Four Men and a Catapult!

 Imagine four grown men, setting up miniature catapults, and shooting ping pong balls down the length of two tables.  They have identified specific variables such as draw back of the catapult arm, location of the stop pin, and the tension of the rubber band that drives the entire contraption…..  And to top it all off, they are paired into two teams, competing against each other to see who can knock the evil queen off of her thrown, while she sits in her medieval castle!  Sounds like child play right?  You should hear the comments as they taunt each other, each team striving to out do the other.

 

 

Such is the fun that students enrolled in a Six Sigma Black Belt Course enjoy.  The exercise is designed to let the students learn how to conduct a Design of Experiments.  Simple explanation, they change specific variables associated with the catapult, recording the result after a series of test runs, then use a statistical package to predict how to adjust the variables to hit the queen sitting in her castle. The kicker is that the instructor gives them 9 shots.  He moves the castle with the queen after each shot.   They are scored according to accuracy.    This is serious business!

It is fascinating to see these individuals learn to communicate and to cooperate.  But even more interesting is their ability to identify the variables that affect their performance.  They zero right in to stabilize, then control.  Success is totally dependent on building a model that will make the prediction valid and repeatable.

From Variables to Values….

How predictable is your every day life?  What are the most important variables that determine your success?  What are your particular indicators of success?  Is it happiness, effectiveness?  Influence?  Families?    Some might call these outcomes, I would rather label them as values?  Your values drive your behaviors.  What values do you hold so important that you alter or control your behavior to align with them?  Do you verbally indicate certain values, but practice others?  If you have a significant other, does he or she have different core values that you do? And if so, how does that affect your relationship?

All great questions.  Issues that lay at the heart of many strained marriages and or derailed lives.   But the good news is that things can change.  You can change.

There is a process:

1. The first step is to identify your key values,
2. Next evaluate whether those values will get you where you want to be.
3. And finally assess your day to day behaviors to see whether they are in alignment with your values.

Identify Your Key Values

Your day to day activities, with the associated choices you make, always determine where you will end up.  Much like the bearings that you get by using a compass and a map, values orient you with the world, in relation to who and what you are.

Many activities have been developed to help you identify and rank your personal values.  A quick Google search will take you to any number of available systems.  Having used several over the years, I favor the ones that encourage deep self-awareness through scenarios that you build in your mind, rather than simply sorting a series of cards with value titles on them.  The link below will take you one that encourages self-assessment.  Please take some time to work through the process that Kevin suggests.  I promise that it will be a solid investment on your part.

http://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/define-your-personal-core-values-5-steps.html

Evaluate Your Values for Validity

There are a couple of very good ways to make sure that your values are really YOUR VALUES…..

Once you have made your list, you can write or print them on a 3×5 index card and carry that in your pocket.  You might also want to develop pertinent questions for each of your values.  Each question will express what you want to ask yourself in any given situation to make sure you are staying aligned with that value.  You can visit your goals each day by pulling that card out and asking yourself those questions.   You have three choices if you consistently find that your actions or behaviors are not aligned with your states values.  Change your stated values to align with your behaviors, change your behaviors to align with your values, or you could just do nothing.  Be warned though,  that last option comes with a downside.  Actions that don’t agree with your values tend to diminish your self-esteem, and when evident to others, their trust in you.  Personally, I like option number 2.

Here are some examples from my values card:

• Dignity:  “Have I conveyed to others that I value them by listening to their ideas and by recognizing their efforts?”
• Loyalty:  “Have I helped those around me to be successful in their efforts?”
• Accountability:  “Have I honored commitments, accepted responsibility, and expected the same of others?”

 

As Mahatma Ghandi said;

"Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your       thoughts become your words. Your words become  your   actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values  become your destiny."

Daily Assessment for Alignment

You need to understand that behaviors can consist of things you do, as well as things that you choose not to do.  When faced with a choice, your subconscious brain analyses the options and recommends a course of action.  Your conscious brain can over-ride the advice.  So don’t just assume that you are what you are.  One of the greatest blessings of being a human being is that you have autonomy.  You can make choices, change your values, and practice at becoming the person you really want to be…..

So….. change some of those factors on your catapult, and LET HER FLY!

Till next time…..

 

A group of young people, giggling and pointing, striking poses as each tried on faces, wings, and crowns.  First came the werewolf, then the ballerina, then of course the princess and the pirate.  All the while, the guy in the vampire mask stood by and watched.   They were having lots of fun, imagining, and playing the parts as they went from character to character.  Sounds kind of silly, but don’t adults do the same thing?

