality connection with someone else, that’s not good for me. It can be a friend, family member, co-worker, or perhaps someone I just met. And, just like you know when you got a good night’s sleep, you know when you had a high-quality connection. So that also gets counted as a yes or no. You did or you didn’t. No half-points. Just be honest with yourself.

I recommend you also begin with the Core Four. The next step is more specific to you and what helps define your best possible self.

You should think about behaviors that represent different dimensions of wellness that are present in your life when you are having a great day.

For some, that may be time for meditation or prayer. For others, it may be time spent writing in a journal. For those of us in recovery, it could be attending a 12-step meeting or talking with our sponsor.

The key is to try to get a range of things that together will signal that you’re in a really good place. Ideally, 3-6 items beyond the Core Four, giving you a total of 7-10 items in your PSI.

Here’s what mine looks like right now (it’s changed over time and will likely evolve again):

• Did I get a good night’s sleep last night?
• Did I eat well today?
• Did I exercise?
• Did I have a high-quality connection with someone?
• Did I write in my journal?
• Did I have fun playing with my daughter?
• Did I learn something new?

When I’m having a great day, my score is 7 out of a possible 7. But that almost never happens. Most days I get 4 or 5, and not always the same 4 or 5. ‘I’m not perfect. And neither (probably) are you! If you find you’re scoring perfectly on your Index every day, you may want to rethink the items that you’ve included.

The real value of this tool comes from its power to track trends in your life and give you the opportunity to intervene when necessary.