I am so elated at this milestone.

It is what you could call a labor of love.

And I know it could not have happened without you, my readers and channel viewers' support.

Let me share how it all began.

Perhaps you may find some inspiration from it.

Or be reminded of your own milestones.

The journey from 1 to the 100th post is quite an amazing one.

Below infographic encapsulates that experience.

This Blog Post will cover

Journey from 1 to 100th Video

Where, when and how did this journey to the 100th video begin?

Well, it was sometime during the summer of 2020 (rise of covid-19).

Rampant daily infections were triggering lockdowns.

My New York University semester classes were turning into Zoom sessions.

It was during being home bound one day that I remembered what my late father had told me always.

He said I was privileged to have had good education in my life.

However, he insisted that I should not waste it.

I must share knowledge so that others benefited from it.

And so began my crusade to this milestone - my 100th video.

The Mission & Journey to the 100th Video

My mission was, not surprisingly, to Share Knowledge that will Benefit Others.

It was after all execution of my late father’s wish.

I had already invested 26 years of my career and life in the hospitality industry.

My focus was on Hotel Middle Manager Financial Literacy.

More specifically:

• Helping You Understand Hotel Financial Statements in a Non-Technical, Usable way.
• Building Financial Literacy in You.
• Cover topics on
  • Hotel Financial Statements,
  • Revenue Management,
  • Restaurant Profitability,
  • Leadership & Productivity Practices

Why hotel middle manager?

Because for one reason, I had been in that industry for a quarter of a century.

I needed to share those years of experience to benefit my colleagues.

Second, often, at the early stage of a career, hotel middle managers needed guidance.

You, as a hotel middle manager need to be committed to your own financial literacy.

Ask yourself regularly whether you are doing. that.

I decided that I would use video as my medium to share knowledge.

My passion for recording and editing videos was I thought a good fit.

To be honest, I had no idea this amazing journey would lead me to my 100th video in 4-5 years.

It once again reinforced to me the power of determination and persistence.

Financial Skills Academy is born!

I published my very first video on July 17, 2020.

It was a thrilling experience to say the least.

Publishing your first creation to the world at large is an experience unlike any other.

The internet was of course the magic catalyst.

It was like picking up a megaphone and literally announcing yourself to the world!

Handling all the set up and maintenance of the channel myself meant however that I was not posting regularly.

So, 2020 saw me publish only 4 videos.

Yet it was a great beginning.

Remember the saying: Rome was not built in a day.

And I was determined.

With more familiarity with the channel, I stepped up the pace.

Years 2021-22 saw me publish 26 videos.

This was roughly once in two-three weeks for the years.

I was on my way.

All this while I was doing some voracious reading.

Reading is another interest that I had cultivated right from childhood.

I was learning tons about the Youtube algorithm.

Video Content Management

During all this, I was absorbing some major strategies of video content management.

I was understanding the Youtube algorithm as well.

How to publish videos that were engaging.

I was learning to bring in storytelling in my videos.

It is a long learning curve (something that I enjoy).

The year 2023 saw me publish 15 videos.

Now, I was ready to step on the accelerator.

Road to 100th Video - One Video Per Week

One video every week was my target.

This meant that I had to organize myself to:

• conceptualize
• research
• topic chunk
• script
• record and
• publish

each week.

I made Friday my deadline for weekly publishing.

It meant putting in place a system to regularly research, prepare, record and publish videos.

This was the time I set up a milestone in my Notion system for the 100th video.

Then began the countdown to that milestone.

I kept subtracting from the 100th video every time I published in the year 2025 (yes, this year).

Am thrilled to tell you that until this 100th video in July 2025.

I have already published 24 videos in 2025.

Or 2.3 videos per week.

Way above the 1.0 weekly video target.

In my videos, I have linked to multiple media like:

• courses
• blog posts,
• videos,
• podcasts,
• infographics,
• ultimate guides etc.

100th Video & Some Amazing Statistics

For me, it is not just a milestone of publishing my 100th video, though I am proud of it.

I discovered that I had achieved:

More than 25,000 views in the 100 videos.

My videos had accumulated more than 775 Watch Hours.

Subscriber count moved from 24 to 591!

I am thrilled at how my mission to share knowledge is turning out.

In the meanwhile, I had set other targets for myself apart from the 100th video.

I had set a goal for myself to rank high for videos in organic search results.

This means:

• when somebody searches for,
• say, hotel balance sheet basics topic videos,
• my videos on Ultimate Guide on Hotel Balance Sheet Basics
• appear on Google Page #1 as the 1st item.

Take a moment to digest that.

When you type hotel balance sheet basics into the search box, Google gave you multi million results.

Among those results, my video on the balance sheet features:

As the 1st Result on Page #1 in Videos Tab of Google Search!

Another example is the keywords:Hotel Financial Ratios.

When you type hotel financial ratios into the search box, Google gave you multi million results.

My videos account for 75% of all videos returned by Google.

Boy oh Boy, my head swam when I first came across these.

Similarly, based on keywords that I had targeted, I have a few others which rank on Page #1 in Google.

3 to 5 keywords rank on pages 1 to 3.

Organic search is critical for my watchers to find my videos without any paid advertising.

I took it as one of the fulfilling accomplishments of the value of my videos.

Among the 100 videos, let me pick the best ten performing ones.

My Top 10 Youtube Videos

Click below for my best performing 10 videos:

This Blog Post will cover:

Library Vs Single Online Course Metaphor

I will use a metaphor to build my case for membership site benefits.

Let us begin with learning essentials.

Your learning needs are quite varied.

And unique to you.

They cannot be met by any single online course.

Why?

Because each online course targets a certain learning level.

Basics cover elementary material.

Intermediate material cover more advanced learning.

So, given this, enrolling in a course can at best be limiting.

You might have to go back to another online course for higher, different learning.

There is no one size fits all type of course.

An old Chinese saying goes:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day

Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

What if I told you that a membership site teaches you how to fish.

As opposed to a single online course.

In other words, instead of one course you have an entire library at your disposal.

Financial Skills Academy Membership-Different Ways to Learn

Let me bring in Financial Skills Academy Membership here.

Are you a hotel middle manager or student?

Instead of enrolling in a single course, enroll in the Financial Skills Academy Membership.

It has multiple library types for learning.

The libraries provide learning in different ways:

• Courses
• Videos
• Guides
• eBooks
• Slideshows
• Infographics
• Podcasts

and more

Now can you see the first major benefit of membership sites?

But there is more.

Access to Exclusive, Premium Resources

Building on the earlier section, a library allows you to pace yourself.

To your style and speed of learning.

And yes, difficulty level too.

Most importantly it provides you choices.

You can look up another learning method.

For example:

Say, you are going through an online course.

Would it not be great if you could look up a focused guide for that?

Or browse an infographic as a visual?

Watch a slideshow?

Or listen to a podcast?

You cannot do that with a single online course.

In a way you are stuck with the learning method.

And consider this situation.

What if you wanted one on one coaching?

Maybe not all the time.

But as a different way to learn.

And to be guided in that learning.

Membership sites are more like communities.

They support your learning process.

With focused guidance.

And not just throw course content at you.

Why Financial Skills Academy Membership?

Why do we call it the Ultimate Learning Hub?

Let me lay out the reasons why.

As hotel managers your work is cut out for you.

You manage a busy operation.

You supervise a group of employees.

How do you grow yourself professionally?

The pandemic has made professional development an individual responsibility.

You must take ownership of it.