Imagine That

Why do you sometimes enjoy dreaming about being someone else so much?  Come on, I know that you occasionally do.  Could it be that you are dissatisfied with who you current are, and fantasize about what it would be like if you were were just a bit like some other person?  It’s OK, everyone does it at some point in their life.  That is the stuff that fuels change.  As long as dreams and aspirations are given reality through action, it great to visualize.

What’s not healthy is to focus so intently on desires to be someone else, or how that person is who you truly want to be, that you lose who you are, and your own sense of personal worth.  But if you want things to be different, what then, what options do you have?  One of the truly great modern mentors has addressed that very idea.

If You Want Things to Change…..

It’s absolutely acceptable to want to become someone else.  In fact, I believe that it is somewhat unhealthy to be perfectly content with who and what you are.  That denotes a sense of being on a plateau, not progressing, just existing, not going foreword.    Jim Rohn says it best; “If you want things to change, you need to change.”   Those are indeed words to live by,  actually, to live better by.

You Do the Math…

What do you say when you have painted the picture for someone and you want them to figure the rest out?  “You do the math!”    Here’s a better admonition for change;  “You do the research.”   If you have that feeling the you could be better, that there is more in store for you to become, do you have a sense of where you want to head?   If not, do the research.

A Word of Advice

One of the best ways to find your options is to seek out mentors and role models.  Find them in your life, find them in good books.  But find them.   Here are some things you can do:

• Start to read, start to study.
• Listen to and view recordings.  YouTube is a great source of inspirational material.
• Start a learning journal, write down characteristics that impress you in others, record quotes and stories, write your impressions, write your goals.
• Start to live the “As If” principle.   If you want to possess an attribute, then start acting as if you already have it, try it on for size, experiment with it, get used to it, even tweak it some.  In time you will assimilate that particular behavior.  It will become part of who you are.  Then move to the next one.

A simple bit of advice, Research….Journal….Act.

I can promise you from experience, do these three very basic actions, and you will start to change.

Till next time…

TO THE TOP!

Have you ever been halfway up the wrong side of a mountain, pedaling a bicycle as hard and as furiously as you possibly could, and suddenly thought that you just might not make it to the top?  Do you remember how your lungs ached in the attempt to suck in more air? You may even now be reliving the burning pain in your legs, your back, and your stomach, remembering how they suddenly pushed to the forefront of your consciousness.  For that period of time, they became your reality, your total focus.  The pain and the agony screamed out; “I can’t do this! Just stop!”

Perhaps, as you were ready to stop in mid-push, an image burst through your mind.  You saw yourself at the top of the climb, resting, and relishing the triumph of conquering not only that mountain slope, but your own worst fear for that day.  Not making it to the top….  And that mental image made the difference.  You focus shifted, You continued to fight and to push.  And you lived up to your best intention one more time.   What a rush that was for you!  And how powerful that moment felt as you physically made it to the top of YOUR MOUNTAIN……  LITERALLY.

Isn’t it amazing the difference that one fleeting glimpse of something that hasn’t even happened can make in your life?  That my friend is the power of your mind.  It can envision with clarity and detail a future event that you wish to become reality.  There is a great lesson here, and significant potential.

HOW IT HAPPENS

Its widely known that we have both conscious and subconscious portions of our brains.  You may realize that your consciousness is the realm of thinking and perceptions, of focus, and of what you may like to think of as your decision making power.  You may not realize that, as the chart to the left indicates, your conscious brain accounts for only about 10% of your brains processing capabilities.  And the awesome thing is that your subconscious mind has so many more capabilities than your normally utilize!  The good news is, that they are always there, waiting for you to tap into them.  That pivotal moment that you visualized in the mountain top scene above is just such an example.

Would you like to learn a simple method to utilize your subconscious mind to help you succeed in the things that you really want to accomplish?  Then read on my friend!  Oh by the way, this isn’t magic, or voodoo, simply the same methods that the worlds greatest achievers use to make it to the tops of their mountains.

