I have a new theme that I am pursuing. The idea is that whenever I a worry or a concern or something troubling me, I try to convert it to data. An easy example would be something like weight gain. I am stressed out about weight gain. First of, I need to determine if that is true. Am I gaining weight? How do I know? Do I just agree with my gut (no pun intended) instinct? Or is there a way to convert my belief to data? Well this is rather easy. I can just measure my weight every morning, or if I do not like that measure I could measure my waist every week. The point is that I can convert this worry to data. Then it because less of a worry and more of a statement of fact.
Fact – I am gaining weight. I proven it by taking consecutive measurements for the last 4 weeks. Now it is no longer a worry, it is a clear and uncontested fact. Now I can just choose to deal with it or not.
Of course it is easy to pick on weight gain. However, try something more difficult. I am worried that I am I am not spending enough time with my children, for example. I think this is a worry that all parents have. We carry a ton of guilt about it. On one hand we need to provide for them and take care of their physical needs, but on the other hand we know how important quality time is. So we carry around guilt about this and worry. Well, easy way to solve this is convert it to data. Start actually tracking the time you spend with your children. Do not try to improve the amount of time you spend, just track what you are doing. When you have done this for a few weeks, you can then give yourself a measure. Lets say you are spending 10% of your time with your children, is that enough? If you say no, then ask yourself how much should I spend? You could propose to yourself 25%. Now you no longer need to stress about this. You have the clear fact in front of you. Right now I am spending 10% of my time with my children, I am going to improve this by spending 5 more hours per week and increase the time I spend with my children to 25%. That is a measurable goal, and easy to obtain. You are no longer stressed about it. Converting to data helps.
You can apply this to almost anything in life or in business. Converting to data helps you with decisions as well. For example, I was worried about “spending too much,” a few months ago. It was stressing me out. I kept this burden of stress on me all the time. Every time I would see some frivolous spending in my family, I would just get even more grumpy about it. Then I decided to convert it to data. I just went and figured out how much we were spending on a monthly basis. Then I decided to start tracking the number of monthly subscriptions, or monthly payments that I could eliminate or reduce. Incredibly, in just 3 months I reduced our monthly outlay of cash by 25%. That is a lot of savings, and I just feel better about it now. Converting to data helps.
I remember trying to help someone find a job a few years ago. They were freaking out. They were a failure. They would never get a job. However, I converted it to data. In this situation he had 17 interviews and not one job offer. He originally came to me asking for help on his resume. I converted this problem to data. He applied for 25 jobs, got 17 interviews and 0 job offers. In this case, his resume was clearly not the problem. The problem was with him! His interview skills were horrible. I asked him to come dressed for an interview and I had some friends interview him. I then gave the person the brutal truth. He did not look or talk like someone that anyone wanted to hire. We worked on that, and he was finally able to get a job. Converting the problem to data really helped.
You also may want to consider this when talking to your boss or senior management. Complaining about something is one thing. Complaining about something and having converted it to data is a whole other scenario completely. Converting the problem to data adds credibility, but more importantly proves that this is a problem. It also provides you with a way to demonstrate how to solve the problem. I remember proposing to a manager of mine once, to let me take over a certain job role. The analysis was easy. You are paying 7000 per week for the current personnel in place. You can replace them with me and only pay 5000. You will save 2000 per week. This is an easy decision for you to make if you believe that I can do it. Sure enough, they agreed and I was put into the position.
Converting problems to data is is always a good thing. Next time that you lodge a complaint, think, am I converting this problem to data?
Guy Reams