So, making the right choice for your learning growth is critical.

You want learning that can be squeezed into your hectic schedule.

And is self paced.

Which gives you choices in your learning methods.

Financial Skills Academy Membership is your online learning go to resource.

Why?

Because, to begin with. you have a host of libraries to choose from.

You have access to:

• Premium Content Library
• Course Library
• Video Library
• Ultimate Guides Library
• Podcast Library
• Infographics Library
• Asset Library [Templates, Downloads, Excel Workbooks etc]

But that is not all.

Learner Mentoring Sessions

Financial Skills Academy Membership supports new hotel managers and students differently.

Learners require simple, non-technical and usable language in courses and content.

And importantly new hotel managers and students require guidance.

We have got you covered.

Beginner level members are guided through Mentoring Sessions.

These are one on one sessions that focus on specific learning needs.

This is something that single online courses can never match.

How do we know what are your learning needs?

Wait until the next update on the Welcome Kit where we will reveal our unique method for that.

Let’s look at another exclusive benefit of the financial skills academy membership.

Private Community

Membership benefits allow access to forums like Facebook Groups.

These are private communities in which members can interact and exchange ideas.

In fact experience exchange is one of the biggest benefits of membership sites.

Imagine being part of a community where you can share frustrations and find solutions.

Try and do that with single online course offerings.

Still not convinced about the value of Financial Skills Academy membership?

Here is something that will surely make you first smile and then embrace it wholeheartedly.

The Icing on the Cake

On top of all these unmatched, exclusive benefits, there is one that you will love.

And that is the wallet saver.

Financial Skills Academy Membership will save you a ton of money for the value it provides.

Your learning value per dollar invested is way above with this membership.

When comparing with single online courses.

That is the icing on the cake of membership site benefits.

And it is no different with Financial Skills Academy Membership.

Your investment in it will reward you with more learning per dollar than single courses.

All the while supporting your learning requirements.

Financial Skills Academy Membership Dashboard

So, what is this dashboard, you want to know?

Financial Skills Academy Membership Dashboard is indeed your window to exclusive unmatched benefits as laid out earlier.

See a screenshot below of the dashboard I am talking about.

It allows you to get a peek into the private Member Area of the Membership.

The dashboard allows you to quickly access every benefit you will enjoy with the membership.

From course library to video library to ultimate guides library (as you saw earlier), you can access content according to your preference.

It also shows you the courses you are currently going through complete with a progress bar.

How cool is that?

We are not even talking about beautifully crafted Course Certificates at the end of your learning.

After all, you need validation for the effort you are putting into your professional development, right?

Upcoming events, latest premium posts and podcasts are just a click away.

Did you watch the video at the beginning of this post?

If not, make sure you do.

This behind the scenes peek at the membership is the first of many until the launch date.

Pssst....the launch date will reveal soon....

FAQs: Membership Site

What is a membership site?

 xx A membership site gives members exclusive access to premium content and resources typically in exchange for a monthly and / or annual subscription fee.

Why do people join membership sites?

People may want to be part of a exclusive community of like minded professionals. They can reach out to fellow members to share ideas and often problems which they are not able to solve themselves.

What is the difference between a membership site and an online course?

An online course is just one type of content often addressing also a certain difficulty level. Membership sites, on the other hand contain multiple types of content and courses. They can be compared to becoming a member of a library of resources.

Want to know more about Financial Skills Academy Membership coming soon?

Sign Up below to earn exclusive introductory discounts and other benefits.

Next Update: Membership Site Welcome Kit

What kind of learning needs do you have as a hotel manager?

How are you meeting those needs?

Have you considered enrolling in Financial Skills Academy Membership [coming soon..].

In the next update, you will go behind the scenes to learn what the Welcome Kit is all about.

Remember the unique benefit I talked about earlier.

You will learn about that which you will not find elsewhere in any membership welcome kit.

Enough said....

See you there.

Ready for a behind the scenes sneak peek of the ultimate learning hub?

At what’s cooking at Financial Skills Academy?

What will do that for you, you ask?

Great Question.

Well, it is primarily for your benefit.

How?

Through developing your skill sets.

That make you:

• productive,
• problem solving,
• financially literate and
• business savvy.

And Yes, successful.

You would want that wouldn’t you?

As a hotel manager, you are expected to run a successful operation day in day out.

That means a host of things:

• problem solving guest needs
• managing employees
• taking decisions (many financial!)

all while delivering consistent revenue and profit!

You have your work cut out for you.

It means pressing into play diverse skill sets.

Have you thought of that?

Whole Host of Skills

It is not enough for you to just run the operation.

You have to run it successfully.

In a post pandemic era that means:

• delivering revenue
• managing expenses and
• retaining profit

Pleasing your bosses.

And of course your hotel owners.

It requires an important combination of skill sets.

A combination we have been working on diligently behind the scenes in Financial Skills Academy to deliver to you.

Are you prepared from your side?

I mean, have you been building your professional skill sets?

We might well have the solution for you.

Shshhhh…

We are going to part the curtain, so to say.

Take you behind the scenes on stuff we have been working on.

Want to whet your appetite pronto?

Watch this Behind the Scenes Intro!

Liked it?

This was just the trailer.

And the first of many.

We will be regularly providing you updates on specific benefits for you from the Financial Skills Academy Membership.

And that is your priority, right?

You must benefit in building professional skill sets.

And we get it.

Sharing with you exactly how you stand to benefit.

Through these behind the scenes peeks.

Updates that will convince you about delivery of skillsets.

Ready to dive into this sneak peek?

Let’s go.

This Behind the Scenes Update will cover

Your Most Critical Challenges as a Hotel Manager

The first question in your mind must be:

Why are we calling this the Ultimate Learning Hub for Hotel Finance Training?

Great Start.

Here we go.

Take a look at this infographic which encapsulates it all.

But we will do something else first which will resonate with you.

We will start with what your most immediate challenges are as a hotel manager.

After all, that is what you really care about [What’s In It For Me].

With all that is on your plate as a hotel manager, there is urgent need to get access to learning:

• that will solve your hotel operation problems
• build professional skill sets in you
• that is non-technical and easy to understand
• that is quick to digest (and does not drag on forever) - you are a busy professional
• that you can apply to your hotel operation challenges
• that can deliver all of the above IN ONE PLACE!!!

You could cross your heart and say if all of this happened it would be good professional development.

Something you need urgently.

And so, let us come back to that question of yours.

Why Ultimate Learning Hub?

Why are we calling this the Ultimate Learning Hub for Hotel Finance Training?

Did you watch the Behind the Scenes Intro video?

If you did, you will realize something important. (if not, please watch it - it is less than a minute!)

How the Financial Skills Academy Membership ticks off all your learning expectations we listed above.

And more...

Let’s go through your challenges first.

You want learning that will help you solve your hotel operation problems.

Ultimate Learning Hub & Problem Based Courses

Financial Skills Academy courses are problem based.

What do I mean by that?

It means that all the courses we teach begin with a problem first.

For example:

Say the lesson is about hotel RevPAR.

We just don’t tell you what RevPAR means (other courses do only that).

We show you a RevPAR of a real life hotel.

How?

In a real life hotel profit and loss statement.

Paradise Hotel will be your constant companion through all your lessons.

So, you will be presented with a RevPAR number.

By actually looking at a Profit and Loss Statement.

Just like you would for your hotel.

This gets learning to be in sync with things you are familiar with - the hotel operation.

You will be required to first analyze the RevPAR number.

