Welcome to Lean-Six Your Life. Our proven process leverages the Lean and Six Sigma business process improvement methodologies to accelerate success in achieving your personal goals. We will take your current potential and partner with you to achieve sustainable growth. By applying our tools, we will ensure focused effort, ensure you don't spread yourself too thin, and ensure you will have a higher probability of achieving those goals within a shorter period of time.
At the dawn of a new year, everyone
excitingly jumps to conjure up all of these great resolutions to lose weight,
finish a degree, get a new house, obtain a certification, and the list goes on
and on. But the one thing that people fail to determine is understanding their
foundation that exists to make this happen-determining key result areas and milestones to achieve the vision.
Have you ever asked yourself the following questions- "I can only do so much in a given period of time, in a day, a week, a month. How do I move the needle? How do I make it all happen? How do I eat the whole elephant? How do I avoid FOMO-fear of missing out?!" If so, we will assist you with all of these questions and more. Each month we will provide a key topic and key exercise to complete to help you accelerate your success in achieving goals.
January 2016
Key Topic: The Power of 3
Key Tool: Success Plan Template
The Power of 3 is the universal concept for focused effort which will ensure you have a higher probability of achieving goals in a shorter period of time. The Power of 3 is a universal truth that
is all around us-the Earth is the 3rd rock from the sun, the
triangle with its three sides is the most stable shape used in the engineering
of structures, military personnel are asked to triangulate their position to
identify where they are to get themselves in and out of serious
situations. Optimistic, average, and
pessimistic forecasting is commonly used in financial modeling. And even major memories from our childhood
include “Snap, Crackle, and Pop” from Rice crispies cereal or “See Spot Run”,
and best of all-Goldilocks and the three bears where a decision must be made
from three options, and finding the best decision is usually in the middle
between the other two-its just right. This Power of 3 concept is used oftentimes in marketing because our
brains have evolved to protect us from harm and as part of this protection
system, we like to have choices. Our
brains know that if we have too many choices, we will get confused. And conversely, with the opposite of having
no choices, we may not find a way out of the situation. Having three allows us to select what is not
too hot, too cold, but what is just right.
So, having three choices inherently is just right for us as humans. The
brain is best set up to recognize this: one, two, three… first, second, or
third, …beginning, middle, and end. Just
think about how in the English language we assign the first three places 1st,
2nd, and 3rd-very unique endings, then for all other
places which follow, they have the “th” ending.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals are given for achievement. So, this is why ensuring an expressed focused
on only three major goals/items at a time will help us to get there, to our end
game, to move the needle. Applying this universal
truth to focused effort will ensure you don’t spread yourself too thin, and you
will have a higher probability of achieving those goals in a shorter period of
time. When you achieve your goals with
this focused effort, you will have a since of accomplishment versus a sense of
anguish you would have in trying to achieve a list of ten and never being able
to even scratch the surface with any because the finite amount of time you have
is just not adequate. Now, use the Power of 3 to assess your list of resolutions, and complete the following:
- Step 1: Define the three main focus areas and goals you should spend time on accomplishing in 2016. Remember to be specific and identify an objective measure. For example, your focus area can be "Healthier Heart" and the objective measure of the goal will be "to reduce my cholesterol level by 20% by the end of 2016"
- Step 2: Write these down along the left side of the Success Plan Template. (See example below)
- Step 3: Measure your current state towards your goal, etc. 205 lbs, $2000 in savings, cholesterol level of 235 mg/dl=L.
- Step 4: Determine the incremental actions and milestones to be accomplished by each quarter of 2016. Write these down across the row of each focus area
- Step 5: Identify an accountability partner to help you to keep track of your achievements for each quarter.
- Step 6: Print and place a copy of this Success Plan prominently where you can view it every day and be inspired to work towards a better you!
For help with your success plan, please contact leansixyourlife@bulsardgroup.com
LEAN-SIX YOUR LIFE
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