Decision Making Made Easy (Two Choices) - Part 1

Making decisions is always hard for me. It’s one of my Achilles heels. Here is a good method for choosing when you have to decide between 2 choices. It’s called PMI, short for Plus, Minus, Interesting. It’s an improvement over the simple Pro/Con worksheet.

How to use PMI:

1. Take a sheet of paper and draw three columns, labeling them Plus, Minus, and Interesting. You can get a free pdf form from MindTools.com. Example: Should I (A) eat dinner at home or should I (B) go out to a restaurant.


2. In the Plus Column write down all the positives (the Pros) about one of your choices. Example: the choice (A) to eat at home.


3. In the Minus Column write down all the negatives (the Cons) about one of your choices. Example: the choice (A) to eat at home.


4. In the Interesting Column write down all the Interesting things that could result from
   this choice (A) whether positive, negative or uncertain.
   
5. Assign points
   either negative or positive to each item in each column. You can be
   as arbitrary as you like, but a simple 1-10 scale or 1-100 scale should
   work.
   
6. Add up each of the columns
   


7. Total the three columns together.

If your score is positive this would indicate you should make this choice (A). If it is negative then you should choose choice (B).

PMI Table Example:

Should I (A) eat dinner at home or should I (B) go out to a restaurant.

PMI Table for Choice (A) eating at home:

Plus	Minus	Interesting
Healthier Food +10	I have to cook -10	Might miss out on meeting new people -7
I know what’s in the food +8	I have to clean up -10	Might avoid bad service +2
Can eat sooner. No drive time. +5	Not seeing anything new -8	Might miss out getting ideas for my writing -10
Quietier +2	I have to wait on myself -2	Miss out on exercise walking to the restaurant -7
Cheaper +3
+28	-30	-22

We scores the table as 28 (Plus) - 30 (Minus) - 22 (Interesting) = - 24

So in this example we would choose choice (B) since the outcome was overall negative for choice (A).

PMI charts were formalized by Edward de Bono in 1992, in his book: Serious Creativity: Using the Power of Lateral Thinking to Create New Ideas, HarperBusiness, New York, US, 1992. Five Star rating on Amazon from 8 reviews.

The Green Life: Clean, Green Machines

The Green Life: Clean, Green Machines

From The Sierra Club:

Clean, Green Machines
In the market for a new car? Then you might want to check out "The Greenest Vehicles of 2007," a list released this week by the American Council for an
Energy-Efficient Economy. The top scorers:
Honda Civic GX
Toyota Prius
Honda Civic Hybrid
Nissan Altima Hybrid
Toyota Yaris
Toyota
Corolla
Toyota Camry Hybrid
Honda Fit
Kia Rio / Rio 5
Hyundai
Accent
Hyundai Elantra
Honda Civic
The ACEEE also publishes a "Meanest Vehicles" list of unrepentant gas-guzzlers. Lincoln Navigator and Lamborghini Murcielago, we're looking at you...
February 08, 2007

Promote Your Site: A Blog for Promoting Your Blog

Promote Your Site: How to join

This is a blog promoting website that I just found. Here's how it works: You create a link to this blog by making a posting in your blog. Then you email echomixednuts@gmail.com.

Here is information directly from echomixednuts.blogspot.com
"This blog is open to all who wants to join and promote their blog(s) or daily article for free by posting whenever and whatever they want (except porn). Please note that at least you owned a blog.Joining is by invitation, just tell me if you are interested and send it to echomixednuts@gmail.com with a link to your blog(s) for review and you will be invited. Linking back is not necessary, however if you are generous enough here's the URL: echomixednuts.blogspot.com "

Members post articles and can have a link back to their blog.

Frustrated with your Success Strategy? Here's Help.

You have a goal. You have your success strategy. You start on day one to implement it. You work hard on each tactic of your success strategy. Day in, day out, you stay focused. But at the end the day, week, month, you feel frustrated. You wish you had more accomplished. Sound Familiar? Well help is here…

Well you're not alone. I often feel this way myself. There is so much I want to accomplish, oftentimes my expectations exceed what is possible in a given day. Hence, frustration.

I often use the analogy of climbing Mt. Everest. (you can see how I view my list of goals!) It's like Mt. Everest represents the attainment of all my goals fully completed. Everyday I set out trekking towards the peak and at the end of every day I'm still looking up at that peak and I say to myself "I'm not there yet." And so I feel unsatisfied, a sense of failure even! My focus is wrong! Let me tell you how I discovered the secret to eliminating this frustration.

I was describing this to my dad the other day and he said "If it was easy everyone would be doing it." We can take that another step and say If Success Was Easy Everyone Would Be Doing It. Wow!
This had a big impact on me.

This taught me three important success strategies that have helped me feel great and drop the frustration feelings.

The first lesson is this:

1) Keep An Eye on the Peak, But at the End of Each Day Review & Celebrate How Far You've Come! At the end of each day all I was looking at was how far I had yet to go. Of course I was feeling frustrated. Now what I do is keep a quick record of all I accomplished each day. I try to review it at night and even close my eyes to relax as I do this. Then I say to myself, "Good Job. You made great progress today!" If you can, share your success with someone. If I didn't make progress then I ask myself what I learned and what I can do better tomorrow. What are the most important things I can do tomorrow towards my top goals.