Say, find out what is wrong with the RevPAR number.

See, how different it would be compared to just telling you what RevPAR is.

That would not deliver any learning for you.

And now on to your next challenge.

Building Financial Skills, Knowledge as well as Ability

Your next challenge is that the learning must build skill sets in you.

Otherwise, what is the point?

You come away from the learning not being able to apply any of what you learned.

Well, we have news for you.

Our courses build not just financial skills, but professional skills, knowledge and ability.

Why do you need all three?

Great Question.

Well, just knowing about something is not enough.

Going back to that example, most courses simply tell you what a concept is.

Say, what RevPAR is and how to calculate it.

However, you want to learn to know what a RevPAR means.

What is a good RevPAR?

And what is not such a good one?

Maybe, compare it with the previous month or the budget for your hotel.

This would require looking at a financial statement which most courses do not provide.

Financial Skills Academy courses go way beyond that.

How so?

Course assignments will specifically involve you front and center.

How?

By asking you to state three points about the RevPAR (as an example) that you observe.

This will require you to analyze the profit and loss statement.

And other KPIs like occupancy, average daily rate etc.

See, how our courses place you in a familiar situation like your own hotel performance.

So, we make you analyze the RevPAR.

Then the assignment will ask you to suggest strategies to increase RevPAR.

Can you see how the course is not just telling you, but making you analyze, then suggest remedy?

And this will be building ability in you.

The ability of problem solving.

See how all three ingredients - knowledge, skills and ability - are baked into the lesson.

This is wholesome learning.

Learning that builds skill sets.

And now on to your next challenge.

Non-Technical, Easy to Understand - Ultimate Learning Hub

This is the single most common complaint against hotel finance training courses.

They are full of jargon and technical terms.

Jargon puts hotel managers off.

It instills fear of financial analysis.

Financial Skills Academy courses take the other route.

Every concept is explained in lay person terms.

You do not need any financial background to understand concepts.

Also, the lesson narrative is kept simple.

It constantly asks you questions in simple terms.

To check for your understanding.

You feel comfortable going through the course lessons.

And now on to your next challenge.

Quick to Digest Learning (does not drag on forever)

You are a busy professional running a busy operation (now busier post covid-19).

You require content that is:

• crisp and
• not long winded.

Financial Skills Academy courses are broken down into byte sized chunks of learning.

We call them Micro Courses.

Every concept is broken down into its most simple parts.

Each part is explained separately.

Parts are then connected together.

You do not get overwhelmed by the content.

It allows you to take the course in a self paced manner.

Removing stress entirely.

And now on to your next challenge (we have one more to go after this!).

Learning You can Apply to Your Hotel Operation Challenges

This is something almost no course in the market offers.

This is because, it requires learning (and the learner) to be placed in a familiar situation.

Situation that you as a hotel manager face in your own operation.

It requires you to read a profit and loss statement for analysis and decision making.

However, no course in the market provides you a financial statement which you can analyze.

As part of the course content.

In all of the Financial Skills Academy courses, your constant companion will be Paradise Hotel.

And its financial statement which will be instrumental in delivering hotel finance training.

Every element of a financial statement you use in your own hotel operation is with you in learning.

Ultimate Learning Hub - All Learning IN ONE PLACE!!!

This is a unique challenge.

All of the above ingredients you require in your hotel finance training should be in one place.

That is what a learning hub is.

Very few learning offerings can fulfill this.

This includes membership sites.

However, Financial Skills Academy Membership is specifically tailored to satisfy this key expectation.

Again, if you watched the Intro video above you would have seen that.

You saw earlier what is on offer at Financial Skills Academy Membership.

And what your learning with us can achieve.

Now can you see why we call ourselves the Ultimate Learning Hub for Hotel Finance Training.

It is your single ticket to building professional skills, knowledge and ability in yourself.

And to banish all the challenges that we discussed above.

And transform you into a successful business savvy hotelier.

Your learning challenges are over.

Get ready for the Ultimate Learning Hub for Hotel Finance Training.

ABSORB. APPLY. ACHIEVE.

Coming Soon...

Want to Sign Up in Advance? [& Get Intro Pricing Discounts!]

Next Episode of Behind the Scenes

In the next episode of the Behind the Scenes, we will look at one specific benefit for you.

With the Financial Skills Academy Membership.

In building your financial skills.

We will share examples of our course approach which will achieve that for you.

Towards being a successful and business savvy hotelier.

Here is to your success!

See you in the next episode.

Is there any aspect of hotel finance training which you would like to see included?

Comment below and we will ensure that we give it a good shot!

Ultimate Learning Hub - Related Posts

Sign Up for More Tips, Strategies and Secrets

Sign up to Speed Tips - Learn in Minutes for more tips, strategies and secrets straight to your inbox.

What is it about your local library that you love?

Yes, you are right, it is that place where you can browse through hundreds of books!

That ability to select only topics and classics that you love!

And make it your personal choice!!!

Your own library space, so to say.

Hang on to that thought.

I will share with you something which will make your learning as enjoyable as your local library.

And you would not even have to walk to the library!

It will be at your finger tips (ahem, your keyboard actually!)

Yes, I promise.

This Blog Post will cover

Your Own Asset Library Comes to Member Learning!

Now imagine that in the world of memberships.

What?

Why am I talking about a asset libary in relation to membership sites?

Exactly.

Say, you are a member of a site (there are actually very few of these!).

You utilize its courses and content whenever you want.

No big deal, right?

Now, imagine if that site allows you to browse through your favorite learning!

Big deal indeed!

Yes, only Financial Skills Academy Membership site allows you to do that!

An Asset Library of your selected learning.

In other words, your exclusive Member Asset Library!

Only available for members!

You can select which:

• courses,
• content,
• infographic,
• video,
• podcast
• and more

to not just browse but in reality learn!

Amazing, isn't it?

No need to select the limited content which is available.

Go straight to the ones you want.

In your own member asset library.

Member Asset Library is a benefit brought to your learning by Financial Skills Academy.

Imagine this scenario.

Asset Library Customized to Beginners (Example)

Say you are a Hotel Food and Beverage Manager with less than one year experience?

Or a student?

It is likely that you consider yourself a beginner (note: it is not bad to be a beginner - all of us once were!).

Beginners are simply those: 

• who are in the process of learning 
• the fundamentals or basics of a topic or skill.

Beginners require simple, non-technical, usable content and courses.

Note the word "usable" here.

Well, Financial Skills Academy Membership provides you that and more...

You could access your asset library of Beginner content consisting of

• Premium Food and Beverage Content for Beginners (Financial Skills Academy has content specifically for those!).
• Premium Food and Beverage related Courses for Beginners (yes, available!).
• Ultimate Guides for Beginners ()
• Videos focused on Beginner Learning  ()
• yes, a set of templates, spreadsheets, checklists to learn and use. ()

The possibilities are endless.

All tailored to your learning and difficulty levels.

Your Own Templates, Spreadsheets to Practice on Anytime!

As a food and beverage manager, you must know about menu engineering analysis.

One of the most powerful analytical tools to skyrocket restaurant profit margins.

Say, you want to learn the concept of menu engineering analysis.

Well, now you can not just learn but practice it on a template built for menu engineering analysis.

From your very own member asset library!

Imagine trying out menu combinations which will produce the highest restaurant profit margin.

Take a look at the screenshot below of an Excel Spreadsheet you can practice on.

No membership site gives you that kind of member customization.

But enough said.

