50 Things To Do...Edited

Ok, so it's not a new post...but I finally found 50 things!

1. Draw "Stations" (art) (started over 10 years ago...)
2. Help Irv get published (family)
3. Fully Clean my room (family)
4. Help Kristopher develop a life plan (strategic plan) (family)
5. Help Alyssa develop a life plan (strategic plan) (family)
6. Visit Family (family) DONE!
7. Visit Benji and Pinky (friends)
8. Get to and maintain 160 lbs max (physical health) (started...calorie counting, eating carefully, exercising)
9. Develop a consistent tennis backhand (sports
10. Compete in a Singles Tennis Tournament (want to hit with pace first - sports)
    
11. Stick to exercise program for 6 consecutive months (physical health) (One-a-Days)
12. Eat at least 1 piece of fruit daily for 90 consecutive days (physical health) (Think I completed this one...but lost track. Will restart)
13. Pray daily for another 365 consecutive days (spiritual health) (started Dec 26th - Yeah! one that I'm doing well at!)
14. Try Yoga (physical health) (the Wii I bought should help!)
15. Read the Bible - cover to cover (spiritual health) (will be second time around...)
16. Lower cholesterol within healthy range (physical health) (may be accomplished through eating changes - taking blood test tomorrow)
17. Get body fat % to healthy range (physical health) (may be accomplished through eating changes and #40)
18. Donate 1 million grains of rice through freerice.com (mental health) (plan to start today Dec 27th 09...Started Jan 3rd. If I do it for 500 days, I will have to donate 2,000 a day)
19. Take class on sign language (mental health)
20. Read two books on Albert Einstein - because one just won't be enough (mental health)
21. Read "Numbers" book (mental health) (started, need to finish)
22. Try a martial art (physical health)
23. Learn a full Tai Chi form (physical health)
24. Fast for a week – combined with praying fervently (spiritual health) (Lent 2010 should be a good time)
25. Research (find likely opportunities) for teaching in Michigan (job) (signed up for some search engines which send messages)
26. Participate in seminar business (job)
27. Get five authors in the fold for K4K Books (project) (at 2)
28. Publish at least 10 standards through CEITPS (project) (at 1)
29. Make St. Mark Youth Group viable - have at least 10 active members (church) (DONE!)
30. Sell all stuff (to be sold) in room on Ebay (misc) (began Dec 26th, 2009)
31. Mentor / Coach four people (misc) (three down, one to go)
32. Put out a chess club website for Niles Comm Library club (misc)
33. Become a 3 point shooting threat in basketball (sports) (DONE!)
34. Get published - book (writing) (DONE!)
35. Get published in a mainstream magazine (writing)
36. Get published for a solo writing effort (writing)
37. Finish a publishable novel (writing)
38. Research Live Action Role Playing (and if legal / feasible) participate in one (misc)
39. Complete 100/100 club for 100 days (physical health) (done in past, need to do again)
40. Take 1,000,000 steps in 100 days (physical health) (Have pedometer will travel - started Jan 1,2010...and already need to restart!)
41. Drink 64 ounces of water daily (for at least one month - Health)
42. Donate $1K to St. Mark Youth Group (plan in work - Church)
43. See a 3D movie (maybe at IMAX - Misc)
44. Publish the Niles Chess Club Newsletter (monthly for the school year - misc)
45. Get and keep Inbox @ Zero for 3 months (at least once each week - job)
46. Overcome anger - specifically during basketball (mental health)
47. Learn to sing (misc)
48. Use water pick or floss daily (90 days - physical health)
49. Build complete Simon-Says comedy routine (misc)
50. Develop financial retirement plan (family)
    

Keeping It Simple

Once again my writer’s block has been shattered by my brother (thanks bro!).

“Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler.” – Albert Einstein

Not only do I like the quote for its unadulterated simplicity, but it has real meaning in my job. I created a Metrics Scorecard (a report card for how well we deliver our services). It’s pretty revolutionary in its design. It’s ONLY from one point of view (the customer’s) and provides Effectiveness metrics for each service. It is based on Expectations and how well we meet them VS. being based on goals or thresholds which can be arbitrary and lead to unintended (and unwanted) behaviors. The use of Expectations and the focus strictly on Effectiveness help to make the Scorecard extremely simple. But we were careful not to make it simpler than possible. That would have been disastrous. You ask “how” could it be simpler than possible? Well, if we tried to simplify it to the point that you received one (single) score for a service (we provide scores for each metric – delivery, usage, customer satisfaction and security) that would be too simple. It is important to keep the tiny level of complexity that builds on the theory of triangulation (using multiple data points to pinpoint a meaningful piece of information).

Ok, that was probably much more than you wanted to know. The point is, simple is good. I also like the use of simple English. I abhor those who take a good, clear thought and obliterate it with big words. This is the downfall of many a would be orator. It is also the downfall of the Mission Statements I see in my work. Mission (and Vision) statements should definitely be as simple as possible (but no simpler). It should be easy to remember, to the point, and meaningful.

Metrics? KISS.

Mission Statements? KISS

Your Life? KISS. Yup, even your day-to-day life… Keep it Simple! Work to find ways to make your life simpler. I challenged my brother to find five things, five ways to make his life simpler. I offer the same challenge to each of you and of course, myself. I have another thing to accomplish before turning 50! Simplify my life in 5 measurable / observable ways. Thanks again bro!

Here are some easy ways to start.

• Use automation. Find something you do manually and see if you can automate it. For me this will be an easy one – since much of what I do is on the computer. If you think because I use a computer a lot that the processes I follow are already automated…think again! Even the writing of this post involves multiple steps. I draft in Word, then copy and paste into MS Notepad or Wordpad (to remove most of the crap that Word sticks in). Then I copy and paste into the Blog environment. If I wrote directly in Wordpad or Notepad, I’d save a step.

• Look to improve a process or two. I’ve already done this a bit…but haven’t taken credit for it. For example, I do the recyclables. Well, I used to just store them in the garage until I took them to the recycling plant. Now I pre-sort when I put them in the garage. It simplifies my trip to the plant immensely.

• Find more efficient routes when you travel. Gotta’ love the GPS “detour” function!

• Simplify your athletic performance. For me? My 3-point shot. Or my Tennis serve. Or my ground strokes (which need some work). Simplifying the motion used when playing a sport should improve your results.

• Recently I set up my email folders so I can successfully get my “inbox to zero.” It has simplified my life and reduced my stress levels (I used to have 100’s of emails in my inbox and always felt at an internal level that I was falling further and further behind). Psychologically, having my inbox at zero is very healthy.

Bottom line? Making things simpler is usually worth the effort. Just don’t try to make it too simple.