2) Take Heart, Difficult Goals + Perseverance = Uncommon Success. Because your goals are difficult, much of the competition will drop out. That means that if you can hang in there and keep plugging away each day, you will succeed. And imagine what will happen if you can add some skill to the mix. You'll be a total success!

3) Plan Your Day To Stay on Track. This is simple, but a lot of times we don't write it down because we say "I know what I need to do." Well if you write down a simple to-do list each day you will have a guide that will keep you from getting sidelined during the day. Keep it in front of you all day. Whenever you find yourself losing focus, refer to it. Plan according to what will get you the most progress today on your most important goals. Do the toughest things first when you have the most energy! Do the easier things later in the day when your energy is lagging.

So implement your success strategy everyday, review & celebrate your progress, keep plugging everyday, and plan your day! May success and a sense of accomplishment be yours!

Recommended Reading: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen.

Where to Order Kashi TLC Cookies: Soooo Good!

Do you love cookies but suffer from guilt afterwards? Well there is a relatively new cookie on the market that is a real revolution. It is a healthy cookie with lots of fiber and lots of dark chocolate too! No trans fats. And it tastes great!

The only problem is that every health food store that does stock them is always out of them and all the health food stores online don’t carry them. And you can’t even order them directly from www.kashi.com.

Well I have good news! I know the secret place to get them, The Better Health Store.

It’s the only store online that carries them and I should know because I have searched and searched!

Here is the product description for the Kashi TLC Cookie Oatmeal Dark Chocolate.

The Kashi TLC Cookies come in 3 varieties: “Happy Trail Mix,” “Oatmeal Dark Chocolate” (my favorite), and “Oatmeal Raisin Flax.” Each cookie has approximately 130 calories and 3 grams of fiber, but they are big cookies. You only need one for a small desert. I eat mine with some almonds. Yummy!

The Better Health Store offers free shipping on orders over $60. If you want to find a store in your area you can try Kashi’s store locator by clicking on this link. So do try them out and enjoy!

Loving Kindness

I was just recently sick with a stomach virus. Not the worst I ever had, but still awful enough. My mother came and stayed with me. I felt so sick and vulnerable, so I was so grateful for her presence.

We live in the same house and you know what they say about 2 cooks and 1 kitchen. It is true.

We argue more than I like and more than I should.

I feel like being sick was intended to send me a message that life is too short to fight. I need to let go of my anger, aggressiveness. I need to let go of my irritability. It is a choice.

Instead of anger, I should take deep breaths, take a break when tired, walk away from heated or aggravating situations, and then try to cultivate loving kindness in my heart toward my mother…or anyone for that matter. (don’t we all experience difficulties at work, in the supermarket, with spouses, friends, children, and on and on?)

I need to find compassion for the person who brought me into this world and who taught me so well and loved me so well. I need to have compassion for this person who has her own weaknesses and vulnerabilities just like me.

When I fight with her I see her as strong over me. But really she is probably tired like me. She has disappointments, sadness, loneliness, and sickness at times too. I need to give up judging her and find compassion for her like I would for a small child. We’re all still children underneath.

Giving up judging will free me from the chronic irritability inside of me. I know this is easy to say now, but I am making a commitment to this.

The reading that inspired me towards this is Pema Chodron’s audiobook called “Getting Unstuck.” You can check it out on Amazon here: Getting Unstuck: Breaking Your Habitual Patterns & Encountering Naked Reality

I’ll keep you posted on the results of my commitment. I hope that you may find some revelation in this too that may help you.

Anna, We Hardly Knew Ye

Anna Nicole Smith died yesterday at age 39. I didn't know her, but somehow I was stunned and saddened by her death. I guess the fact that she just lost her older son after giving birth to her recent baby, already had my heart feeling for her.

I know how hard it is to deliver a new baby and I know how exhausted and vulnerable you are right after that. To lose your adult son a few days after having a baby must have been crushing. I can't imagine the grief she must have gone through. And on top of that she had a brand new life to care for. A newborn baby needs their mother so strongly after birth. Under normal circumstances it takes everything you have to care for a newborn. To have to do that while grieving for your son, to whom she was very close, must have felt unbearably heavy.

Like everyone else I heard the rumors about her using drugs. I wasn't there. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. Either way, she was a human being struggling like the rest of us to find her way in life. It sounds like maybe her struggle was quite challenging despite seemingly having it all.

I'm not here to defend Anna Nicole's behavior, but rather to express sympathy for a fellow human being who died too soon. I also pray for her daughter that she will be loved and guided well in life so that she may life a good life. Like Anna Nicole there are many people in this world who are struggling and like her daughter, there are many children who are so vulnerable and in need of loving care. I pray for peace and goodness for all these people.

My learning from this sad story is that I need to appreciate everyday with the people that I love. So simple, but often so hard to do in the hectic world we live in today.