Yesterday, while I was watching my North Dakota State Bison football team lose their first home game since November 2017, I worked on my Hero On A Mission (HOAM) half-page format. Since I created my HOAM Life Plan I wished I had a half-page format. Something I could easily carry around with me. The first time I showed someone outside my family my life plan they were completely intimidated by the size of the beautiful binder I use. The binder was a gift from Business Made Simple and is extremely nice. It was designed for 8 ½” x 11” paper.
Problems
When I would put the binder in my backpack it would barely fit. It takes up a lot of space on my desk or on a table at a coffee shop. It just isn’t “user friendly” for me. I wanted something smaller. And since there wasn’t anything available, I did what I usually do—I made my own.
That created it’s own problems. First, doing front and back printing of documents that are cut to half-page size is tricky. Keeping things in order is a little bit like solving a geometry problem in 10th grade. That’s not most people’s idea of a good time. But I’m determined (some might say stubborn—thanks Grandma Mabel!). So, I figured something out.
Solutions
The way I initially formatted the half-sheets worked if you don’t print front and back. But I don’t want to waste paper! I grew up in a family business that tried to keep trees alive–not kill them. So I realized I needed to try again.
- I tried a new formatting approach. It worked!
- I did my “printing geometry.” I’m happy with it.
- The document is much, much easier to work with. Thankfully!
Always One More Thing!
Now I need to find a new half-page binder. I want one that’s high quality. One that looks professional. It also needs to have a narrow binding. That is going to be a challenge to find!
Why am I doing this? Because being a HOAM is important to me. It helps me become the person I want to be for my family and for God. I want to use my life plan almost every day. So it is worth the hassle for me to get something that is user-friendly, looks nice, and lasts for years.
All this work I’m doing has another benefit. It will remove the hassle for the people I coach in the future. Letting them use what I’m created will make their lives easier and more productive. In the long run, that is very important to me.