Want to be the first to know when Financial Skills Academy Membership throws open its doors.

In the process, get an amazing introductory discount (shhhhshsh...up to 75% OFF!)

SIGN UP below in advance.

My Top 10 Blog Posts

Click below for my best performing 10 blog posts curated and all in one place just for you:

Content Focus in September 2023 Update

This September 2023 update to assist in professional development of hotel managers covered topics like:

Learn Hotel Revenue Management Strategies

Continuing the series on Hotel Revenue Management Strategies - 7 Ways to Re Think Basics, I published the next post.

Click for Missing this Critical Market Share Metric in Your Revenue Management?

I also published a critical revenue strategy for a hotel and the powerful 80:20 Rule.

Click for Revenue Sources of Hotel and 80:20 Rule.

Learn Hotel Balance Sheet vs.Profit and Loss Comparison

This post is part of the series on learning concepts and ideas quickly in the form of tips.

Click for Balance Sheet vs. Profit and Loss: Differences.

Next Post...Market Segments - Building Blocks of Hotel Revenue Management

Next, we will continue the 7 Part Series on Hotel Revenue Management Strategies, with Part 4 on the critical market segment topic.

I will see you in the next post.

What is it about your local library that you love?

Yes, you are right, it is that place where you can browse through hundreds of books!

That ability to select only topics and classics that you love!

And make it your personal choice!!!

Your own library space, so to say.

Hang on to that thought.

I will share with you something which will make your learning as enjoyable as your local library.

And you would not even have to walk to the library!

It will be at your finger tips (ahem, your keyboard actually!)

Yes, I promise.

This Blog Post will cover

Your Own Asset Library Comes to Member Learning!

Now imagine that in the world of memberships.

What?

Why am I talking about a asset libary in relation to membership sites?

Exactly.

Say, you are a member of a site (there are actually very few of these!).

You utilize its courses and content whenever you want.

No big deal, right?

Now, imagine if that site allows you to browse through your favorite learning!

Big deal indeed!

Yes, only Financial Skills Academy Membership site allows you to do that!

An Asset Library of your selected learning.

In other words, your exclusive Member Asset Library!

Only available for members!

You can select which:

• courses,
• content,
• infographic,
• video,
• podcast
• and more

to not just browse but in reality learn!

Amazing, isn't it?

No need to select the limited content which is available.

Go straight to the ones you want.

In your own member asset library.

Member Asset Library is a benefit brought to your learning by Financial Skills Academy.

Imagine this scenario.

Asset Library Customized to Beginners (Example)

Say you are a Hotel Food and Beverage Manager with less than one year experience?

Or a student?

It is likely that you consider yourself a beginner (note: it is not bad to be a beginner - all of us once were!).

Beginners are simply those: 

• who are in the process of learning 
• the fundamentals or basics of a topic or skill.

Beginners require simple, non-technical, usable content and courses.

Note the word "usable" here.

Well, Financial Skills Academy Membership provides you that and more...

You could access your asset library of Beginner content consisting of

• Premium Food and Beverage Content for Beginners (Financial Skills Academy has content specifically for those!).
• Premium Food and Beverage related Courses for Beginners (yes, available!).
• Ultimate Guides for Beginners ()
• Videos focused on Beginner Learning  ()
• yes, a set of templates, spreadsheets, checklists to learn and use. ()

The possibilities are endless.

All tailored to your learning and difficulty levels.

Your Own Templates, Spreadsheets to Practice on Anytime!

As a food and beverage manager, you must know about menu engineering analysis.

One of the most powerful analytical tools to skyrocket restaurant profit margins.

Say, you want to learn the concept of menu engineering analysis.

Well, now you can not just learn but practice it on a template built for menu engineering analysis.

From your very own member asset library!

Imagine trying out menu combinations which will produce the highest restaurant profit margin.

Take a look at the screenshot below of an Excel Spreadsheet you can practice on.

No membership site gives you that kind of member customization.

But enough said.

Want to be the first to know when Financial Skills Academy Membership throws open its doors.

In the process, get an amazing introductory discount (shhhhshsh...up to 75% OFF!)

SIGN UP below in advance.

My Top 10 Blog Posts

Click below for my best performing 10 blog posts curated and all in one place just for you:

Content Focus in September 2023 Update

This September 2023 update to assist in professional development of hotel managers covered topics like:

Learn Hotel Revenue Management Strategies

Continuing the series on Hotel Revenue Management Strategies - 7 Ways to Re Think Basics, I published the next post.

Click for Missing this Critical Market Share Metric in Your Revenue Management?

I also published a critical revenue strategy for a hotel and the powerful 80:20 Rule.

Click for Revenue Sources of Hotel and 80:20 Rule.

Learn Hotel Balance Sheet vs.Profit and Loss Comparison

This post is part of the series on learning concepts and ideas quickly in the form of tips.

Click for Balance Sheet vs. Profit and Loss: Differences.

Next Post...Market Segments - Building Blocks of Hotel Revenue Management

Next, we will continue the 7 Part Series on Hotel Revenue Management Strategies, with Part 4 on the critical market segment topic.

I will see you in the next post.

What is that feature you love about your Spotify music collection?

Yes, you are right, the wonder of playlists!

That nifty feature which allows you to select only tunes that you love!

And makes it your personal choice!!!

Your own curation, so to say.

Hang on to that thought.

I will share with you something which will make your learning as enjoyable as your music listening.

Yes, I promise.

This Blog Post will cover

Playlists Come to Member Learning!

Now imagine that in the world of memberships.

What?

Why am I talking about a playlist in related to membership sites?

Exactly.

Say, you are a member of a site.

You utilize its courses and content whenever you want.

No big deal, right?

Now, imagine if that site allows you to create playlists of your favorite learning!

Big deal indeed!

Yes, only Financial Skills Academy Membership site allows you to do that!

Playlists of your selected learning.

In other words, LearnLists!

Only available for members!

You can select which:

• courses,
• content,
• infographic,
• video,
• podcast
• and more

get into your personal LearnList!

Amazing, isn't it?

No need to plod through tons of content which you do not want to access right now.

Go straight to the ones you want.

Playlists are brought to member learning by Financial Skills Academy.

Imagine this scenario.

LearnLists Customized to Beginners (Example)

Say you are a Hotel Food and Beverage Manager with less than one year experience?

Or a student?

It is likely that you consider yourself a beginner (note: it is not bad to be a beginner - all of us once were!).

Beginners are simply those: 

• who are in the process of learning 
• the fundamentals or basics of a topic or skill.

Beginners require simple, non-technical, usable content and courses.

Well, Financial Skills Academy Membership provides you that and more...

You could create a Beginner LearnList consisting of

• Premium Food and Beverage Content for Beginners (Financial Skills Academy has content specifically for those!).
• Premium Food and Beverage related Courses for Beginners (yes, available!).
• Ultimate Guides for Beginners ()
• Videos focused on Beginner Learning  ()

and so on.

The possibilities are endless.

All tailored to your learning and difficulty levels.

No membership site gives you that kind of member customization.

But enough said.

Want to be the first to know when Financial Skills Academy Membership throws open its doors.

In the process, get an amazing introductory discount (shhhhshsh...up to 75% OFF!)

SIGN UP below in advance.

My Top 10 Blog Posts

Click below for my best performing 10 blog posts curated and all in one place just for you:

Content Focus in August 2023 Update

This August 2023 update to assist in professional development of hotel managers covered topics like:

Learn Hotel Revenue Management Basics

Continuing the Tip Trailers - Learn Quickly Series, I published the next tip.