THE POWER OF A PICTURE

You need to relearn to do what you did naturally as a child. You used your imagination with unfettered enthusiasm.  Do you remember when a simple dandelion could release endless possibilities of places to wander, and things to see?   Twirl, stem in hand again in your imagination and see the individual seed-lets separate and float away with shear abandon.  Notice how they shimmered in the sun as the cool breeze lifted and drew them into the sky.  Feel the softness of the delicate stem as you turned it gently between your fingers, hoping to encourage those few stray stragglers to begin their journey into the wind.  Now peer intently at the empty seed head and notice the tiny indentations that once held the fledgling seeds.  What did you did with the stem?  Did you toss it to the side?  Or did you place it securely in a pocket for future use?

Notice how so many details that haven’t even been mentioned have been bubbling through your mind as you read the description above.  Some of them were probably long forgotten memories, and some may just have been bits of imagination that filled in the details that your mind craves.  Such is the power of imagination.

TRY IT YOURSELF

With your permission, I am going to switch to the more personal first person dialogue style that I use in my coaching practices.  I would like to guide you through the process of using your imagination to build a vision of something that you would like to be successful at in the near future.  For this experiment, I would suggest that you pick some goal or task that at the moment seems just a bit out of your reach, but not entirely beyond your capabilities.   Are you ready to make a go of it?

Relax

If your were with me in my office, I would ask you to sit back and relax, maybe even close your eyes, and tilt your head slightly upwards as if looking into the sky.  But since you need to read this, please read through this exercise completely, and then follow the advice given.

See the success you’ve created

In your imagination I want you to go forward in time to when you have achieved the goal that you desire to achieve.   Yes you can do that in your imagination.  It could be a few days, it could be a month, or even years, but see yourself with the goal achieved.  Do you see yourself, can you see the goal accomplished? Was there something physically that changed?  What does that look like?  Now, describe out load, the feeling that you are experiencing, having made that great goal a reality.  Be as specific as you can, what has the accomplishment of that goal or task allowed you to do or to have that you did not think possible before?  Do you have that image securely fixed in your mind?  I want you to enjoy that feeling, that image that you have fixed.  Take a few moments to let the feeling wash over you.  Now I want you to think of some detail about that image that stands out in your mind, it might be the place where it took place, or the sounds that you hear.  Fix those securely in your mind, so that there is some detail which you can back up at a future time when you would like to recall that image.

Describe what it took to get there

Now that you have a vision of that successfully completed goal firmly anchored in your subconscious, take the next step towards your goal.  While you are still in that mental futuristic time that your imagination has created, please describe what your had to do to accomplish that goal.  Again let your imagination fill in those details.  Let the specific actions come to the forefront of your mind. Again, believe me, you can do this.  What roadblocks did you have to overcome, what changes did you have to make, what resources did you have to utilize?   How long did it take?  Mentally make notes as you answer each of these questions in your imagination.  Don’t worry or try to make judgments about whether those things are possible at this time.  Just let your imagination assume that a way was worked out.

Write it down and use it

When you feel that you have sufficiently filled in the details of how your got to the success that you have created, come back to the present and take a few moments to get up and stretch, look around the room, and get a piece of paper and a pen.  You will need them.

Albert Einstein is attributed as saying;

“Logic will get you from A to Z, Imagination will get you everywhere.”

If you followed the suggestions above, you should have in your mind two things.  A clearly defined description of what success will look, feel, and sound like.  That is what you can experience at the top of your mountain.

You should also the details of what you will need to do to accomplish the goal.

Now, grab that piece of paper, and start writing.  Stephen R. Covey taught that all things are created twice. He said that the physical follows the mental.   He was making the point that we create our future states in our minds, or let others create them by default.   He was also following scriptural patterns with this teaching. In Isaiah 46:10 we read that God declared the end from the beginning.

So, would you like to be more successful at achieving your goals?  Relearn to use your imagination to envision success.  Then let that same imagination help you fill in the details.   Use that as the starting place to plan your future.

Here’s your experiment until next time, pick one goal, follow the process, and use your notes to start your plan.  Try it several times with a variety of different goals, and notice that the same method works of a variety of different goals and tasks.  Learn to couple your imagination with your logic.  Take advantage of both your conscious and your subconscious brain power!  And have fun doing it!

Till next time

I could be the worlds greatest super-villain!

