Scoreboard: Friend or Foe...depends what you expect.

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

Time Blocking

     Why should I time block if I only have this little bit of work to finish and then I'm done with what I have... what's that over there?
     It is very common to be distracted during the course of your day. You get up, go to work and while your morning is commencing you have your plan about what will happen that day. Then you get to the office and your fate has already been decided by a coworker, a client or there is a problem with your car, babysitter, or school. Sometimes it is all of the above happening the same day.
     Once you are ready to work (if there is such a thing) you sit down and start what you planned. Then more distractions happen like the phone ringing, email alerts and someone asking what is for lunch. If you time block your day, you know exactly what is ahead of you and if you are distracted you know where you left off.
     Most clients do not want to be called early in the day so I make most of my calls after 10:30am. By then, my email is clear, my lists of things to do is made and I've had three cups of coffee. I time block 10:30-11:15 to call people back and set future appointments. For the next twenty minutes I assist and check with my staff about whatever needs they may have. Then lunch for two hours and then to the golf range for a bucket of balls before going home.
     If it were that simple, everyone would be doing it. Here is your homework: get out a calender having days broken down by 15 minute intervals. Decide when you feel the most comfortable to do each item and assign it an amount of time during the day. When your day is full you can start and when you do a new item, do it to the best of your ability. If you finish early, plan on when you will do it again the next day or week. Don't be afraid if you didn't have success with something in the morning to move it to the afternoon. Make adjustments to make each item count.
     It's your day and you only get an undetermined amount of them so make it count.  What will you do with your next 15 minutes?