Quick Hits: Measuring what matters. Keep your budget simple. Tic-tac spice boxes.

• What we measure is what is going to matter to us. When you’re struggling to improve and grow, you need to know what it looks like when you’re winning, and track your progress towards your goal.  We measure things (whether it’s losing weight, paying off debt, growing a business, or whatever) to let us know when we’re going in the right direction. It keeps us motivated and encouraged. Now, there’s a risk in there, because it works both ways. If you start measuring the wrong thing, that’s what will matter to you. The thing you measure is the thing you will improve, so measure the right thing.

• If you’ve spent any time reading here at all, you know that I’m a fan of every home creating a budget for their money every month. If you want to win with money, you have to plan where it’s going to go and how it’s going to grow. Having said that, I’m not a fan of it requiring an overwhelming amount of effort every month to complete. Once you understand the basics, your budget shouldn’t take more than an hour a month to nail down, and you should take advantage of almost every opportunity to simplify how your money comes and goes, as long as you are still in control of it. I love spending cash out of an envelope, for example, because it makes you feel money and alters your spending habits. Automated payments, though, can bite you in the butt if your job status suddenly changes, so be careful.

• When I last went camping with the guys, I got to take care of the food. Juggling all of the little containers of spices for dinner would have been a whole lot more simple, if I had seen this first.

Quick Hits: Learn to spot fools. The importance of the advice asterisk. Fascinating micro-homes.

• Have you ever worked with a fool? I’ve worked a with a couple, but it took me while to figure out what I was dealing with. It was one of those situations where my bad judgment at the time has taught me better judgment to use now. Here, skip a step. Learn these 12 ways to spot a fool. And when you’ve identified a fool, treat them like one.

• *Understand that treating your fool boss like a fool will probably get you fired. And treating a fool policeman like a fool will probably get you arrested, at best.

• I was reminded recently that even the best advice needs a couple of situational asterisks, and it helps if you don’t leave them off.

• I’m interested in the micro-house movement. I’m not looking to move into one or anything, but I’m always impressed with the creative use of space when you have restricted square footage. For example, I’m sure I’ve hit this 68 square foot guest house before, which is both claustrophobic and amazing. Another one that caught my eye was this stylish dorm style space designed to fit within the same dimensions as an Italian prison cell. Yikes and wow.

 

Quick Hits: Saving money online. Doing more with less is stupid. Laser cut paper sculptures.

• Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money on the Interwebs, but not everyone has a solid platform to sell from. There are still ways you can benefit from it, though. One of the many financial gurus I read, Joseph Sangl, suggests BigCrumbs.com which offers you an affiliate link whenever you shop online, and shares a cut of their profits with you from whatever you buy. He’s made back hundreds of dollars. If you do a lot of online shopping, you might want to consider how affiliate marketing can help you.

• Any leader in business wants their employees to be motivated and productive. When a leader allows a poor worker to remain on the job too long, it hurts the performance of everyone on his team, because sanctioned incompetence demoralizes everyone. According to Dan Rockwell, over at Leadership Freak, telling your employees to “do more with less” isn’t any better, because it actually encourages those who are already doing more to do less.

• I love it when someone does something amazingly artistic in a new way.  Like turning shipping crates into homes. Or last week’s crayon carvings. So, when I find something that makes me go “Wow!” I want to share it here. These paper sculptures definitely qualify. You can find more incredible work by the artist, Eric Standley, at his website.

Quick Hits of the Week

• It’s important to set goals. Having a goal or two in every area of your life can be valuable for personal growth and development. Unfortunately, when it comes to our business or careers, we tend to set goals in terms of “how much we’re making” rather than “how well we’re serving.”  In every area, our goals should be worded around serving people, either ourselves or others.

• I really want to pick up a few copies of this book to give away next year.

• I haven’t joined Pinterest yet, and I can’t imagine doing so, but that clever jerk Jon Acuff is having too much fun with it. Here’s a gallery of house modifications that everyone can appreciate. Check out the Narnia wardrobe.

• Here’s a reminder for everyone. Growing, smoking, and even selling marijuana doesn’t mean that you’re automatically an unproductive or unwanted member of society. Read the stories of five seniors who will likely die in prison due to marijuana convictions, but who also buck the preconceptions. Some are educators. One served his country and holds several patents. All have friends and family who want them freed before each comes to his end. Each is serving a life sentence without parole over a plant that a majority of us now think should be legal. These men need to be shown mercy and grace.

• I’m still not interested in getting a tattoo, but I can’t help but appreciate the beautiful work some people have done with skin and ink. Really impressive stuff.

Is there something valuable or important or cool or funny or weird or awesome out there I missed this week? I can’t hit it all, but you should let me know about it by dropping me a line or sharing it in the comments below! I’d appreciate the heads up.