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by Arnold De Villa
January 7, 2011
We made it to the first week of a cold beginning. The novelty of a honeymoon has passed and the normal routine has taken over. Some resolutions are now old while many have faded. Economic indicators are getting better. Employment is slowly rising. The stock market is gradually recovering from its bearish mood. As these events pass through, the macroeconomic scenario of any collective community still depends on the microeconomic management of each individual. When the ‘I’ improves, the ‘we’ develops. “There are no new things under the sun”, the wise King Salomon once said. There are only different perspectives. We all borrow from each other’s brains. I too am borrowing from Brian Tracy, a widely known business consultant, an excellent motivational speaker and a top selling author of so many books I personally cherish. Although Brian Tracy caters mostly to entrepreneurs, many of his theories synthesize a wide spectrum of wisdom collated from so many positive psychologists and business gurus.
SLAM is an acronym for simplify, leverage, accelerate and multiply. I think it is a good follow up applicable not only for the corporate world but for anyone who desires to improve one’s self, for anyone who cares or dares to change. My reflections provide some reasons. Your reactions will help you find more.
Simple things are always the most efficient in spite of inevitable complexities and difficult nuances. In resolving an issue, for instance, dividing the totality in parts can help us confront a problem one piece at a time. Understanding the simplicity of a portion can enlighten our comprehension of a complex totality. Anatomy begins with a cell. The universe starts with an atom. Colors are first conceived through light. The word incarnates through a sound starting from a letter. A simple thought sparks an idea, the idea kindles passion, and passion evolves into an advocacy until a complex social change takes place.
When we simplify those resolutions into tiny habits, we cultivate those habits as particles of our daily lives. When we simplify those particles into a heightened intent of awareness, resolutions become a breeze.
Leverage originally referred to a mechanical advantage through a specific position of an efficient tool. A lever, a crane, a pulley, and a wheel are some tools that cause a mechanical advantage. Through that advantage, the ability to move became easier. And with movement, work and production became faster. Nowadays, the term leverage has been extended to various applications including economic and financial connotations. In my simple mind, I consider any tool that can help me do things better as a leverage. Brian Tracy emphasized the use of our own resources as leverage against the competition. Of course, being a business person, he had the business audience in mind. For those who are not in business, our greatest competitor lies within. We find the proper leverage when we instill the proper tools. We read, we study or we listen. And then we can deliberate. And then we can discern. And then we can properly execute the resolutions we have kept.
There is a prevailing tendency for more and more Filipino organizations to focus on “education” as a social tool in contrast to social functions as an alibi for an educational event. This changing pattern will be leverage for those who are involved since a well-informed mind will tend to be more prepared than the pleasures of dancing or the spirits of drinking. In our efforts to persevere in our resolutions, leverage for 2011 could be to have concrete goals in whatever we want to do.
We will discover how to do when we are fully aware of what to do. And when we attain that end, the triumph will even be sweeter.
To accelerate is pertinent to speed, the velocity of motion, and the swiftness of movement. Perkiness is always fast. Alertness is not slow. Simple elements with leverage accelerate faster than anything else. When we move a bit faster than our normal pace, it will be to follow that we can do more. A slightly faster motion dispels the glum of a winter day. The faster we walk, the more heat we produce. And the more heat we feel, the more energy will come our way. Talk a little bit faster and observe how words will come your way. And if I write a bit faster too, I can also hit my deadlines earlier.
The last letter of the acronym combines everything into an exponential equation of multiplication. “M” stands for multiply – the productive aftermath of a well-structured labor that seeks discipline within the simplicity of leveraged efforts and accelerated processes. The final support of our resolution is when we find other resources who either share with our values or who are willing to share with our thoughts.
We multiply when we harness the strength of our similarities to that of other similarities. It is similar to that of cloning without the use of stem cells. To multiply is when we discover the most effective methods of simplifying our resolutions into doable elements that provide us the leverage against our own vices and imperfection.
To SLAM in 2011 is here and now. The month is still young. January is not yet done. We can build our own acronyms as we move on throughout the other pages of our calendar. And as Brian Tracy says, one last thing that can help us move on is to stand up and hang on. If there is anything we said we will do, then let it be done. Words were not designed to linger as a mere sound. They were meant to reflect a reality defined by the will to express. Through this will of expression lies a dynamic intent to do, to create, and to grow. Yet this intent will be challenged by our intrinsic whimsy for ease, comfort and pleasure. Then distractions set in, confusing us in our befuddled minds as we falsely perceive black as white and vice versa. It is for these facts that awareness is no longer a Zen-like mantra, but rather a mandate for a modern day need. It is so easy to be diluted in a massive blanket of data and information, the speedy velocity of communication, and the exponential growth of collective thoughts heightened by the internet. If we do not stop and retreat from its claws, we can get lost in its web and lose all sense of identity.
Simplify. It is where our innate beauty lies.
Leverage. It is the source of efficient motion.
Accelerate. Speed is in life and in every molecule that moves.
Multiply. It is the ultimate end product of growth.
Lastly, stay warm. Snow is on its way. There are exceptions to the rule. When the roads are slippery, slow down. In such a scenario, there is nothing simple. Ice is not leverage. Acceleration of a moving vehicle can result to death. And multiplication of a negative consequence is definitely unwanted. Take care!