Converting ethics and vision into eco-steps For the last 30 years i've been using a process for planning daily activities. At times i've ignored the process and got lost in my activities. This eventually resulted in feelings of disorganization and a negative mood swing. So... i think the process works and may be of use to someone else. Two process objectives are: be focused on daily tasks which match ones personality and direction of growth. At the same time interject feedback and creative thinking. Balancing focus, creativity, and feedback avoids getting locked into dead end paths and many other problems. The process begins with a rough statement of ethics and vision of the future. This is reviewed at planned intervals and adjusted. Each year the top level vision and ethics is adjusted and converted into objectives. The previous year is reviewed and accomplishments or failures acknowledged. Next, each month a planning process converts the yearly objectives into possible goals for the month. This is compared to what happened last month and the same month in the previous year (Note, i use a computer program to do this, availabe to anyone interested). Finally, a few minutes at the end of each day is used to plan the next days activities. All this is pretty standard and may sound rigid and boring, but here is the important part... When in bed each evening review what you did that day and what is planned for the next day. I always fall asleep before finishing this activity and wake up thinking about the next day. All night my subconscious must have been working on this activity because my thinking is organized and usually very positive. Often i'll have a problem in my plan for the next day and i'll wake up with a possible solution. How all this works is beyond me, but it does work. I once woke up with a solution that was so complex it took me several minutes to write down. I was amazed when the solution worked. I'm not sure if this process can compete with heavy TV viewing or problems which cause intense discomfort. Possibly solving and recognizing the problems could be turned into objectives and worked on along with the eco-steps. Maybe it is all connected and everything we do is part of an ecopath. ---------- Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7, http://www.teleport.com/~kowens Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
