ROL: Write Lightly and Carry A Big Eraser.

ROL (Return on Life) is a corollary metric to ROI (Return on Investment). ROL suggests small incremental changes that can cause a disproportionately large increase in QOL (quality of life).  This week's ROL comes from the wonderful world of Sudoku.

If your not familiar with Sudoku, you're way ahead. If you've encountered Sudoku you have a great appreciation of the previous sentence. I picked up Sudoku about a 1/2 year ago. Puzzles are suggested to maintain mental acuity. As a definite back nine of lifer, I want to do whatever I can to stay closer to personhood than I get to rutabagahood. Since crosswords and ADHD are mortal enemies (at least for me) Sudoku seemed a logical choice.

Sudoku relies primarily on deductive logic to solve a unique number puzzle. As a beginner, I write potential solutions in open squares or along the margins. As I solve parts of the puzzle I erase options no longer pertinent. Since that's more erasing than a pencil can handle, I also have an extra eraser.  That's my Sudoku kit in the picture. No too long ago, my daughter looked at it and said "Daddy, you have a very big eraser". I said "You're right my dear, I do have a big eraser" and thought "Shouldn't everyone have a big eraser?"

Life affords us all a wide spectrum of plans, choices and decisions. Some decisions turn out to be right immediately and yield the positive results desired. Other choices take time to yield fruit. Some plans turn out to be dead wrong and drain valuable resources until rectified.  It is NOT heroic to forge ahead with original plans, consequences be damned, if those plans are wrong. Listing, evaluating and recalculating options needn't be indecisive. As a matter of fact, having the courage to carry a comprehensive list of alternative options and the fortitude to change course is smart, strong and dare I say it...sexy. Just as in Sudoku, write it lightly and be ready to erase in the name of finding the best solution.

Would you be willing to share a situation where you altered your original plans mid-stream and achieved your desired results based on that change? You might give someone else the insight to do the very same.

ROL: You Can and Should Take It With You.

ROL is an abbreviation for Return on Life. Return on Life is all about making small incremental changes that yield large returns on life enjoyment. This week's ROL is about planning for the expected.

Have you ever been to the DMV and waited 45 minutes while 3 clerks came back from break, 4 clerks went on break and no one appeared to know how to load paper in the one special printer that is assigned to print the document you need to get on about your day? Have you ever waited over an hour for your doctor, dentist, optometrist? Seems Doc is running just a bit late and the magazines seem to be stuck in the 80's. You never know when these situations will occur, you only know that these situations are bound to happen.  Boredom fuels frustration which in turn fuels stress, even though you know this waiting game is going to happen from time to time. How do you beat it? Simple. Take something with you. Load an app to your smartphone that can keep you engaged for an hour. Better yet, go old school. Bring along a book or puzzle book and a pencil. I bring my Sudoku book more places than I take my family. Remember, you can't control how others run their schedule but you can manage your reaction.

What about you? Do you have any ready plan for occupying time while you wait (and wait and wait) for an appointment?