I have the most perfectly nefarious plan.  It would instantly freeze all progress, and literally make life so boring that people everywhere would fall upon their knees begging for relief at any cost!  It would cause the loss of untold billions of dollars of commerce, and possibly shut down some of the worlds most significant industries.  I can see it now!  Oh how there would be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

What is it, you ask, that could possibly upset the worlds equilibrium in such a devastating way?  Why it would be so simple, so easily executed that i’m surprised it hasn’t already been done!  It is simply this…..  (drum roll please)

Do away with all of the goals in the world!  Can you imagine a world without goals?  Not the ones you never keep at New Years.  We’re  talking EVERY goal of EVERY kind, in EVERY business and in EVERY competitive sport known to man!  The effects would be, well, HUGE!

NO GOALS ANYWHERE!

Think of it,  no goals, nowhere to go.  No goals, nothing to work for, and no way to measure success.  Just imagine sitting in a world famous basketball arena, two of the top seated teams facing off, thousands of fans quivering with anticipation, the tip off,  the red team gets the ball, and they streak down court, the pass is made, the crowds go wild!  But wait!  Where is the hoop?  Nowhere to be seen!  The player goes for the layup out of shear habit but he ends up with nothing but air…. literally.

And the end result to this terrifying scenario?  Well, obviously no one wins!  Neither team would make any points, the spectators will eventually leave in frustration, soon the lights will go out as everyone goes home.  A sad ending to what should have been an entertaining evening.

As “way out there” as this all sounds, it is not totally implausible.  In fact, huge multitudes of people go through endless days with no plan or thought other than to see what blows their way, or even worse, to just “get through the day.”  In this case, as with the fictional horror story above, there are no points to be made and certainly no one wins!  And of course there is no measure of success!

What about you, are you a goal centered sort of person?  When was the last time you set your mind to achieve some task or purpose, and intentionally formulated a plan to achieve it?  If it was recently, were you successful?  How did that feel for you?  And if it has been a while, what have you been missing in your life without a goal of some sort to steer your course?     Perhaps you might not even perceive that something is missing.

Tony Robbins once stated; “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”   This is an insightful statement.  In the world of personal and process improvement, the first step to progress is to define your goal(s), and then to determine your current state. Defining your goal brings to light why you are engaged in any pursuit.   Finding the “whys” behind anything you do always helps.  But not every goal is  created equal.  Some goals are better than others.  I was taught years ago to make SMART goals.  The SMART acronym describes the attributes of a goal that will prove usable.

Here’s how to make great SMART goals:

SPECIFIC

It sounds a little bit obvious, but make your goal as specific as you possibly can.  Rather than saying “I want to be more patient with my children,”  try stating it more specifically and in a positive way;  “For the next week I will wait 10 seconds before responding to any negative response from my children.  During that 10 seconds I will ask myself; ‘Why would he or she respond like that?'”   State your goal in well defined terms from which  you can form a vision of what success looks, feels, and sounds like.  This will get you well on your way towards achieving your aim.

MEASURABLE

You can tell when measurable goals are comp;eted, or when progress has been made.  Instead of telling everyone that you are going to become a better bowler this year, try saying something like; “My current bowling average is 101, this year I will increase my average to 150.”   Not only can you tell definitively whether you have achieved you goal at the end of the year, but during the year, you can track your progress as you increase from 101 to 115 to 126 through the course of the year.

 ACHIEVABLE

You might ask;  “who in the world would make a goal that he can’t achieve?”  Well, people do it all the time!  Unrealistic and unachievable goals have killed many New Years Resolutions.  Don’t say; “I am going to have the best garden in the community this year,” when in fact you are lucky to keep a small row of carrots from turning tales up and shriveling.  Instead you can state the more achievable goal;  “This year I am going to give myself a better chance of keeping everything I plant alive by taking a gardening class.  I will also ask my neighbor George to help me know what grows best in this area.”  This certainly sounds more achievable!

RELEVANT

Do you know someone that makes goals that just don’t seem to make sense to you?  Or maybe his objectives were so obscure in nature that you asked; “Why?”    The struggle that many people have with getting their goals to bear fruit can often be traced to goals that are not relevant to any issue or objective.  Not knowing that the “Why” behind a goal really doesn’t achieve anything positive, undermines motivation, and leads to frustration.  Rather than setting that goal to never touch chocolate again in your lifetime, you might choose to replace a certain amount of your chocolate consumption with fresh fruit.  This trade replaces a loosely defined benefit with a more imaginable increase of healthy consumption.  OK, maybe not for some of us, but you get the idea!

