Getting Rid Of Waste

I just read a book on the Toyota Production System. One key principle of TPS is the elimination of waste. Rather than focus directly on increasing productivity, in TPS productivity is a trailing indicator: get rid of waste and productivity will rise as a consequence. The term waste is used in the broadest sense of the word including; inventories, waiting time, poor quality, unnecessary work, movement or transportation, mistakes leading to corrections and unused creativity etc. Learning from the lean, what could that mean for you?

Guard Your Good Name

A clean credit rating to your name is important and a late payment can haunt you for many years when you want to start a new business or buy real estate. Guard your good name and reputation above everything else. When Tina Turner divorced her husband Ike after years of abuse she told him he could keep the money if she could keep her name. And look who came out on top!

Don't Just Be A 'Busy Body'

What counts here is not being active but getting things done. The aim is not to be busy but to be productive. Note your priorities and stick to them. Write them down and do the main tasks in order of their importance. When you decrease your activity level this way your productivity will tend to increase. This is a practical and simple productivity equation that can work for everyone, regardless of job.

Focus One Day At A Time

We live our life one day at a time. Days are added to days like bricks upon bricks when building a house or a tower. You only have to focus on the next brick and diligently add a new one every day. It is to the steady that rewards are eventually paid. After a life well lived we can look back with pleasure and pride at the great, solid brick structure we built one day at a time.

Choice Not Chance

At every juncture in our life and career we have to realize it is up to the choices we make as to how our successful future will look like. Don't leave it up to chance to decide for you. Luck is not a reliable factor to reckon with here. Regardless of where your current starting position is, decide to make your own, well thought through, choices become your guiding path. Success happens by choice not by chance!

Don't Complain

Most individuals want to associate and hang around positive people. Your friends are probably like that too. Stop your complaining, and you become more fun to be around. When they ask you how you are doing, just answer: terrific! I heard a good advice the other day; don't talk about your ailments or sicknesses, unless you are talking to your doctor. It was Henry Ford that said: "Never complain, never explain".

Return On Energy

In financial terms we talk about return on investments and return on assets (ROI and ROA) as indicators of profitability. As individuals we can evaluate what we produce in similar ways. What is the return on energy you get from your activities? Here are some other ROI's of life to reflect over; like, return on inspiration, return on imagination and return on initiative. What could you do differently to increase those ratios if you wanted to?