Who are Your 5?

The people who know me best know that this has been something that I have talked about maybe more than anything over the last few years. But recently, I have looked at it a little differently. The question, "Who are your 5" is based on a Jim Rohn quote that says, " You are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with". As soon as I heard that quote, I went on a mission looking for my five. The first two were simple, after that it got frustrating. I kept trying to figure out what I wanted in my group of five and then trying to find people who fit those characteristics. I couldn't do it! I couldn't find five people in my life currently who could cover all the characteristics I wanted to be able to cover. 

My Number One Rule

Have you ever had a really boring day at work? One of those days when everything is going smoothly and you actually feel like you can get a few things done, relax and maybe even smile. You sit down, you are making wonderful progress and then all of the sudden you hear a commotion of some kind. It sounds like yelling, but you think to yourself that there is no way that is happening on my nice simple day at work. Then it happens, the office door flies open and its right in front of you. Someone is upset about something pretty small in the overall view of things, but they act as if the end of the world is happening. You stand up and go over to them to ask them what is wrong, but you can barely understand them.

Lead and Lag Measures

A couple things to say before we get too far into the article this week. No matter how many times I have heard the phrase "lead and lag measures" I still get them confused. So, if you finish this article and you still can't remember which is which, you are not alone! So, what are lead and lag measures? A lag measure tells me if I have hit the goal I wanted to achieve. I set out to lose 15lbs, I get on the scale it tells me I lost 17lbs. I achieved my lag measure. A lead measure tells me that if I keep doing what I am doing I should or shouldn't hit my goal. 

Two Important Questions

Before we get too far into our journey, we need to ask ourselves two very important questions. The first question is, What gives me energy at work? Specifically, what tasks that are on my to-do list do I really enjoy doing? If you love being on the front line and making things happen, why are you always at your desk? If you don't love talking to people, why did you take the task of handing out information to everyone? For me personally, I want to spend all of my time looking over information and then taking that information to the people to try and improve them