TIME-BOUND

Goals should have a clearly defined period of time, or even better, a deadline.  Goals that just float out there, without a completion date, do just that, float around in your head in the realm of “Ill get to it when…”

Instead of; “I want to lose 10 pounds.”  Make it; “I want to lose 10 pounds by this summer.”  Do I really need to say why?   On the plus side of the equation, you have a time frame from which to do your planning, on the negative side, at least the dieting has an end in sight…….

 One final thought  

Once you have clearly defined your SMART goal, you are ready to make your plan.  But that’s a thought for our next Blog.   What can you do till then?  How about sitting down and taking stock of where you are in the various aspects of your life and perhaps set some SMART goals?  After all, this is the time of year for doing it!  And the good news is, you’ll hve some help this time!  So take that out that piece of paper, and start thinking and writing!

 

 

As always, please feel free to provide feedback on this blog.  After all, it is an experiment!

 

Till next time.

 

 Life certainly has its ups and downs! I know I have experienced my share of them! Everyone I have ever talked to agrees that no one is immune to life’s challenges. Everyone has his or her ups and downs despite the level of perfection that the media would like us to be exists in the lives of the world’s famous figures.

 

Variation Has its Ups & Downs!

Let’s talk about one of the fundamental principles of improvement for a few minutes.  It’s the concept of variation.  Variation is just what it sounds like.  It’s when performance changes from point to point, sometimes up, and sometimes down.

Many of us grew up with the idea that perfection was not only the ultimate goal, but also the expectation.   Grades were scrutinized, behavior was modified, and rewards or punishment given according to what we had achieved.  How many times did you hear the warning; “Your grades are starting to slip, you better get with it!”  I know I heard it a ton!  Of course my grades had a tendency to go up or down quite a bit……

Later in life, actually a lot later in life, I was exposed to the idea that there is some amount natural variation inherent in every part of our existence.   This revelation from my teachers felt like someone had opened the door and let in a cool breeze on a hot day!   It made me feel so good!  I suddenly realized that I was not the failure that I had always thought I was when I didn’t get the types of grades my sister did, or achieve the tremendous things my brother did.   I was ok!  Yes I had my ups and downs over the years, but now I could look and see that my consistency or low variation was a good thing.

Some statistical speak might help you understand what I am trying to get across.  If you look at the chart above, you will see that there are points, connected by lines.  These are arranged in sequential order.  In this instance, the chart tracks performance over time.  Thus, each dot is a representation of performance at some period of time. (Pun intended!)  For our discussion it really doesn’t matter what kind of performance they represent, but just for kicks, let’s stick with our discussion of my grades.  I’m used to talking about that one!    You’ll notice that there are also three horizontal lines represented on the graph.  The dotted line in the middle is what the statisticians call the mean.  I honestly don’t know why they call it that, other than they were being …..  But that line is the expected average  performance of whatever group that I was being measured in.   The two solid lines could be called the upper and lower expectations that apply to my grade performance.  Obviously poor performance is a bad thing, and excellent grade performance would be a wonderful occurrence, though the probability of that ever happening would be hard to swallow!

 

A Normal Guy

Let’s talk about variation.  You see the first 4 points to that I have circled?  Those points represent a fairly low amount of variation.  The distance from each point to the average is not very great. We could say that they range pretty much around the average. Now, let’s assume that each of those points represents my grade point average for the last several grading periods of my High School years.  And yes I was pretty much your average High School student, not the best grades, but certainly not the worst either.  But you must admit, I was pretty darn consistent!

Wow! What’s happening?

But wait a minute, the next several points seem to get a lot more erratic.  The amount of variation goes way up.  They kind of remind me of a teeter totter! Up and done, up and down. I think you will agree with me that something must have changed!   And indeed it did.  When I went to college, I was in for a rude awakening.  I was suddenly plunged into an environment where the measure of my performance, my grade point average, directly reflected the amount of focus and effort that I put into my school work.   And as you can see from the wide variety of ups and downs focus and effort were not my strong suit.

But wait, there were a couple of data points in there that are significantly higher than the rest.  These were high points in which the combination of classes that I was greatly interested in, as well as some extra motivation on my part resulted in better than average performance, and you might say exceptional performance for me at that point in my life.  So a large amount of variation can include highs in performance as well as lows. Basically it just means that there was, well, a large amount of variation in my performance at that time!

You’re Out of Bounds!

You might be wondering about that point way down there below even the Poor Performance level. That point is what we call an outlier. An outlier is a data point that is not consistent with the other observations. It usually indicates that something out of the ordinary has taken place or maybe you’ve made a measurement error. (You’re might not be as bad as you thought….)

