I started my day staring at a Joke Toon which advised ” if you lose weight, you’ll have more energy. why do you think they call it FATigue?”

I guess while it was said tongue in cheek, there is a point - being overweight does mean you don’t have the energy to move as much as you want. I outlined in an earlier blog about my plan to lose weight. Since then, 4 weeks have passed, and I shed another 4 pounds. As I outlined earlier, I think the plan to lose weight, or any plan that needs to be executed for that matter, really depends on the availability of instant and constant feedback. If we get the right feedback fast, we as supposedly intelligent human beings will be able to adjust our behavior to accomplish our goals.

For instance, for the last one year, I believe I am now a more sensible driver who is getting more mileage from my car — simply because there is an electronic counter in the car dashboard that automatically feedbacks to me how much mileage I get from the car based on my driving habits. I can easily glean for instance, that when I accelerate too fast and too much, the mileage goes down, and therefore I automatically desist. I also noted how enabling the car to cruise to a stop means higher mileage, and therefore have been consciously doing that.

My plan on losing weight anchors on just that — weigh yourself everyday, and note everything you eat. If you are more conscious on what you eat, and on weighing yourself immediately notes an increase, then you are able to adjust yourself fast before more damage is done.

This can be practiced in the company as well. For instance, I have noted that having an information system that allows instant feedback, people will adjust. Sales people who need to hit their numbers can easily see the total of their sales compared to their stated goals will be able to adjust their focus fast. Programmers who know their timetable, and immediately have the updated project plan on them will know whether to accelerate their job.

Three days ago, my brother in law, an endocrinologist doctor ( who also keeps a widely read blog - That Health Rules ) gifted me with a step counter. This is a small gadget you clip onto your belt, and will count automatically how many steps you walk per day. It comes with a stated goal that we need to walk 10,000 steps per day to maintain our health an weight. I have been playing around with the gadget, and the last 2 days, I have two statistics suddenly staring at my face. The other day, I walked only about 2,400 steps, and yesterday only 2,050 steps. This, more than any advice tells me another story I need to face — I spend too much time sitting down in the office, and this is the culprit on why for so many years, my battle against the bulge have not been successful.

I am hoping I can keep track of all these steps, and being conscious, I believe my system will now consciously engage the body to get off the chair often, and start walking. Hopefully, as I watch it grow to 3,000 to 5,000 steps a day, I will, in the face of such constant and instant feedback, grow in consciousness of what I need to do to accomplish my goals.

Need help in accomplishing business and personal goals? Work out a plan, but most of all, work out a constant and instant feedback mechanism that will always update you where you are. In the company also, cultivate systems to make sure such statistics are also available to people who seek for it. Such awareness will go a long way towards adjusting your behavior to what is appropriate for you to hit your goals.