Rule of Five

In my constant attempts to 1) Simplify my life and 2) Work on the process of goal setting, I have realized that I am setting my own bar far too high - not with what I am capable of, but what I can actually capable of doing within a year, my typical time frame.

What I realized is that I need less, not more.  I have been working on constructs to help me with this, so I came up with The Rule of Five.

Five things.  Five Areas.  That is what I am capable of working on at one time.  Convenient, because 5 is also the number of fingers on my hand.  Look at my hand, remember the things (I am simple that way).

For example, the Five Areas of My Life where all my goals fall:  Faith, Family, Financial, Fitness, Future  (the letters matching are not required of course, but make a spiffy mnemonic device).  Within each of these areas are sub-tasks of course - but I now have a framework to look at anything I am currently doing, look at my hand, and say "Does this fit into one of these?  If not, why am I doing it?"

Or the Five Attitudes I need to practice:  Godliness, Humility, Kindness, Self Discipline, Commitment.

And so on.

I am sure this idea is not new to me, as I am (generally) going behind others reinventing the wheel.  But what this has done for me given me a framework to attach what I should be working on in a way that always sticks with me and does not require me to be grabbing for a planner or notebook to see what is next.

It is simple.  And I am man always in search of a little more simplicity.