SCOREBOARD:
5/16/13
“You either hate losing bad enough to change or you hate changing bad enough to lose,” Resolved book pg 131.
A powerful statement can really hit home. In the past, we spoke about Plan and Do, so it is only fitting that we move on to the next steps, Check and Adjust in the PDCA model. After you have your plan figured out and you start to do or move on your path towards your goals, at some point you have to slow down and check if the steps you are taking are moving you closer to your goal.
Like many people I started a weight loss journey and signed up at the local gym. I was great at going everyday and found myself really enjoying the classes. I never really bothered to weigh myself; I just figured that since I was exercising I would start losing weight. After a few months of no change in the way my clothes fit, I decided the scoreboard was not looking so good and I had to check what I was doing and adjust to move closer to my goal. I found a trainer and after doing some workouts and talking nutrition I learned two important things: you cannot out train a bad diet and you need to understand muscle groups to get results. I was eating worse than before I started working out and I was working muscle groups that I did not want to change.
Think back to 5 years ago, were things different? Did you have an idea of what you wanted your life to look like? What were your goals? Are you where you thought you would be? Think back 5 months, the beginning of 2013, did you set a goal for yourself? Take a moment to reflect on January 1st and what did you want for yourself and then check the scoreboard, are you there? Is the path you are walking leading you to that goal or have we taken a side road?
Without checking and adjusting it is common to look at the past 5 years and realize that we took so many side roads along the way to our goals that we cannot even see our goals any longer?
I started to think of this in simple terms, my family loves my baked potato soup. I use the same recipe eveytime, the same ingredients and so forth, but I also check the soup as I go through the steps. Sometimes the soup cooks faster or the potatoes take longer. I have different brands of ingredients and I do not need to add salt. Without checking and adjusting the ingredients I might be much skinnier.
If we understand and practice the Check and Adjust in the simple everyday task of our lives, why is it so hard to do with the bigger parts? “Simply put, a person’s defense mechanisms, which are designed to protect his fragile ego from the painful revelation of his current performance kick in.” pg 132 Resolved book. We live in a society of IT WAS NOT MY FAULT, our generation is awesome at pointing the finger at everything in site to protect our egos from admitting that we might not have done what we needed to do to succeed.
It is difficult to check the scoreboard because it gives us an accurate picture of our work and accomplishments. If we get in the habit of checking our progress along the way we can adjust for desired results. This requires honesty on our part and stepping out of our comfort zone. The Scoreboard will become a proud accomplishment, not a fearful reminder of what could have happened in our life.
Plan, Do, Check and Adjust the Scoreboard for greater success!
By Jennifer Walker
