Applying SLAs to my life

For the last two days, I've been in meetings to discuss Service Level Agreements (SLAs).  For those that don't know, SLAs are contractual terms that are used to guarantee certain levels of service being provided.In the consumer world, they are sometimes used by internet providers for something like 99% uptime, certain bandwidth, or latency provisions. 

So its not enough to say that you want a 99% uptime (for example), but you also have to have a reliable way to measure it and report on it.  And this conversation really got me thinking about my personal life.  What service levels do I have for myself?  I mean, outside of the basics (food and shelter), really what services are am I providing for myself?

I thought about this more (yes, I should have been thinking about the client, but what can I do), and realized that the reason my past New Year's Resolutions failed wasn't because I got lazy or because I was too ambitious, it was because I didn't have a reliable way to measure them.  Well....on second thought, I was too ambitious, and I am lazy..but that's a side point.

I've written earlier about the power of measurement, and now, I'm ready to apply it to my own life.  Each goal henceforth must be presented with a way to measure success (and failure). 

so with that, I present Sharad's 2009 Resolutions. 

1)  Redefine my body.  My past goals failed because they were nebulous.  This year, I will not fail because I will set the bar low enough to suceed.  I want to be superbuff, but I know it won't happen.  I want to work out 5 days a week, but with my work and travel schedule, it won't happen.  So, 3 times a week, I will exercise.  I will mix weights and cardio.  I may crank out a half-marathon, but if I do, its just gravy.  The goal is simplicity, and I will achieve it with 3 workouts a week.

2)  Redefine my mind. I have really been slacking on keeping my brain engaged lately.  Work is blah, and since I travel 90% of the time for work, my life is blah.  So, I'm not going to promise myself that I'm going to learn a new language or become a zen master.  Instead, I'm going to shut off my computer, and read a book.  Less blogs (and blogging), more reading.  2 books a month.  That's 24 books in the year.  I've already nailed January ("Middlesex" and "The Meaning of Night"), so I'm working on building up a buffer....let's keep it up through the year.

3)  Expand my horizons.  As I mentioned in point 2, I travel literally every week.  I'm always gone.  Tampa, Boston, New Jersey, Dallas....I'm there.  While I hate work travel, I love personal travel.  So here and now, I'm pledging to expand my horizons at least one time, but leaving the good ol USA, and exploring a different land.  I have a long list of places that I'd like to see (more on that in a future post), so let's start checking them off.

4)  Learn how to relax....I'm always on the go.  And when I'm not rushing around, I'm in front of the tv.  I've always wanted to learn how to meditate, and to further that objective, I'm going to meditate once every other week.  I could probably do more, but let's just start with baby steps.