God plays April fools?

I woke up and it was snowing today… har har, funny!! Very odd, on the radio they mentioned a big snow storm this weekend, not sure whether that was true or not, but I would have to believe it after driving to work in snow.

My Pictures.

See more photos: My Favorites on TrekEarth

Been a while…

yeah so it’s been a while, I think I have missed a few weekly weigh ins, but don’t worry I am still keeping track of my weight loss (or lack there of).  That is why I plan now on using a website I found called www.fitday.com  Really cool site, you should check it out if you are interested in losing weight.  So I plan on trying to keep a very accurate food journal of what I eat to ensure that I am not going too high on my calorie intake each day so that I will continue to lose weight.  I’m also still doing the weight watcher’s thing and it works really well, it’s all these small snacks that I end up munching on during the day that I think are killing me.  So once I get started I should start to see some great weight loss again.  I’m also planning on starting to lift weights, I will start next Monday since it’s tough for me to get into the gym on the weekends.  I am also thinking about trying to train for the marathon again, maybe I can make it past 12 miles this time around.  We will see I guess.  I’m trying to think if there is anything else I need to talk about.  Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week, and will talk to you later.

Leave

A huge thing happened today.  Well, besides the typical work and getting very important people mad at me.  I was able to approve my very first leave request.  I know, a very small thing that most people do so often and have done so many times that they don’t even realize they are doing it.  However, it was my first time to actually approve leave for one of my troops.  I thought it was exciting and since I have nothing else to write about on the blog I figure it still works pretty well for the time being.  Now it is time to get ready, for dinner tonight, Taco Salad!  Home made of course, so it’ll be a little more healthy than what you get at the store.  I hope everyone continues to have a great week.

The 80/20 Rule

So the last thing I wrote about was setting goals and that is where making your life plan a reality starts to work for you.  So what I want to write about today is the 80/20 principle.  If you are unfamiliar with the 80/20 principle it’s originated from an Italian economist who said that 20% of the people in Italy owned 80% of the wealth.  It has since been given hundreds of other meanings and if you Google it I’m sure you will find thousands of applications where the 80/20 rule applies.  I try and apply it to my life plan as well and I may be taking it out of context slightly but hopefully you will understand what I mean behind it all no matter what you want to call it.

What I did is I described the things I do that do not produce my desired end state, the 80/20 side of the equation for me.  These are the 80% of the things I do but I am only getting 20% of my desired end state out of them.  Then I listed out the things I need to do in order to reach my goals, this is the 20/80 side of the equation for me, these are the 20% of things I do that produce for me the 80% of things I want to accomplish.  Now like I said I probably need a better description than what I have but this is what I am using for now.  Some of the things on my 20/80 list are things that I don’t do at all but I need to do in order to accomplish my goals.  So just because they are on this list doesn’t mean I actually do them.  Then I try to minimize the 80/20 list and maximize the 20/80 list.  So things on my 80/20 list are things such as playing video games, watching TV, and eating fastfood.  Then the things on my 20/80 list are such as, doing schoolwork, maintaining a clean apartment, cooking healthy dinners, going to the gym.  The items on the 20/80 list directly point to my goals, doing schoolwork enables me to finish my master’s degree.  Maintaining a clean apartment allows me to have friends over every other weekend to play games and eat snacks.  Cooking healthy dinners and going to the gym directly affects my desired weight loss goals.  The things on the 80/20 list do not help me reach goals but many times hinder me from doing the things that will allow me to reach my goals.  Playing video games instead of doing these other things.  Watching TV instead of <blank>. 

Now, playing video games is very important to me, that allows me to relax and destress after the day.  However I need to make sure that it isn’t what I do as soon as I get home and continue to do well into the evening instead of doing other things.  To do this what I have devised is a checklist.  On the checklist i have the things I want to do on a daily basis.  So every afternoon I go home from work and I get my checklist and go down it making sure I accomplish all the tasks and once I am done I am free to do whatever I want to.  Each item on my checklist has to do with my list and my goals.  If I have established a goal to read a book every month then one my checklist items is to read X pages in my book each afternoon.  Also I need to do dishes, or need to vacuum or dust, there are just a few items on my list each day and then I have things I want to do on a less regular basis.  A goal of mine is to take my fiancee on a romantic date once a month, so I have a monthly checklist that I mark that on.  I just make sure that sometime during the month I am able to check off that item. 

