This one seems obvious now.
I wonder how I could have missed it for so long.
As an accountant, auditor and leader, I've always appreciated this quote:
What gets measured gets managed.
- Peter Drucker
But I haven't measured what matters in my life. Not closely enough.
What matters to me is simple and I'll explain it to you as we go through.
Before we start, though, let's have a message from our sponsor !
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The Five F Framework
When it comes to what I value in life, I love to boil it down to the Five F Framework and Yes, I like alliteration:
Fitness
First and foremost, my physical and mental health, which I broadly label as Fitness.
We only get one trip around this planet and I want it to be as long and healthy as possible.
When it comes to mental health, it's everything. It's how we earn a living, make good decisions and succeed at everything else on the list.
I've been depressed. It sucked. I can never be there again.
It's not that I put me before my family, it's that I can't give them what they need if I'm not mentally and physically fit.
It's putting my oxygen mask on so I can be there to protect, provide and lead our family.
For me, it's simple. I want a long and healthy life span of adventure with my family.
It doesn't need to be hard:
- Eat clean
- Prioritize protein
- Improve sleep hygiene
- Lift weights 3-4 times a week
- Walk at least 15,000 steps per day
Family
The most important, to me, is family. It's my wife and children.
They mean the world to me and I haven't done a good enough job showing it, which needs to change.
This could look like more quality time with my two boys, date nights with my wife and long walk and talks with my wife and dog.
Simple time, together, over a complicated life. Like we talked about last week, it's leading a Simple Life.
For me, a good measure here would be cooking dinner for my family on Sunday nights and having a board game night, together.
It's also about being a better husband.
I've got challenges with ADHD that make my husband absent-mindedness even worse.
My youngest son has the same issues.
It's not that we purposely leave cups, wrappers, etc. laying around the house because we want to be slobs, it's simply that as soon as we put it down, it's gone from our mind. It doesn't exist.
I can recognize, even typing that, it's got to be hard for my wife.
She sees the cups. The unfilled water bottles. The clothes in the middle of the floor and the story she tells herself is they don't care.
To combat that, I need to overpower my natural style.
I need to continuously ask myself, and her, how can I be helpful today and track it.
Friends
Friends is hard. You make less of them as you age and yet, the quality and length of your life depends on the friends and relationships you have.
This is something I need to increase.
A few of my friends have talked about it - it's about making time to be with each other and have fun, together.
It doesn't need to be complicated.
It doesn't need to cost a lot of money, either.
For example, it can be as simple as going for a morning walk and talk.
Measuring this can be:
- Did I call my friends
- Have we scheduled a meetup
- Have we scheduled a group breakfast
- How am I showing up this week as a friend
Freedom
I say it all the time.
Money is the tool. Freedom is the Goal.
One of the reasons I work so hard, is my ultimate desire is to be able to do what I want:
- When I want
- Where I want
- How I want to do it
- If I want to do it at all
That, to me, is the ultimate sign of freedom.
To do that, I need to be focused on my finances, net worth and free cash flow.
While challenged in the short term, will not be an issue. We’ll continue to build out The Growth Guide as a business and Frame, as well.
I have unwavering confidence in what my wife and I will do, together, and in my Frame business partners.
Fun
There's a reason this is one of our values for Frame.
If we're not having fun when we're working hard or living life, we're doing it wrong.
In an ideal world, at least 80% of our time, or more, should be spent on things we enjoy. On fun.
The best part, it's simple. Most of the items I've already mentioned are fun. They’re where I want to spend my time.
I want to be with friends, family and my business partners.
To be doing things I love on a daily basis is the ultimate fun, which brings us to the last one,
Fulfillment
This is it.
Where the rubber hits the road.
As Thomas Carlyle said,
The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder - a wait, a nothing, a no man.
Fulfillment, to me, comes in having purpose, tied to your values and moving towards them on a daily basis.
I want to help 1 billion people grow: personally, professionally and financially.
I believe it's what I've been put on this earth to do.
It suits my unique talents, values and what I love to do.
It's why we have the Podcast, YouTube Channel, Newsletter and Social Media.
While doing that, I also want to build a business in a way that grows the people on our team and my financial net worth, which will allow me to pursue the mission even more - a virtuous flywheel !
I think it's about time I turn my mind to how I'm doing in these areas to rank them weekly and to improve.
TGG Podcast
This week on the Growth Guide Podcast, I talk about how Laziness is a Superpower.
When we think of laziness, terms like inaction and procrastination usually come to mind.
But it can be redefined as a form of efficiency that avoids wasting time, energy or resources.
Some key takeaways from this episode:
- Automate everything
- Utilize wasted spaces
- The power of saying "No"
- Delegate, delegate, delegate
To hear more, listen to the Growth Guide Podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch on YouTube:
Last Word 👋
I love hearing from readers and I'm always looking for your feedback.
How I'm doing with the Growth Guide. Is there anything you want to see more of or less? Which aspects of the Newsletter or Podcast do you like the most?
Hit reply, say hello, and let me know what you think of What Gets Measured Gets Managed and the Five F Framework.
I'd love to chat with you !
All my best,
Clint
