What happens when you fail to measure

What is true in business is often true in life, and vice-versa.  About a year a go, the nice lady that cleans my apartment accidentally broke my scale.  I've been meaning to replace it, and the year just sneaked right by.

During the Rice MBA preterm, we heard the stories that the average student weight gain is 10-20 lbs over the 22 month program.  "Yikes", I thought, "my pants already are too tight."  Back when I had a scale, I religiously measured my weight and % body fat.  I even have this cool spreadsheet that interpolates by day for the occasions when I missed.  It made it easy to say no to the freshly baked cookies.

The broken scale is a very lame excuse, but it's been about 12 months since I've taken stock of myself.

Numbers don't lie.  I used to be in shape.  I finally replaced my scale.  Today's numbers are damning:

			Interpretation from the user manual	My Interpretation
Input	Age	34 years old		Still young :)
Input	Height	5''11”
Input	Naked Body on Device
Output	Weight	182.2 lbs
Output	Body fat	22.0%	“Overfat”	No duh.
Output	Total Body Water	53.0%	“50 to 65% is Healthy”
Output	Total Muscle	134.8 lbs
Output	Physique Rating	2	“This person is flabby and pathetic.”	Oh no!
Output	Base Metabolic Rate	too many calories		Daily Double-bacon cheeseburger required
Output	Metabolic Age	41 years old		OMG. O.M.G.!!
Output	Bone Weight	7.0 lbs	“Average is 7.3 lbs”	Fine boned
Output	Visceral Fat Rating	7	"1-12 Indicates you have a healthy level of visceral fat."	Ick.

Numbers don't lie.  If you read the Venture Capitalists and CEO bloggers, they are always measuring performance from a variety of metrics.  You should too.

And so, I've converted my disappointment into resolve, and I took some additional measurements:
Thigh           20"
Biceps         12.25"
Calf                  15"
Shoulders  49"
Chest            40"
Belly             37" (oooohnoooo!)

Assuredly, I'll be keeping track of things again.  I'll report back in a year or so into the program and either confirm or deny the massive student weight gain claims.  I sure hope they aren't true!

Heed this story and apply it both to your life and your work.  If you cannot manage yourself, how can you be expected to manage others?

Comments

[yasmín]

O sea ya es hora de que tomes frappuccinos light! :p