Hopefully I was able to explain what I mean by the 80/20 principle and how it applies to the life plan.  I also briefly hit the idea of making a checklist in order to reach goals on more of a day-by-day basis instead of having these huge overwhelming goals.  This is the last thing I had to write about and finishes up my life plan I have and all the things that it encompasses.  Again I think having a life plan is a very good thing and I hope that you take the time soon to write one out.  As you set goals and see those goals met then you will slowly start to see that what your plan is actually come true for you. 

Setting Goals

So I have taken a few days off in the life plan series I have been writing, I’ve been a little busy and blogging and sharing this information is not one of my priorities but something I do for fun and maybe to help others who might bounce across my website.  So setting goals is the next step in creating a life plan which really is part of the New Year’s resolution fad that has been going on for many years.  OK, maybe it’s more than just a fad maybe it’s more like tradition or something, I really don’t know what you’d call it.  Setting goals isn’t difficult once I get started but it’s where to start and under what areas of my life should I establish goals. 

Well the easiest place for me to start is I take my values/priorities that I just listed out and I try to set a goal for each one, maybe several under a particular one.  So if I have 7 priorities in my life then I should have written down at least 7 goals, maybe up to 21, that’s not too many, right?  The amount of goals you write out is exactly up to you but if you cannot come up with a goal under a certain value then maybe what you think are your priorities in your life may not be so much a priority and its time to go back and relook at your priorities.  As far as my 21 goals I have written out I like to set my goals in this manner, I set a short term goal (maybe one month out) and then I set a mid-term goal, something that would last about a quarter of a year or 3 months, and then an annual goal something that I don’t see as an atainable goal within a year.  That way I have small easily reachable goals to keep myself motivated, medium goals that I will have to work for but will still see the fruits of my labor, and then major goals which will keep me looking toward the future.  As far as goals go I try and review all my goals and set where I am at in reaching them and establish new goals every quarter.  So on the first day of each season or sometime during that period I review my goals and set new ones. 

Now for the big thing that is probably the most important part of this entry is in what type of goals to set.  You have your categories of goals, about how many you want to set, and the timeline for the goals.  Now the hard part come in making sure your goal is measureable or quantitative.  There needs to be a set standard that you can see and say that yes this goal was met or this goal was not met.  The second thing is there needs to be some sort of timeline or some time limit on when the goal either has or has not been met.  For example, people establish New Year’s resolutions like this; “I’m going to lose weight”.  Okay that’s a great goal but it doesn’t say anything how do you know if you’ve met your goal?  I can get the flu and lose maybe 5 pounds one week from being sick, that’s great, I lost weight, my goal has been met, right?  No.  The goal should be measureable; “I want to lose 15 pounds”.  Okay, now I can measure that goal I know for certain whether or not I have lost or not lost 15 pounds.  The next thing is the goal needs to have a timeline set for it to know whether you are on track or not on track.  “I want to lose 15 pounds by the first of June”.  BAM!  That’s a great goal, I know when the specific time is whether or not I have met my goal or not.  Now that I know I have to have 15 pounds off by the first of June I know that, hey I need to lose 1 pound a week, or however much it is.  I can measure myself in March now and see, oh I have 8 pounds to go, I am right on target to lose 15 pounds by the first of June.  Another popular goal I hear a lot is to start going to the gym or to start reading.  Again, great goals, but don’t they sound better if established like this; My goal is to go to the gym 3 days a week for an hour or I’m going to read 1 book a month.  These are still good goals, on a weekly basis I can say whether that goal was met or not, at the end of each month I know whether or not I am meeting my goal of a book per month.  It makes setting the goal more difficult to figure out how to do this, for instance I want to be a better friend this year.  How in the world can I make that a measureable timelineable goal?  Well, how much time do I spend with friends right now?  Oh well I see them once a month.  There we go now let’s say I want to be a better friend by spending some time with my friends twice a month.  There it is measureable by the spending time with them and it’s set on a time line by twice per month.  I think I am starting to beat a dead horse here.

