5 Benefits of Doing a Daily Inventory

Time can slip away from us. We suddenly think – OMG! We’re already three months into the year!  It can be easy to let things slide, like doing a regular inventory, and that can spell trouble if you’re in recovery. If old behaviors start coming back, old thoughts will be soon to follow.  How does doing a daily inventory help prevent this?

Think of yourself as business. You are in the business of YOU.  Your business has certain assets: personality, special skills, friends or fans (so to speak).  You want the business of YOU to be a healthy business.  Business owners continually assess the health of their company every day. They look at receipts, accounts receivable, customer complaints, problems with the physical plant or employees, upcoming events, and if they sell something, their stock. They  might not do a full inventory of stock every day, but they do it regularly, and they certainly do some sort of analysis of the business on a daily basis if they want to succeed over the long term.  Here are five benefits of doing a daily inventory for your business, YOU.

1.  You get to see what you contributed to your world that day.  You can think of this as a business might “sales” or “service”.  By considering what service you did each day, you are less likely to lapse into selfishness and its evil cousin, resentment.  Why is resentment a byproduct of selfishness? Because if you are in a me-me-me mentality you are likely also feeling like me-me-me is not getting enough-enough-enough.  That breeds resentment.

2. You get to see how others contributed to your well being.  This might be how a business might see “receipts” (or good reviews on Yelp).  Did a friend help you out by talking through a problem you have?  Did someone lend a hand when you dropped a package?  Did someone hold a door open for you?  Did someone give you a good review at work, or did a family member tell you they love you?  By considering how others contributed to your quality of life, you stay better connected to the world around you. You stay in touch with the pulse of your life and avoid isolation.

3.  You get to assess your reaction to negative events and improve your response next time.  This would be a business reacting to a customer or vendor complaint.  Did you dismiss another person’s criticism without even thinking about it?  Did you overreact to something while driving?  Did you scream at your spouse or children because you were tired or frustrated?  Reviewing your reactions keeps you honest and protects you against defensiveness. You start to learn that you will survive even if you are dead wrong about something and own up to it.

4. You become an expert in the physical YOU. You know when you are fighting an illness or getting too tired or stressed out. You know, like a good business owner, the physical plant of your business. Did I eat too much? Did I skip some sort of exercise? Did I stay up too late and end up short-tempered all day?  Did I drink too much caffeine and feel like taking the heads off my co-workers?  Why do you know your physical self so much better when you do an inventory daily? Because you are not disconnecting from yourself and getting into that “zoned out” bubble we can get into when we have too much stress and not enough time to think things through or contemplate our decisions.

5.  You  become more adept at avoiding crises and building success because you know what your stock is each and every day.   Studies show that people who write down their goals are more likely to reach them.  People who take stock – just like a business takes stock of their inventory – know where they stand and can think through the next best step to achieve their goals.  You are not as likely to be blindsided by your boss if you have kept yourself aware of your attitude at work.  You won’t be caught off guard by a bad review if you have checked your behavior and attitude on a daily basis and corrected it when you need to in order to succeed.

I’m sure many of you can share even more benefits of doing a daily inventory. I’d love to hear them!