Click for How to Identify Yield in Revenue for your Hotel.

A critical revenue strategy for a hotel and the powerful 80:20 Rule.

Click for Revenue Sources of Hotel and 80:20 Rule.

Learn Hotel Profit and Loss Basics

An in depth coverage of analyzing a Hotel Profit and Loss Statement in the following posts.

Click for Hotel Profit and Loss Statement Analysis.

Here is the non-technical bible to analyzing hotel financial performance.

Click for Hotel Financial Performance Analysis - The Ultimate Jargon Free Guide.

Tip Trailers - Learn Quickly

These posts are part of the series on learning concepts and ideas quickly in the form of tips.

Click for Tip Trailers - Learn Quickly.

Click for 9 Steps to Identifying Top 20 Restaurant Dishes.

Next Post...Are You Missing This Critical Market Share Metric in Revenue Management?

Next, we will continue the 7 Part Series on Hotel Revenue Management Strategies, with Part 3 on a critical market share metric.

I will see you in the next post.

This Blog Post will cover

What are Beginner Learning Maps?

Before we discuss beginner learning maps, let us define the concept of learning map itself.

Learning Maps are key concepts that must be understood clearly before mastering any topic.

When it comes to building financial skills, there are specific learning maps that must be understood first.

Often managers do not invest time in understanding basic concepts of financial analysis.

They then find themselves struggling with financial statements, performance measurement and so on.

It is my mission to ease you as a beginner into the world of financial skills.

Objectives of Beginner Learning Maps

So, what are the objectives of Beginner Learning Maps?

In my mission to make beginners more comfortable with financial skills, I laid down 3 Key Objectives:

• Simplify financial statement reading
• Set out an easy way to analyze and apply 
• Mentor how to influence business results

Let me quickly explain how each of these objectives will benefit you as a beginner.

Simplify Financial Statement Reading for Beginners

In my 25 plus years as a financial professional I have discovered one major truth.

Hotel Managers struggle with financial analysis mainly because they skip the basics.

What I mean is that, at a beginner stage, they jump and avoid critical steps.

In other words, they have not invested time to understand basics.

This fact is borne out in the way they read financial statements.

Reading financial statements is one of the most critical skills that is required of hotel managers.

Beginner Learning Maps solidify these basics, fundamentals and concepts before proceeding into analysis.

Set Out an Easy Way to Analyze for Beginners

The second major difficulty for hotel managers is how to analyze first.

And then how to apply that analysis.

Financial Analysis is not rocket science.

It can be understood and mastered if some basic common sense concepts are paid attention to.

Beginner Learning Maps teach those common sense concepts.

They equip new hotel managers with the foundation on which they can analyze business results.

Mentor Beginners How to Influence Business Results

Last but certainly not the least is the difficulty to link analysis with taking financial decisions.

A majority of time of hotel managers is invested in taking decisions.

Many of these are financial decisions.

Many beginner hotel managers freeze when they have to take financial decisions in the hotel operation.

Decisions that will cost the hotel money.

It is because of a lack of those basics I just talked about of financial analysis.

But they really need not fear taking financial decisions.

And I mean financial decisions based on sound reasoning.

Sound reasoning will come with correct interpretation of financial statements.

These financial decisions will help hotel managers influence business results.

Meaning they can actually improve and enhance revenue, expense and profit of their hotel.

As a hotel manager, you would want that, right?

Beginner Learning Maps teach you this critical skill in a easily understandable way.

Moral of the Story

If you are a beginner hotel middle or senior manager or a student, learn the ropes well.

Pay attention to basics and concepts that drive financial analysis.

Beginner Learning Maps will be your friend, philosopher and guide in the process.

Financial Skills Academy Blog has published more than 100 posts till date.

Beginner Learning Maps are embedded in most of the posts.

To make it simpler for you as a hotel manager, among the 100 posts, let me pick the best ten.

My Top 10 Blog Posts

Click below for my best performing 10 blog posts:

Content Focus in June 2023 Update

This June 2023 update to assist in professional development of hotel middle managers covered topics like:

• Hotel Revenue Management
• All in One Place Professional Development Center

Hotel Revenue Management

Continuing my 7 Part Series on Hotel Revenue Management Strategies, I published Part 2 on Yield Vs Revenue.

Click for Yield Management – Balancing Revenue, Capacity, Potential

Professional Development

Continuing my behind the scenes posts, I laid out the exclusive mission of professional development.

In particular, I made the case for the difference between a single course and a library

Professional Development is beyond just learning.

The post lays out how Financial Skills Academy Membership is vastly superior in building professional development in hotel managers.

Click for Your All in One Place Professional Development Center

Your Professional Development Partner

Want to know more on how you can achieve professional development with Your Success Partner?

Next Post...Are You Missing This Critical Market Share Metric in Revenue Management?

Next Week, we will continue my 7 Part Series on Hotel Revenue Management Strategies, with Part 3 on a critical market share metric.

I will see you in the next post.

Book Vs Library Metaphor in Professional Development

Take a look at the infographic below:

If you wanted to learn about only one topic, you could buy a book on that.

However, here is the catch.

You generally would want to learn about more than one topic.

Particularly since topics are always related to other ones.

This is not true just about leisure reading.

It is equally, if not more, applicable to work related reading.

As a manager, you cannot read only one book and become proficient in your job.

Possibly you cannot get proficient in anything with that approach.

No doubt you will have gotten some ideas from the book.

What if I told you that libraries are like professional development centers?

They cover a huge range of topics.

If done right, they can elevate your learning.

Sharpening the Saw

Heard of the principle of Sharpening the Saw?

Abraham Lincoln once said:

If I was given the task of cutting down a tree in 5 hours:

• I will spend 4 hours sharpening the saw and
• 1 hour in cutting.

Steven Covey in his perennial bestseller 7 Habits of Highly Effective People talked about it in a major way.

Well, the “saw” in your case is professional development.

When was the last time you gave this some attention.

As a hotel manager you have been so busy running the operation that you have no time to upgrading yourself.

That is not an encouraging sign.

You need to be able to continuously build skills and abilities in yourself.

So that you are considered and in fact are the candidate most suitable for promotions and opportunities.

Don’t lose sight of your priorities.

Learning Vs Professional Development

This brings us to a critical difference between learning and professional development.

Learning for the most part is about gaining knowledge.

You learn new concepts, steps, techniques and so on.

Professional development on the other hand means growing skills, abilities and experience.

You might have learned about a concept.

However, did you acquire any skills or new abilities from that learning?

This is a question that we often ignore.

This brings us to professional development.

Professionally developing yourself means you acquire new skills and abilities.

It is not merely learning concepts.

You gain the skills of applying those concepts.

Skills like:

• problem solving,
• decision making,
• conflict resolution

and so on are critical in achieving success as a manager.

This is where the Financial Skills Academy Membership libraries come in.

With multiple library types like:

• videos
• audios
• infographics
• slideshows etc.

to name a few, you build skills and abilities over and above learning.

This is professional development.

3As is a mantra that guides this process.

What are the 3As?

3As Mantra of Professional Development

The 3As of Financial Skills Academy Membership libraries are:

• Absorb
• Apply
• Achieve

Absorb

To absorb something is to add a key layer to your learning.

The layer of inner meaning.

Absorbing means to get to the core of a topic or concept.

It means understanding inner meaning.

Or you could also say master the basics.

