Prevention is the New Black

I’ve decided that I am not nearly as pro-active as I should be.  Prevention might as well be a four-letter word to me (if it only had four letters).  It’s not that I don’t want to be prepared for the future.  I think it stems from the thrill of resolving crises. 

In one of my previous positions at work, I spent a considerable amount of time early on engaging in firefighting.  If you aren’t familiar with the term, thefreedictionary.com defines firefighting as: “the practice of reacting to urgent problems as they arise, as opposed to planning for the future.”  It was exciting to be the new guy rushing in to put out the fires (thereby coming to the ‘rescue’ of someone).  Over time, of course, the expectation changed to one of issue prevention and process stability.  With ease I transitioned into these roles, mainly because I love participating in strategic planning. 

At work, strategic planning entails all sorts of fun tools – Excel charts and tables, PowerPoint presentations, diagrams, etc.  Yes, I’m a geek (or a nerd, I’m not cool enough to know the difference yet).  I love visually organizing information and brainstorming process improvements. 

At home, on the other hand, I’ve lacked the necessary discipline to focus on the right behaviors.  I’m using singular terms not to distance myself from Jacob, but to ensure that I’m not pulling him with me in my admission of these flaws.  I don’t want to be sleeping on the couch. Tools haven’t always been put away, equipment hasn’t always (or ever) been winterized properly, and money hasn’t been spent in an effective or transparent fashion.  I’ve gotten my oil changed only when the car behaves funny and I think that might be the cause.  Rather than exercise or eat better, I wait until special occasions like Pride and work out and starve myself for the month before. 

No more.  To quote Gandalf the Grey from The Lord of the Rings [speaking to the Balrog while lifting his staff in the air to bring it down upon the narrow bridge on which they both stand]: “I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. Go back to the shadow. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun! You shall not pass!”

I am trying to focus more on prevention in 2011.  Although I am not Gandalf, nor am I a servant of any Secret Fire (unless that’s a sexy code name for Jacob), I am using this moment as an opportunity to draw a line between my previous lazy behaviors and my future ones.  (yes, you can read that to say my future lazy behaviors, and I wrote it to be intentionally ambiguous).  Together, Jacob and I have already begun the process to integrate better planning into our lives.  A budget has been made (and it’s charted and graphed in Excel, of course).  We are three weeks in to our new workout routine.  We have gotten our oil changes and tire rotations and have budgeted for them throughout 2011. 

Although our days will lack the excitement of the firefighting to which we have become accustomed, we will no longer risk burning the house down in flames, either.  I’m sure we’ll fill in the new voids with excitement from more interesting activities.  It’s not hard to beat vehicular preventive maintenance.