Per passenger mile or kilometer, what is the safest form of transportation (even safer than walking)?

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Do you know what the world’s safest form of transportation is (based upon deaths per passenger mile)?

Airplanes? Bicycles? Walking?

The answer is elevators. Per passenger mile traveled, elevators win the safety award over every other form of transportation.

Why? One of the reasons is because the safety factor (the buffer) is so great. We’ve all noticed those signs in the elevator that say, “Maximum capacity 15.” Passenger elevators are actually built to handle 20 times this weight without breaking! A large safety buffer!

 

 

Where are you skating on thin ice?

The amount of breakdown and difficulty in our lives is often a direct result of our failure to create and maintain buffers. Consider the following questions and try to discover areas where your buffers are dangerously thin.

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• Do you maintain a low level of stress, so that it’s difficult to push you over the edge?

• Do you have extra friends you can call upon, so that an emotional crisis is more easily weathered?

• Do you drive far enough behind the car in front of you, so that a quick stop doesn’t result in an accident?

• Do you keep your regular expenses well below your regular income so that you have plenty of room for unforeseen expenses or for taking advantage of new opportunities?

• Do you let people know (in the spirit of partnership) when something they do is annoying or upsetting you, so that you don’t build up resentment and then either withdraw from them or blow your top, thereby permanently damaging the relationship?

• Do you allow enough extra time and resources in the planning of a project so that it’s no big deal if it takes longer than expected to complete?

• Do you practice Lombardi Time (after Vince Lombardi, the great football coach) by showing up ten minutes early to your appointments?

• Do you consistently under promise on your tasks and schedule extra buffer time in your day?

• Do you eat for health and great immunity so that it's rare that you need to go to a doctor?

 

 

Discovering where you lack buffers

Not only does a life with buffers allow greater progress and smoother sailing, it also allows us to derive more pleasure from the journey as well.

Ask yourself, “In what areas of my life do I lack buffers? What does this cost me?”

Even though it may not be immediately obvious, people often live their lives without buffers because they are resisting some fear or fears.

Choose an area of your life where you consistently lack buffers and ask yourself, “What fear might I feel if I chose to create buffers in this area?”

Can you feel how creating buffers in your life would be a choice of courage for you?



"Next week there can’t be any crisis. My schedule is already full."

—Henry Kissenger (former U.S. Secretary of State)

"Good luck is with the man who doesn’t include it in his plan."

—Graffiti

"The time and effort required to complete a project are always more than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law."

—Hofstadter’s Law