No learning is complete unless you understand thoroughly the basics.

Unfortunately many managers skip the basics.

And make it difficult for themselves later in applying that concept to their operation.

So, remember this always: learn the ropes well.

Libraries in Financial Skills Academy Membership go to great lengths to instill basics.

We have libraries committed to just basics for beginners and learners.

Multiple mediums are used like video, audio, infographics to nail down fundamentals.

Libraries are tailored to unique learning needs through preliminary quizzes.

Apply

Dale Carnegie said: Knowledge is useless if it is not applied.

To acquire the skill of applying a concept you must have absorbed basics well.

Application allows you to practice learned skills.

For example:

Merely knowing what Profit Flow Through is meaningless if you cannot use it in your hotel operation.

To boost your bottom line.

Make it a habit always to seal your learning (absorbing) by testing whether you can apply it at your work place.

If you can, you have absorbed and applied learning.

You have acquired skills and abilities.

Or in other words you are growing professionally.

Let’s get to the third A - Achieve.

Achieve

For you to achieve professional success you must have absorbed and applied learning.

Professional development is the combination of skills and abilities to carry out your job responsibilities successfully.

Mere learning will not cut it.

Even more crucial is that success becomes more consistent.

It is not so difficult to achieve success once.

However, to be able to perform successfully time and again is not so easy.

The 3As of Absorb, Apply and Achieve allow you to grow professionally.

Taken together with multiple methods of learning, our membership takes professional development to new levels.

Higher Learning Per Dollar

This brings us to the question of how we acquire professional development.

Let me ask a question.

Would You Prefer Entire Professional Development Libraries At Your Disposal OR Just Single Course Content?

Each online course targets a certain learning level.

You might have to go back to another online course for higher, different learning.

Instead of one course you have entire professional development libraries at your disposal with our membership.

In the longer term, membership provides you with higher learning per dollar invested.

You would want that, right?

See a comparison below.

Membership Customized to Your Learning Needs

There is one huge additional benefit of our membership.

Professional Development is achieved through understanding your unique learning needs.

Single Online courses just teach you knowledge.

They do not take time however to know your unique learning requirements.

Each one of us learns best in a particular way.

Our membership through a preliminary quiz gets to understand what learning is best for you.

The level of learning you are most comfortable with is what drives our membership tiers.

While we accommodate all levels of learning, it is your learning needs that are the priority.

Beginners require simple, non-technical, usable content and courses and we have you covered.

We have a Learner membership tier entirely focused on beginner level requirements.

To guide you in your learning, we have Learner Mentoring Sessions.

These sessions literally hold your hand in your quest for building financial skills, knowledge and ability.

For experienced hotel middle, senior managers, we have the Professional tier which goes beyond basics.

At this level, the content, courses and other assets allow you to utilize your learning to take consistent, successful financial and business decisions in the operation.

All toward your professional development.

Now for the icing on the cake.

Professional Development with Leadership & Productivity Practices

Our membership professional development does not stop there.

We also bring in Leadership and Productivity Practices through our libraries.

Leadership brings in relevant elements that are needed to head teams efficiently.

Productivity practices introduce you to simple strategies to set systems, targets, measure and achieve consistently.

Multiple Learning Method Choice Libraries

How do you grow yourself professionally?

The pandemic has made professional development an individual responsibility.

You must take ownership of it.

So, making the right choice for your learning growth is critical.

You want learning that can be squeezed into your hectic schedule.

And is self paced.

Which gives you choices in your learning methods.

Financial Skills Academy Membership is your ultimate online learning go to resource.

Why?

Because, to begin with. you have a host of libraries to choose from.

You have member only access to:

• Premium Content Library
• Premium Course Library
• Video Library
• Ultimate Guides Library
• Podcast Library
• Infographics Library
• Asset Library [Templates, Downloads, Excel Workbooks etc]

Why Should You be Sharpening Your Saw Right Now?

As a hotel middle manager if you do not do it now, you are going to be left behind.

Post pandemic, competition has heated up.

Organizations are becoming more selective in their hiring.

Professionally developing yourself is not an option.

It is the ticket to your survival and performing at high levels consistently.

Make this a priority right now.

Next Week- Market Share Vs Fair Share Battle

Next week we will get back to Part 3 of the 7 part series.

Are you Out or Under Penetrating your market?

Why should you know this in the post pandemic era?

Find out next week in Hotel Rev Mgt Strategies - Market Share Vs Fair Share Battle

Sign Up below for latest updates on your professional development partner straight to your inbox.

I am so elated at this milestone.

It is what you could call a labor of love.

And I know it could not have happened without you, my reader's support.

Let me share how it all began.

Perhaps you may find some inspiration from it.

Or be reminded of your own milestones.

The journey from 1 to the 100th post is quite an amazing one.

This infographic encapsulates that experience.

This Blog Post will cover

Journey from 1 to 100th Post

Where, when and how did this journey to the 100th post begin?

Watch this quick (less than 1 minute) video for the journey to the 100th post.

Well, it was sometime during the summer of 2020 (rise of covid-19).

Rampant daily infections were triggering lockdowns.

My New York University semester classes were turning into Zoom sessions.

It was during being home bound one day that I remembered what my late father had told me always.

He said I was privileged to have had good education in my life.

However, he insisted that I should not waste it.

I must share knowledge so that others benefited from it.

And so began my crusade to this milestone - my 100th post.

The Mission & Journey to the 100th Post

My mission was, not surprisingly, to Share Knowledge that will Benefit Others.

I was after all executing my late father’s wish.

I had already invested 26 years of my career and life in the hospitality industry.

I decided to focus on Hotel Middle Manager Professional Development.

More specifically:

• Helping You Understand Hotel Financial Statements in a Non-Technical, Usable way.
• Building Financial Skills, Knowledge & Ability in You.
• Cover topics on
  • Hotel Financial Statements,
  • Revenue Management,
  • Restaurant Profitability,
  • Leadership & Productivity Practices

Why hotel middle manager?

Because for one reason, I had been in that industry for a quarter of a century.

I needed to share those years of experience to benefit my colleagues.

Second, often, at the early stage of a career, hotel middle managers needed guidance.

You, as a hotel middle manager need to be committed to your own professional development.

Ask yourself regularly whether you are doing. that.

I decided that I would use blogging as my medium to share knowledge.

My passion for writing was I thought a good fit.

To be honest, I had no idea this amazing journey would lead me to my 100th post in less than 3 years.

It once again reinforced to me the power of determination and persistence.

It was in July 2020 that I purchased a self hosted WordPress website.

Financial Skills Academy is born!

I published my very first blog post on July 28, 2020.

It was a thrilling experience to say the least.

Publishing your first creation to the world at large is an experience unlike any other.

The internet was of course the magic catalyst.

It was like picking up a megaphone and literally announcing yourself to the world!

Handling all the set up and maintenance of the new website myself meant however that I was not posting regularly.

So, 2020 saw me publish only 4 posts.

Yet it was a great beginning.

Remember the saying: Rome was not built in a day.

And I was determined.

With more familiarity with the website, I stepped up the pace.

The year 2021 saw me publish 26 posts.

This was roughly once in two weeks for the year.

I was on my way.

All this while I was doing some voracious reading.

Reading is another interest that I had cultivated right from childhood.

I was learning tons about the blogging practice.

It was in 2021 that I also ran into the Notion software.

In the past I had been using different software for task management (OmniFocus), journaling (Day One) etc.

After using the Notion software, understanding it’s versatility and power, I shifted my entire operation into Notion.

