This is the second part of my ACE framework series and it aims to introduce you to the concept of alignation. The ACE approach is my solution for organising and utilising your information, data, and knowledge to a concise (solid?) and science-based system that can support you in your pursuit of goals!
As I have explained to you in a previous article I needed something that would operate as a support system for what I do, and on the other hand as my center of my operations providing ideas, approaches, structure, content, context, and organization in my life and work.
During 25+ year of work in intensive knowledge management jobs and in places of great responsibility I have learned that you need to clarify what you communicate with your clients and associates, while your try to convey clear direction and specifications on what you do and what you expect from other people to do!
This is a managerial function of course and can save a lot of time and effort when practiced intentionally! But before you get there you need to clarify what you need for your life and what you going to use in order to achieve it! This is a (self – ) leadership function and it is your responsibility if you want to get the results you want in your life and business.
Contrary to most popular beliefs, most people do not guided by their needs or necessity , but from convenience. Most times, people do whatever suits them best (or at the time) not what needs to be done at the moment!
Why it is necessary to know what you do!
We used to believe that people are rational being. Classic economic thought starts from one basic assumption: that people moved forward by what it is rational or from what would bring them most value (independently of how to define it).
But what the economic crisis and the COVID period proved is that the vast majority of people display an irrational daily behaviour that brings about irrational consuming and spending patterns.
Why that a problem? Because people either react to fictional or imaginary stimuli or they spend money on activities and goods do not need (at all!) The net results is that most people are not getting what they want from work and life and spend their life in a reactive and responding mode without having control on what happening on them.
That’s needs to be changed in order you assume control on your life and business/work in order to achieve the results you want. But that cannot be spontaneously. It must be intentional and you should have a system in place to support your efforts and lead you towards the achievement of the goals you have set in life.
You need more things from such a system! You need that system to help you do more things, support your efforts in every level of your life and work and help you maintain an optimal life/work balance.
A such system would encompass all 4 components of an optimal procedure:
- Simplify (make the essentials and have the results your want)
- Systemise (do whatever needed to be done in order to get the specific results)
- Optimise (tweak what you do to maximise the results you get)
- Scale-Up (grow up your impact with limited resources and assets)
To start developing such a system you need first to clearly define what you want from life and business and the check what ways would suit you to get what you want!
The Alignation process
To know what you want is not an easy process. For most people at least. It is not easy because most people have never spend time and effort to clarify want really drives them, and the result they want to achieve!
They have vague ideas about success, quality of life, free time, more money but never they took the time to specify what all these abstract entities mean to them and how to get the best results for their efforts. Their understanding for their kind of “value for their money” approach is not clear and that’s why is always elusive.
To do something you need to clarify what you want to achieve based at least on your:
- Core values and principles
- Character, personality and your habits (or the ways you do things)
- Emotions towards what you do and how (like the beliefs you have toward money, win-win situations, making associations, etc.)
- Obstacles you need to overcome to reach your objectives
- Your current mindset and beliefs,
- …
Imagine that you need to loose 10 pounds, or gain an additional $500/month. These are your specifications. But non of these requirements can be met if you don’t have the control of what your are eating or free time to invest in order to get the extra money you need.
So, no of these is feasible in the present conditions. If that is the case you can transcribe these requirements as wants in a future time when the proper condition are met.
If it is not and you want to start a form of diet in order to become thinner, stronger or more agile and you do have control of what you eat and when (i.e. you don’t follow any specific – medical – diet, or other wise a medical procedure in relation to your health) you need to consider – and find out – the following things:
- What is our present weight and where you want to weight in order to be OK with yourself (this your life goal and it is different for each person. It should include what you think Is your ideal weight, how to maintain it in the long run, what side procedures you need to implement as a regular exercise routine is, etc.),
- Research the best science-based and proven ways – and practices – in order to bring the results you want,
- How to do it without bring upheaval to your family or dietary habits of the people around you (considering that your main value in life is the respect of any person’s life and basic operation principle of you is to do things by your own without bring trouble to the lives of other people, etc.)
- What make you to want to become thinner and how to maintain your momentum (your motivation)
- How do you feel about start a diet or a regular – structured – exercise
- What habits you need to adopt in order to start moving towards the results you want to achieve (like eat smaller meals, consume more healthier foods, do regular exercise, make regular medical check-ups, sleep better and in better conditions, etc. )
- What are the things you need to overcome in order to start implement the best ways to achieve the results you want (like limiting beliefs, social events with friends that may disturb your new dietary habits, etc.)
Answering in a sincere manner to these requirements and taking the initiative to do the things you need to do in order to reach your ideal weight and maintain it is to filter down, eliminate the aspect of your requirements that are not compatible to you (like loosing 20 pounds in 2 weeks, etc.) and restructure your main requirement as a SMART one you can actually implement and start employ it intentionally
Its implementation would, of course, depends upon your available time, energy, attention, availability, and convenience but now it is an objective you can pursue because it is compatible to you and you have the resources needed to achieve it. It is also a “package” you can impalement “right-away” or put it aside for future reference. But, in any case, is a valid one!
Whether this objective become a goal depends on what you have or need to do. You need to take the insights from the alignation process and directed them towards the composition of a valid goal you can start implement it along with your other requirements, limitations, and daily to-dos.
But his is the main point of the second phase, which is the composition phase and we will see next.
What do you think Takis about that? Is there a change to adopt an approach as that to your daily activities?