So I’ve talked about the importance of setting goals, to meet your life plan purpose.  I’ve talked about setting goals based on your priorities and values.  I also stated about reviewing goals on a consistent basis, I do it quarterly, you  may want to do it more or less often.  I’ve talked about how to set goals and how to ensure they are good goals.  Just remember when setting goals you can start out making sure they are easily reachable if it’s a new concept for you, but as you grow, continue to make the goals more difficult to reach.  This will create personal growth.  I wish you the best of luck in setting your goals are you continue to work in creating your life plan.

Next entry I will be discussing the 80-20/20-80 principle and how I think it works into your life plan.

Setting Values and Priorities

The next step in creating a life plan is establishing your values and priorities.  Some may say this is the first step but I like to think of this as the second step just because know that I have established what my plan for my life is I need to sit down and can more clearly see what my values are based on what I want to do with my life. 

You can go two ways in writing down your priorities, you can create a numbered list or you can just list them out, I did somewhat of a combination of the two.  I wrote down the priorities in my life that are set in stone.  Then there are other values I have that are important but I’m not sure where they fit in within the big scheme of things.  They are still things I value but does valuing my health come before or after my career?  I don’t really think it matters.  Now when talking about priorities and making sure they are falling in line with where they should be I would have to say that it is important to look at the big picture here and not the day to day decisions.  For instance, I value my health over my career but there are days that I have to work late to meet a deadline and I just don’t have time to make it to the gym.  Does this mean my priorities are out of place?  No.  I still value my health over my career but it’s one of those things that sometimes my other priorities take a slightly higher preference depending on the circumstances I find myself in on a daily basis.  That is one of the reasons I like to not have my priorities in any particular order that way I can my health and my career are two major priorities to me.  They will take priority over playing a computer game by myself or playing sick instead of going to the gym.  Then I don’t have the dilemna or guilt of having to choose working late over going to the gym because they are mostly on equal footing.  I will say that sometimes it is important to have priorities given a specific number and in that case I would say in priority two points lower on the scale can trump any given priority.  So if maintaining good healthy is number 6 on my priority list and focusing on my career is number 8, then yes I can work late and skip the gym, it’s only moving up two points.  However if health is number 5 on my list and focusing on my career is number 8 then perhaps I need to either re-evaluate my priorities or I need to leave work and hit the gym or find some other time to make sure my priorities aren’t conflicting with one another.  This will make the rest of what I include in the plan easier and also will establish a foundation for making decisions that make affect my life somewhere along the lines.  Next on the list will be the goal setting which was the big culmunation of why I started writing this last night.  We will be hitting that topic tomorrow.  Good luck on deciding what your real values and priorities are.  I know I’m going to have another look at mine now.

Making a Life Plan

So this is it, the big weekend where most people’s new year’s resolutions seem to taper off.  At least when going to the gym this seems to be the weekend where people just don’t come back anymore.  I have to say I always hate the first 3 weeks of the year, but something about the first 3 day weekend and people just don’t come back anymore.  There are the few people who seem to make it back into the gym and will continue to do so at least until spring break or maybe the summer time.  It is by then they have seen the fruits of their labor, they get out of the habit, and start the cycle all over again.  I’m not really here to talk about those people or anyone else who makes New Year’s resolutions and fails to keep them.  I just meant to do this around New Year’s and that seemed like an appropriate intro.

People make such a big deal about New Year’s resolutions?  My question is why?  I live my life in a way that I don’t so much care about making any resolutions, why?  I know what my purpose is in life and I make weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals for my life to meet.  Having a life plan also helps me out in know what goals to set.  So I want to spend the next several days or weeks, or however long it takes talking about the small things about creating a plan for your life that might just help you and will easily keep you from making these huge New Year’s resolutions and not keeping them anymore.  This will help you understand better what you want out of life and where you want to go, what you want to do.

