From Reputation to Reliability: The Cronbach’s Alpha of My Life Eras

You know how Taylor Swift has her “Eras”—distinct chapters of self-expression, reinvention, and storytelling?

Well, as an avid Swiftie I realized I couldn’t miss the chance to do something very on-brand for me: evaluate the eras of my own life… using Cronbach’s Alpha.

While prepping to teach Biostatistics and Epidemiology next term (a.k.a. my Goliath), I revisited Cronbach’s Alpha—our trusty measure of internal consistency. What started as lesson planning quickly turned into a personal audit.

Because just like a good album or a strong survey, a well-lived life has one thing in common: alignment.

This blog is a Swiftie-meets-statistician reflection on growth, teaching, and what it means to live a life with high internal consistency—without falling into the trap of toxic productivity.

As a person who has worked in public health for some time now, I’ve studied these topics. I’ve used them in real-world settings. But teaching them—really teaching them—is a whole different game. It’s not just about knowing something anymore. It’s about embodying it, explaining it, and making it stick.

While preparing my materials, I revisited a familiar concept: Cronbach’s Alpha.

And in a strange twist of academic fate, this quiet little statistic gave me a loud life lesson. Not just about teaching, but about consistency, personal alignment, and the kind of non-toxic productivity I’ve been striving for.

What Even Is Cronbach’s Alpha?

For those unfamiliar, Cronbach’s Alpha is a way to measure internal consistency. It checks how well a set of questions or items work together to assess the same concept.

Imagine a survey that’s supposed to measure “motivation.” If half the questions are about hard work and the other half are about favorite colors, your Cronbach’s Alpha is going to be pretty low. There’s no coherence. No unity.

And as I stared at that formula again, something clicked:

This is what I’ve been trying to do with my life.

Align everything.

Create consistency.

Remove internal contradictions.

Teaching Forces You to Align

When you're learning, you can afford to be messy. When you're teaching, your clarity becomes your students' clarity. That responsibility sharpens everything.

While prepping this course, I kept asking myself:
Are my lessons aligned with what I believe about good teaching?
Am I using my time in a way that reflects my actual priorities?
Do I live what I teach?

It felt like I was running a Cronbach’s Alpha on my life—checking if my goals, habits, and values were all pointing in the same direction.

Where Non-Toxic Productivity Comes In

This reflection brought me face to face with a quiet shift I’ve been making in recent years: moving away from toxic productivity—the pressure to always do more, faster, harder—and toward something gentler, but more sustainable.

Non-toxic productivity is about consistency, not chaos. It’s about coherence over hustle.

It says: You don’t need to do a hundred things. You need to do the right things consistently, in alignment with your values. Just like a high Cronbach’s Alpha doesn’t need more questions—it needs better-aligned ones.

That’s the mindset I want to bring into this new chapter of teaching.

I don’t need to be the most intense, overachieving version of myself. I just need to show up aligned—with purpose, clarity, and compassion. Especially for myself.

Personal Growth = Internal Consistency

A few years ago, I would’ve had a low alpha score. My actions, intentions, and words were all over the place. I was “productive,” but not in a way that felt good or sustainable.

Now, I’m seeing how much more powerful it is to aim for consistency over intensity.
To choose depth over busyness.
To teach—not just with information—but with integrity.

So, if you’re someone like me, preparing to teach has reminded me that the real lessons aren't always in the syllabus.

Cronbach’s Alpha quietly reminded me that growth—real, sustainable, non-toxic growth—is about aligning the moving parts of our lives.

So as I step into this new season of teaching, I’m carrying this idea with me:

Let your life measure what you say you value.
Keep your internal consistency high.
And stay gentle, but intentional.

Whether you're teaching, learning, building, or healing, this might just be your own Cronbach’s Alpha moment too.

P.S. A Question for You

If your day-to-day habits, choices, and goals were part of a survey…
Would they be measuring the same thing?