TAKING INVENTORY

     My daughter used to tell people that I count socks for a living.  Mind you, she was only about five at the time, but that was her perception of my job.  The time I spent away from her, not coloring or singing or playing endless games of Memory -- in her mind, was filled with images of me in a large room, counting socks.  To be perfectly honest, her kindergarten explanation of my job (watered down though it may be) was accurate.  I am employed by a large warehouse club as an auditor.  Before you run away screaming from your computer screen,  I am not THAT kind of auditor.  I audit merchandise.  I check for shipping errors, help people find missing items, deal with members and buyers, and inventory the goods in our building. On a daily basis.  Everyday.  I. Count. SOCKS.  Zzzzzz....

            Before you completely fall asleep, I'll get to the point.  YOU are an auditor.  Or you should be.  And not for your sock drawer, mind you (I've already got that covered).  I am talking about taking daily inventory of your life. When was the last time you actually stopped running to take a look back and see where you've been?  And what you've accomplished?  Actually evaluate where you have been and how far you have come, before moving on to the next-and-greatest-thing?  If you are anything like me,  probably TOO long. 

            It usually takes some major, life-changing, asteroid-drops-on-my-roof type of a moment for me to come to this type of an epiphany.  Usually happens once or twice a year, which is kind of a good thing.  Incidentally, our physical inventory at work (where we count the ENTIRE warehouse, top to bottom, socks and non-socks) is also twice a year, January and July.  A checkpoint, as it were.  Now think back to the last time in your life that you actually "took inventory" of your goals.  Did you plan?  Did you succeed? A couple things I have learned through the countless inventories taken in my 40+ years -- both personal and professional (warehouse level):

            1:  HAVE A WRITTEN PLAN AND A TIMELINE.  I can't begin to tell you what a horror story it would be to count our entire warehouse without a written plan.  Our timeline starts about six weeks prior to the inventory date.  We have meetings, set goals, delegate tasks, and check in from time to time to evaluate our progress.  YOU can do this as the Life Auditor.  Plan your goal.  Set a timeline to complete it.  Check in weekly (or daily if it is a short-term goal).  Delegate, or enlist help from others who have a vested interest in your life change.  And then....follow it.

            2.  BE FRIENDS WITH FAILURE.  Most people are generally afraid to fail. Now, I'm not really talking about what people would term an EPIC fail, but your garden-variety failure.  An instance where something did not go as planned.  This is where you have a choice -- you can be BITTER and throw yourself a pity party, or your can get BETTER and learn from what went wrong.  A couple of inventory cycles ago, my boss put me in charge of paperwork -- a daunting task, to be sure.  This job had belonged to someone else, and she was not going to let it go easy.  As I was attempting to organize and put out fires, she was continually printing and reprinting reports -- causing a HUGE problem with the paperwork.  No matter how hard I tried to organize, her efforts to try and do the same job were causing us BOTH problems.  A manager compounded the issue by pressing the "END" button way too soon -- closing inventory before all papers were in and everything had been counted.  I was blamed for the mess and went home about midnight, throwing myself a pretty good pity party in lieu of a few hours of sleep I could have gotten.  The next day was a mess, but I managed to calm down and salvage what needed to be saved.  Lesson learned?  YOU BET.  Next inventory cycle, I took complete control of the paperwork.  I had a list going in of what NOT to do, which definitely helped.  My well-meaning co-worker was told to leave well enough alone. The paperwork was completed in record time, and my bosses were happy.  VERY happy.  And so it goes with our jobs as Life Auditors -- we learn from failures, rework our plan, add a little extra time, deal with people who are not helping us achieve,  and we can be back on track.  

            3.  SHARE YOUR SUCCESS.  I am not talking about bragging.  Pride definitely cometh before a fall (talking about failure!)  I'm talking about using your experience as a Life Auditor to help your friends with their struggles.  As a young, inexperienced mother, I always appreciated those who had gone before me sharing their words of wisdom (often combined with chocolate-chip cookies or shared sodas while watching our children play).  A lot of other new moms my age thought this was offensive, but I LOVED it.  I soaked in every detail, every this-will-help-you moment I could glean from those who had come before me. Taking the time to learn from others allows you to reach your goals a little bit faster, a little bit easier.  Being open to new ideas -- REALLY being open and listening -- makes ANY job a lot easier.  It also makes you a better friend, employee, parent...well, I think you get the picture.

            I have been fortunate to have been helped on my "inventories" by several amazing people -- friends, family, co-workers, and mentors -- all having some kind of influence on the outcome of my "counts".  They have helped me see where I needed to change direction, rework plans, find lost items, and sing about my successes. And you can surely count on Inspiresy for the newest and greatest words of wisdom from your co-captains in this game called Life.

             So, auditors -- count away, and pretty soon your job as a Life Auditor will be calculatedly comfortable...like your favorite pair of socks.