To start out writing a life plan what I found is the first thing I did is write my eulogy.  If I one day get the chance to go to my own funeral, what sorts of things do I want people to say about me?  If I were to give my own eulogy at my own funeral, what would I say about myself?  These are the foundational stepping stones to writing your life plan.  For instances I want it to be said of my that I was a great father and husband, a real family man.  Being a good friend, a person people can count on was important to me.  So I listed out all the things I wanted people to say about me at my funeral.  After I did this I wrote it down and I wrote down small, somewhat abstract ways, of accomplishing this.

So what is the structure of writing a life plan?  That is the beauty of it, there is no real structure just the one you make yourself.  What I did is I wrote down a main paragraph covering all the smaller topics I wanted to discuss later on, I would write I want to be a family man, a good friend, a trustworthy worker, and so on.  Then later on in separate paragraphs I would dive further into  what type of family man I want to be, what it would be said of me that I did specifically that made me a family man.  Then each paragraph would discuss things like my friendships and my career.

Writing this shouldn’t be something that is rushed but should be something you really take time into considering.  I spent about one month writing my plan out.  Making sure that I wasn’t just putting silly trivial things in it and that I was covering all the things that are very important to me.  I also made sure when I was working on it that I didn’t have any distractions that I could be totally focused on that one thing.

Finally, reviewing your life plan is something that should be a very high priority.  Some people say once a year, others once a quarter.  Personally I like to say at least twice a year and once a year to really take a long hard look at it.  If you spend a long time writing it chances are things aren’t going to change in it a lot.  Mostly it’s just good to be reminded of what you are here for and to give encouragement.  There inevitably will be changes over the years and that’s not a bad thing, just sometimes how life seems to give changes.

This concludes my spill, this is the first of a few sets of series as I just go down my own list and plan and write about it.  I have also included my own life plan in case you want to see what all I have in it.  I would encourage everyone to make a life plan, it gives a good sense of direction to life.

My Life Purpose (last reviewed Fall of 2007)

To make an impact and leave a legacy for all of those who follow behind me. To live a life fearless and full of courage that only trust and faith in God can do. Love God and express my love for God to everyone who I come in contact with. To love my family and always have them as a high priority in my life. To love my wife the way that God truly intended for a man to love his wife. A shining beckon and an anchor man for my children to show them God’s direction for their lives and instill the same godly passion in them as I would have in me. Be the type of friend anyone would want to have. To work as though I am working for the Lord. Always learning. Always staying healthy. Be financially out of debt with plenty of retirement savings.

In order to make an impact and leave a legacy I will need to fulfill all the other aspects of my purpose and in doing so I believe I will.

To live a fearless life full of courage I will need to find that courage and fearlessness in God. In finding these things in God I will also be filled with God’s love and be able to express that love to the other’s around me. To do this I will memorize scripture, make a steady Bible study a priority, spend time in prayer, spend time at church and surround myself with godly influences. I will find someone who can mentor me and help me strengthen and stretch my faith. I will live my life in a way that would bring someone to me whom I can mentor and strengthen and stretch their faith. I will share my faith with those around me, pointing them in the right direction towards God.

For my family to make them a high priority I must always ensure that they will come before the other things in my life every time it is possible. I will be there to support my wife in all of her endeavors and also give my children the support they need to feel like they are growing up in a loving home. To show the proper love to my wife I will ensure that we study the Bible together on a regular basis but not to take precedence over personal Bible study. I will put down my own wishes and desires to allow her to feel honored and valued. I will respect her. For my children I will ensure that we have a Bible study time as a family on a consistent basis. I will help them to learn the truths of obeying God and following His precepts. I will not only teach them in word but I will also be an example for them in action. I will encourage and motivate them and push them in order to stretch their own abilities and talents.

Friends are always hard to find and I want to be the type of friend that people are proud to have. I want to always be there for my friends. To always have an open door policy for my friends that they can come over anytime they want and never worry about being turned away. To always be there for my friends whenever a need arises and be able to meet that need without regard to what my own needs and wants are. Make it a priority to always hang out with friends even when at times I may not want to. To always be available. To always learn new hobbies that I can enjoy with my friends whether it was originally my hobby or not.