I use it for business and personally as well.

Content Management & Certification

During all this, I was absorbing some major strategies of content management.

I got myself a Certification in Content Management from Hubspot Academy.

Hubspot Academy is an awesome online resource to learn content related stuff.

Many of their courses are free too!

If you are into blogging or writing, try them out.

The year 2022 saw me publish 30 posts.

Now, I was ready to step on the accelerator.

Road to 100th Post - 2023 Target of One Post Every Week

With me becoming more familiar with Notion, I set my 2023 target to 52 posts.

One post every week.

This meant that I had to organize myself to:

• conceptualize
• research
• topic chunk
• write and
• publish

each week.

I made Friday (like Today) my deadline for weekly publishing.

It meant putting in place a system to regularly prepare, write and publish posts.

This was the time I set up a milestone in my Notion system for the 100th post.

I then began the countdown to that milestone.

I kept subtracting from the 100th post every time I published in the year 2023 (yes, this year).

I am thrilled to tell you that until this 100th post in June 2023.

I have already published 38 posts in 2023.

Or 1.8 posts per week.

Way above the 1.0 weekly post target.

In my posts, I have used multiple media like:

• courses
• blog posts,
• videos,
• podcasts,
• infographics,
• ultimate guides etc.

100th Post & Some Amazing Statistics

For me, it is not just a milestone of publishing my 100th post, though I am proud of it.

I discovered that I had written:

More than 350,000 words in the 100 Posts.

That is equivalent to roughly three full fledged printed books!

Averaged more than 3,500 words per post.

I am thrilled at how my mission to share knowledge is turning out.

In the meanwhile, I had set other targets for myself apart from the 100th post.

I had set a goal for myself to rank high on Google in organic search.

This means:

• when somebody searches for,
• say, hotel balance sheet basics topic,
• my blog post Ultimate Guide on Hotel Balance Sheet Basics
• would appear on Google Page #1 as the 5th item.

Take a moment to digest that.

When you typed hotel balance sheet basics into the search box, Google gave you twenty three million four hundred thousand results.

Among those twenty three million four hundred thousand results, my blog post on the balance sheet features:

As the 5th Result on Page #1 of Google Search!

That is, 5th out of 23,400,000 Results!

Boy oh Boy, my head swam when I first came across this.

Similarly, based on keywords that I had targeted, I have a few others which rank on Page #1 in Google.

3 to 5 keywords rank on pages 1 to 3.

Organic search is critical for my readers to find my posts without any paid advertising.

I took it as one of the fulfilling accomplishments of the value of my posts.

In March 2023, I partnered with www.4hoteliers.com to publish one exclusive guest post on their website each month.

Among the 100 posts, let me pick the best ten.

My Top 10 Blog Posts

Click below for my best performing 10 blog posts:

Content Focus in May 2023 Update

This May 2023 update to assist in professional development of hotel middle managers covered topics like:

• Leadership & Productivity Practices
• Hotel Financial Statements
• Hotel Revenue Management
• Ultimate Guides

Leadership & Productivity Practices

I continued my 3 part series of posts on leadership and productivity practices that I was following.

In the month of May, I published Parts 2 & 3 of the series.

Click for OKR - Your Guiding Force for Consistent Achievement

Click for OKR Review - Your Litmus Test for Measuring Achievement

Hotel Financial Statements

As part of my non-technical, action based topics on finance basics, I published a video post specifically for hotel middle managers.

Click for Financial Statement Defects Hotel Middle Managers Miss

Hotel Revenue Management

Continuing my 7 Part Series on Hotel Revenue Management Strategies, I published Part 1 on Room Inventory.

Click for Room Inventory - a Hotel Asset Management Challenge

Ultimate Guides

Continuing my behind the scenes posts, I laid out the philosophy of ultimate guides.

In particular, I made the case for comprehensive discussion on hotel finance topics.

Ultimate Guides play a big role in the forthcoming Financial Skills Academy Membership roll out.

These guides also emphasize why the membership is called the Ultimate Learning Hub for Hotel Finance Training.

Click for Ultimate Guides - Topics In Depth Critical for Professional Development

Your Professional Development Partner

Want to know how you can achieve professional development with Your Success Partner?

Next Week...Yield and Revenue

Next Week, we will continue my 7 Part Series on Hotel Revenue Management Strategies, with Part 2 on Yield and Revenue.

I will see you next Friday.

What are OKR Reviews?

This is the concluding Part 3 of the series on Leadership & Productivity Practices.

Click links below for Parts 1 & 2 which are required for this Part 3 to make sense.

In this post we will be answering some basic questions like:

What are OKR Reviews?

What can I view with my OKR reviews?

How to do a OKR review?

And more.

First, let us deal with what an OKR Review is.

An OKR Reviews a powerful ritual of

• measuring and 
• improving 

on performance targets.

This is the concluding Part 3 of a 3 Part Series on Leadership and Productivity Practices for hotel middle managers (and actually everybody else!).

Let me backtrack a bit to provide you some background.

More specifically, this is about how I use Reviews for my performance targets and achievement system.

My PPP Manifesto

This manifesto guides me in everything I do both in my business enterprise as well as my personal life.

I consciously adhere to the manifesto at all times.

The PPP Manifesto is anchored by three powerful achievement mindsets:

• Process
• Planning 
• Progress

The Process role is all about steps and rituals.

One of the rituals is the OKR Review this post is about.

The Planning role is about mapping your journey and destination.

I Use OKR for my planning (more shortly)

Planning window is quarter based (more shortly).

The Progress Role is about measuring how I am doing against the plan.

In other words, identifying milestones of progress.

It is week / month based for each quarter planned.

TIP 1

• Whatever approach you adopt ensure that you give it your own unique flavor.
• That taps into how you think.
• The way you work best.
• And most of all, that harnesses your skill sets.
• Your OKR system of goal setting must be yours and only yours.

My Use of OKR Reviews

I use OKR Reviews in both my business as well as personal life.

For my business, I use OKR Reviews for:

• Content creation
• Course creation and
• Video creation

These are three areas I will use to explain how I go about my reviews.

I also use OKR reviews in my personal life for example in my following areas:

• Wellness
• Reading & Relaxation
• Travel
• Passion Pursuits like video editing, gamification of training
• Building Net Worth

to name some major ones.

If you remember from Part 1 of this 3 part series, I had talked about the role of process in my PPP Manifesto.

This is where the systems approach which represents process varies from the goal approach.

Let me elaborate with examples you can use for setting up your own OKR reviews.

OKR Illustration on Content Creation

Let me illustrate how an OKR Review works.

I will first lay out the OKR itself and then the review process.

Let me use content creation in my business.

Notice in the above image, how " Sweep is OverDue" prompt comes up for Today in my Notion system

My objective (the “O” in OKR) is stated as:

Create and publish periodical high ranking content for my target audience.

Notice a few things about the objective:

• The objective is precise
• It is qualitative, as in, it talks about high ranking content but does not mention quantum of content to be created
• The objective is inspirational as it mentions content to be high ranking

Given the above broad direction for content, here is how my Key Results (the “KR” in OKR) for content are laid out:

• Posts should be at least 2,000 words
• Publish posts weekly on Friday (like today)
• Select keywords for the posts to rank on Page #1 on Google

Here a few things to notice about the Key Results:

• There are 3 Key Results laid out for the content objective
• They are quantitative (first two are about word count and regularity)
• Key Results are measurable (unlike objectives which are qualitative)
• Key Result 3 is qualitative although it is also measurable (content should rank high)

Also notice that the combination of the 3 Key Results will deliver the objective for you.