Well, that particular grade point average happens to be one quarter that I (the art major turned business major) made the mistake of taking a college calculus class.  Can you say, “It was all Greek to me?”  Needless to say, that quarter was a chore for me! Even with all of that conscientious effort I made, I did not pass that course! Years later though, I retook that class with my algebra book in one hand and my trig book in the other, and barely squeaked by.  I honestly think the professor took pity on me and gave me enough points to get by. But hey, I passed the class!

It’s All Downhill From Here!

About those ending grade points that drive downward like the balance in my checking account at Christmas time.  I needed to show you a downward trend so I made those last few grade points up.  No one said I had to be truthful about my grades!    Those points represent a crucial idea.  Sometime things in life happen that send us in a tail spin.  Progress is lost, and from the short term view a crash and burn is certain to happen at any time…..   But there can also be the wonderful experience of seeing an upward trend as well. That could indicate a period of progressive growth.

Actually, I ended up terminating my college career a couple of years after I joined the LDS church and served a full time mission. After my mission, life happened.  I got married, we started having kids, I apprenticed and became a Tool & Die Maker.  And talking about variation, if we could only chart those years!  What ups and downs, and trends you would see!  But eventually I did end up finishing my Bachelors degree in Business Management as a nontraditional student, and those As & high B grades were hard earned! Both on my part as well as my wonderful family.

What Are You Trying to Say?

So why have I taken all of this time and space to lay bare my educational life in terms of a chart showing grade point averages over time?  What lesson or point might I be trying to make here?  Please take a few moments, push the pause button, oh yeah this is a book…., and look at the chart, then think about what I have told you about my grades, and my life.  What direct applications or parallels come to mind?  Let’s see if we have some of the same thoughts.

Looking at variation helps us see changes.  

Isn’t it amazing that a person can look at a simple visual representation of something as seemingly obscure as a chart of average grade point averages and see that there might have been challenges in my life?  There seemed to be periods of my academic career where I was quite the average student , what some students of statistics might call normal, then there were times when I had periods where something else was going on that caused me to have much greater variation in my performance. If you were sitting in counsel with me, you might well ask what was going on in my life that caused that much variation in performance at that particular time. Was there some special cause that stole away my consistency and caused me to shift from small variation to large variation.  Tracking and analyzing variation over time can help us see and address issues in our lives.

There will always be some variation.  

I like the concept that there will always be some amount of natural, or common cause variation in everything, every process, and especially in our behavior.  Let’s face it, life is messy.  Sometimes I have a better attitude than at other times.  I am more motivated in some periods of my life than at others.  Rather than obsessing on the fact that I am not as consistent as I think I should be, or as consistent as I think my neighbor is, I can look at my amount of variation in relation to what I call control limits.  Those are the boundaries beyond which I should not go if I want to stay safe and expect positive outcomes in my life.   An example of what I mean.   Looking at the graph at the second set of grade points, the series that showed an increase in variation, even though it was more erratic, the points were still well within tolerances.  I was not as consistent, but I was still progressing, I was learning, and life was still good.

Don’t beat yourself up.

Just move forward. This is the powerful lesson for me. Even if you think you are not as consistent as you should be.  Figure out what is causing the variation, identify what you can control or change, make a plan, and work that plan.  A caution, don’t try to change or fix everything at once.  One step at a time has a better chance at success.  I’ll share an example.

The Test

Let’s say that I have determined that I am very inconsistent in my gospel study. If I envisioned my time spent each day over a month I might find that sometimes I managed to spend a considerable amount of time on consecutive days immersed in the scriptures or gospel reading, but other times I managed only a few minutes, or perhaps not at all.  If I focused on the amount of variation I saw, I might wrongly conclude that I just didn’t care enough about spiritual things, or that I am simply not disciplined enough.

But, I have been a continuous improvement coach long enough to know that going with the first possible cause that we find or think of is usually not a good thing.  There are probably several factors having an effect on my gospel study.   Brainstorming what those variables might be will be the next logical step.  A variable (such as x or y) is that part of an equation that can change in value.  So what are some variables in my life that might change that could be effecting the amount of gospel study that I do?

Let’s just say that I have decided that the three most probable and potent variables are:

1. The hour at which I have to be at work.  (Being a Bishop, morning hours are my only totally discretionary time.)

2. How late I got to bed the night before.  (The earlier I get to bed, the earlier I am able to get up.)

3. How much time I dedicate to my morning exercise routine.  (Yes I do morning work outs, looking at me you might not think so!)