The career God has called me into is missions. Currently my mission field is in the military but that can change any time. It is important I constantly remind myself that my immediate supervisor is not my boss but God is. It is imperative that I live a life of integrity, hard work, assertiveness, compassion, and that in everything I do I do my best. To ensure that I live my life in a way in front of my coworkers that it will be impossible to discredit my witness or other Christians’ witness. To witness to my coworkers not only in deed and action but also in word and in sharing my faith every opportunity I receive. I need to constantly remember Col 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”.

To always be educated and learning is very important. The ways to continue learning throughout my life are to attend classes at a university whether I am pursuing a degree or not, to read a new book no matter what type of book it is, to be learning a new skill through classes or by practicing.

Health is highly important. In order to remain healthy I will ensure a healthy lifetime diet and consistent exercise through weight lifting, cardio workouts, and other activities including sports.

To be financially healthy it will be important to be debt free, to have an emergency fund of one year’s pay, to have general savings for various large purchases, and to be saving up to my full amount allowable for retirement in IRAs and other retirement accounts.

I’m the boss…

So currently I’m a 2nd lieutenant in the Air Force and have only been so for about 18 months, not very long in the big scheme of things but long enough to basically have an understanding of how things generally run.  I am still trying to learn the proper Air Force way of doing business.  Well the office I have been working in for the past 6-ish months is the network office.  We control the routers, switches, and the security behind all of these.  Until now I have basically just been trying to understand how things work and what the processes are in this type of shop so that the day when I might have an opportunity to be in charge of this shop I will know what to do, right?  Well, that day has already come, I am now sitting in a captain’s chair as a young L.T.  Not all bad, I mean I love the fact that I am in charge of when I say do something it is done, well in an ideal world it should be done.  Unfortunately it seems the fabric is ripping at the seams on the first day of my “new” job.  I only have this job for about 6 weeks and am just holding it over until the next captain can come into the office.  So here I am trying to figure out the Air Force way and being given a stress level that I have never felt before.  Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy my job, probably now more than ever but I am going to need to learn how to deal with stress.  Hopefully this makes sense because I am not re-reading this to ensure that all my words are spelled correctly and all my sentences are understandable.  I just hope that my job slows down a little bit and we can get back into the nice steady rhythm that I remember we were in a few weeks ago when I wasn’t in charge.

Priorities

So I guess I am finally in that stage of life where one starts to learn a lot about their priorities.  Growing up in a Christian home I was always taught that when it came to priorities the JOY acronym was the correct order of priorities; Jesus first, others second, and yourself last.  I have found that it is not so easy as that.  What happens when priorities conflict and I actually am required to prioritize things that I have never had a problem with before?  I’m not saying it has caused a lot of torment or stress for me but it has been intense and I am actually having to prioritize things for myself that I’ve never had to do before.  An example is this, I am a co-director of an Upward basketball league at my church, I have a small group Bible study to go to, and my fiancee wants me to go to her school to help her out with a psychology project, if I don’t go she could fail her class.  If I went by the JOY acronym I learned as a child then I would have to choose the basketball or the bible study and then to compare those two I would have to choose basketball since I might gain something more from the bible study thus putting myself before God, right?  At the same time if I don’t go help my girlfriend she can fail her class, the other director can take care of the basketball thing for the night, I have missed bible study before.  So what is the right decision, what do I do?  Do I let down my fiancee who will be severely hurt by my actions or do I let down the other two groups which won’t be hurt at all.  Where are my priorities?  What decision am I supposed to make?  The JOY acronym is a great way to learn basic priorities but I have learned that it is hard to make it work sometimes in real life situations on a decision by decision basis.  So are my priorities right that I picked my fiancee over basketball and bible study?  I’m not sure to be honest.  If that is the case then where does the JOY acronym actually fit into my life, at the end of the month if I have made more JOY-based decisions does that mean my priorities are correct to the life I try and live?  So many questions that I don’t have the answer to at all.  I just have found it to be a great learning experience in my life having to make these priority based decisions, something I didn’t really have to do when I was in school.  I am sure I will continue to have to make tough decisions like this in the future, especially when I have a family that is also involved.  I just hope that at the end of my life I look back I will know that my priorities were where they should be and that I made the right decisions, at least most of the time.