When you're calculating for return on investment, make sure the ones you get are the ones you want.

The Wikipedia entry referenced above showed the basic formulas for calculating various kinds of ROI, and any MBA worth his degree would have oodles of fun with them, but for people who don't do financial analysis for a living, these arcane scribbles won't mean much. So how can you make sure that, in your life, what you're doing is making sense -- in the best ROI-meaning of the word?

In the day to day business of living, when we go on any course of action we generally don't think about the deeper reasons behind it. Something needs to be done, you do it. These things are usually lumped under the label of "Urgent stuff."

In the longer run, a successful life aims to serve the Important Stuff, the stuff that sometimes get pushed aside or off to the back for the Urgent Stuff. (Bear with us, we're going somewhere with this.)

Focus on reaching the Important stuff by using the relevant Urgent stuff and building up the not-urgent, yet still Important stuff. Make good goals and good plans to make them happen.

Breaking things down, we get the following: To get the best ROI on the Important Stuff, find out what your desired Returns are, and how much you're willing to invest to get them. (By investment, we mean the deliberate surrender of assets and use of resources aimed towards creating benefits in the near and far future.)

This would involve some cost analysis, and you have to 1) identify your variables and b) figure out how they fit into the calculations.

Variables that would never show up on the spreadsheet:

• Number of sleepless nights second-guessing yourself. Or making exquisitely detailed plans that you don't execute.
  
• Number of nights you fall asleep exhilarated at how things are changing for the better.
• Number of times you need to stave off an anxiety attack in sheer terror of what you're thinking of doing.
  
• Losing familiar comforts. Losing familiar discomforts. "Sure the work sucks, but I get full dental, so I guess I'm staying."

Variables you need to consider:

• The cost of staying versus the cost of leaving, or changing - like relocating, enrolling the kids in a new school, getting to know a new town, or city. Losing daily contact with the people important to you, then getting in touch with your deepest, most authentic self.
• The cost of not-changing.

Note: Whatever variables you choose to include in your calculations, also know you have to assign weights to these variables, because it's a sure thing that these variables won't all have equal importance in your eyes, and you'll need to let go of something you have to go after something more important to you, sometimes without guarantees. That's how it works.

After assigning weights, finding your formula and inputting the variables, the end goal is looking at the results of the calculations and answering the following questions before putting things into play:

• Have I taken into consideration the important aspects of my life that this plan will affect? For example: my health, my relationships, etc.
• Am I prepared for the aftermath? Family-wise, career-wise, money-wise, etc.?
• Do I have a plan to sustain me during the time needed to put the plan into motion, and while the plan is being effected?
• After considering the factors and effort required, do the results of this plan include the results I want and need?

Remember: when you're planning for the best ROI, make sure that the ones you get are the ones you want.