Now we dive into the process of OKR Reviews themselves.

Tip 2

• Set up an OKR system that is achievable for you.
• Lay out a process for OKR Reviews.
• Decide on how often you will measure progress toward achievement

OKR Reviews - Quarterly Plan, Monthly Focus, Weekly Tracking

In Part 2, we saw that OKR is based on a quarterly plan window.

The beauty of a quarterly OKR plan is it allows three full months of performance.

A month is a great balance between too short and too long.

On the one hand, it allows you to plan activities within a quarter.

It on the other hand provides you with a good measure for progress (more later).

The other advantage is that three solid periods (month) can be used within a quarter for performance management.

In my content example, I lay out my content for each of the three months in a quarter.

I plan a month within a quarter based on weeks.

My plan is to publish content every Friday.

Tip 3

• Spend some time thinking about your OKR plan.
• Decide on your OKR Review process.
• Be comfortable with what you plan.
• Don’t put pressure on yourself with unrealistic plans.

My Progress in OKR Reviews

Peter Drucker the father of management once said:

If it cannot be measured, it cannot be improved.

And so, you have set up an OKR system and have done your quarterly planning.

This will be useless if you do not address the third P in the PPP Manifesto - progress.

This is easier said than done.

You will see how again the OKR system will come to your rescue.

In particular, measurement and rituals (reviews) will again be key.

How is that you ask?

All in good time.

There are two parts to the progress role in my system:

• OKR Measurement
• OKR Reviews

OKR Measurement

This is pretty obvious as an activity.

You compare your plan with what you achieved.

You want to know whether you accomplished what you planned.

Or if you fell short.

If so, by how much and why and so on.

Let us use the content example.

Here, monthly focus will be critical.

For example, say, your OKR objective was set for Q2 2023.

Your month focus in your review will be April.

Why you ask?

As of May 25, 2023 (today), you will measure for the last completed month - April.

So, I need to measure myself against the 3 Key Results I laid out.

Two of them are straight forward.

• Did I publish content every week of April month?
• Were my posts (content) in April at least 2,000 words each?

The third one about SEO Rank may need a different approach.

What I mean is that one month may not be conclusive about ranking high for post keywords.

However, nothing stops you from making that measurement for April.

Based on whether you achieved your Key Results or not, you can plan further corrective action.

Milestones play a big part in OKR Measurement.

You could literally call them the building blocks of progress.

They tell you where you are currently in the OKR journey.

While I have talked about OKR Measurement in general, the process is much more involved.

That is because measurement has its own process.

And that process is called an OKR review.

It is the most important ritual in OKR measurement.

For your guidance, a ritual is something that is repeated over time, often with the same interval.

I will now lay out what OKR reviews achieve in my OKR system.

My OKR Reviews

After OKR Measurement (in fact, during it as well!), comes the most critical part.

That is OKR Reviews.

Reviews are one of the most powerful rituals you can perform.

Remember rituals in the systems part of this post earlier?

Well, you make a habit out of measuring your progress versus your plan.

By doing the reviewing on the same day over a period.

For example, I conduct an OKR review of my progress every Saturday.

So, you could say, it is a weekly ritual.

OKR Reviews are powerful if you set up a system for it.

I will now provide you examples of how reviews work for my content example.

However, before that, let me divide my OKR Reviews into 4 key parts:

• Weekly Review
• Monthly Review
• Quarterly Review
• Annual Review

Tip 4

• Be honest with your OKR Review of progress measurement.
• If you did not achieve your plan this month, continue and do so in the next.
• Make your OKR reviews an enjoyable activity.
• Celebrate small wins based on your reviews.

OKR Periodical Review Examples

Weekly Review

The Weekly Review is one of the most critical of the 4 types.

Why so, you ask?

Because you are the most close to the week that is about to end.

My Weekly Review is on Saturdays.

You can do it on Sundays too.

In some cases, if you get busy over the weekend, you could do it on Monday morning too.

My reasoning for Saturday is as follows:

• I count Mon-Fri as my work week.
• I keep Sunday as the day to chill.

I do my review on Saturday, so that I can be ready for the next week.

My weekly review straddles the 3 Ps (Process, Planning & Progress).

My Weekly Review is a base level one (more later).

So what do I review weekly?

• First, Friday being my weekly content publishing deadline, whether I achieved that?
  • My OKR target for the quarter is to publish content every Friday 95% of the time
  • The 5% takes care of some special circumstances when I missed the deadline (reduces overwhelm)
• Second, I review my active projects during the week
  • I review progress of projects based on their deadline dates
  • I check whether milestones planned for each project were reached in the week
  • I also review milestones coming up for the project
  • I review tasks due ahead for the projects
• Third, I review big picture OKR targets related to projects I am reviewing
  • An OKR can span more than one project
• Fourth, I review my Second Brain utilization in projects reviewed
  • Second Brain is a system for curating ideas and bringing them into my project execution
  • A 3 Part Series of Posts on Second Brain will be published in the coming month

Monthly Review

My Monthly Reviews are mid level where I touch upon 3 areas:

• Overall Effectiveness for the month Vs Plan
  • Highlights
  • Challenges
• Reflective Practice on Kaizen entries
  • Reviewing Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) Entries
• Discoveries in the month from reviews
  • What surprising new learning did I have?

Quarterly Review

My quarterly Review is high level where I measure 3 areas:

• Progress Vs Plan of Quarterly OKRs
• OKRs where I am falling behind with action plan
• OKRs where I am ahead with strategy to maintain or improve

Annual Review

The Annual Review is a full year look back on all 3 Ps in my PPP Manifesto.

It is forward looking and backward integrated.

Meaning it uses progress and achievement or the past year to improve for the coming year.

Annual OKR Reviews are Top level Achievement System tools.

Benefits of OKR Reviews

So, what are the benefits of the OKR reviews.

I have been doing my OKR reviews for the last 4-5 years.

Over that time I can genuinely say I have reaped the following clear benefits:

• I do not get overwhelmed by the pressure of goals (destination)
• I keep my focus on the process (journey) and finally
• I have allowed my OKR system to dictate achievement

My OKR reviews have greatly helped me:

• reach milestones, 
• meet deadlines and 
• result in consistent accomplishments.

OKR Reviews have provided me the necessary tool for ongoing motivation.

This is not only for achievement but also closely keeping an eye on the journey of progress.

How do You Review Your Performance?

How do you review your performance?

Do you agree with my reviews approach?

Is there anything I can do to improve my system?

Comment below, I am keen on knowing how you handle your performance.

Summary of Tips

TIP 1

• Whatever approach you adopt ensure that you give it your own unique flavor.
• That taps into how you think.
• The way you work best.
• And most of all, that harnesses your skill sets.
• Your OKR system of goal setting must be yours and only yours.

Tip 2

• Set up an OKR system that is achievable for you.
• Lay out a process for OKR Reviews.
• Decide on how often you will measure progress toward achievement

Tip 3

• Spend some time thinking about your OKR plan.
• Decide on your OKR Review process.
• Be comfortable with what you plan.
• Don’t put pressure on yourself with unrealistic plans.

Tip 4

• Be honest with your OKR Review of progress measurement.
• If you did not achieve your plan this month, continue and do so in the next.
• Make your OKR reviews an enjoyable activity.
• Celebrate small wins based on your reviews.

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