Those are the three variables that I think affect the amount of variation I have in my gospel study time.  If I really wanted to be scientific about this, I could start tracking each of these three variables as well as the amount of study time each day for long enough to see if there is a correlation.

I’m thinking a chart taped to my mirror that I have to look at and update each day before I go to bed.  Sounds fun doesn’t it!  After a couple or three of weeks doing that I would have enough data to run an analysis in a statistical package that would tell me for sure.   I am a great fan of tracking. I believe that we don’t improve what we don’t track. Not my original idea, but great nevertheless. Seeing patterns and especially improvement is important to getting better. I can honestly say that I have tracked all sorts of variables in my life. Time spent doing a variety of activities, spending, food consumed, and one time even the amount of sleep I got. OK, so sometimes I can be a bit obsessive… you think? But honestly, if you want to get a good handle on how much you are or need to do a particular activity, or habit, try tracking it for a while. You will be amazed at the insights you will gain.

The Old Fashioned Way

Or I could do it the old fashioned way and start adjusting and controlling the variables, changing the times I allocate to each until I get the amount of consistency I want in my gospel study.  The bottom line here is, I am more interested in the end result than on doing the scientific experiment.  I think I’ll just play with the variables until I get what I want……

Looking at the variable I listed, I don’t have a lot of control over what time I have to go to work in the morning.  It totally depends on what early morning calls I have, and what teams or training I am involved with.  So that variable may just be the one that drives the others. You will probably find that there are one or two variables in your area of improvement effort that will be dominant. Then there are other variables that respond to the dominant ones.

For example, if I have to be at work at 6:30 am for a coaching call,(darn those different time zones!),  I may need to make sure I get to bed at 9pm so I can get up a bit earlier.  In this case, the time I have to be at work is the dominant variable, and the time I need to get up, and the resulting time I need to get to bed are the responsive variables.   A side note…. My boss might just say that the time to be at work is not really a variable at all, it is a constant which I cannot change. But that’s a discussion for another time. Going back to the three variables I identified as critical to my success, given the time I have to be at work, I might also have to limit myself to a half hour of exercise rather than a full hour.

The Plan

Here’s the plan that I will put in place to make sure I achieve my goal; to get adequate exercise, given the constraints of my morning routine. My plan is in place. When I have to be at work early I will get to bed at 9pm and set my alarm for 4:30am. The next morning I will exercise one half hour and shower. Then I will study for one half hour so that I can beat it to work to arrive just before my 6:30am call.  Another day I might not have to be to work until 8am.  The plan for that day might be going to bed at 10pm the night before, getting up 5:30am, working out for an hour, quick shower, one half hour of study, and off to work to arrive at 8am.  Some variables changed, but the one I wanted more consistency in, gospel study, did not.   So my focus on changing the variables to achieve the output I truly want has become an experiment.   When I conduct a personal experiment like this, I try the routine for some period of time mentally tracking the results, and decide whether the benefits are worth the effort.   I also note whether I truly do have enough control over some of those variable to allow the adjustments I need.  For example my early bed time…..  sometimes it is just not happening!  Late meetings or unexpected emergencies do come up, and my options there will probably boil down to deciding which I want worse, at least seven hours of sleep, or to make sure I stay consistent with my gospel study.

Wrap It Up

Summing up (please excuse the statistical joke) the basic method I use to work towards incremental growth is:

1. Look for variability in my behaviors that is preventing me from achieving what I desire.
2. Express my specific goal or target, what I want to achieve.
3. Identify the variables that contribute to the variability of my behavior.
4. Develop a plan to control those variables. (design the experiment)
5. Try the experiment, review the outcome, and adjust.

Alma, one of my favorite ancient prophets, gave an excellent lesson on the subject of conducting experiments as he taught the Zoramites how to develop faith.

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

I believe that Alma’s intent with these words was to get the Zoramites to build upon their initial desire for progress. He knew that this would need to be their very first step toward developing their faith in the atonement.   That same basic principle applies to so many other areas of our lives, both spiritual and temporal. Finding and building upon a desire to improve. Letting that desire work within us, and of course, acting and building a plan.

So my friends, what areas of improvement to you want to tackle?

Till next time.  If you have any feedback, feel free to fill in the form.