An Obsession With Numbers-September 2008
Like many cyclists and other endurance athletes I like to track the numbers. I track the miles I ride my bike. I track the type of ride i.e. recovery, interval, hills, time trial etc. I track my food, the calories, fat, protein, carbs and sugars. I track my weight, body fat etc.
Do you think this sounds obsessive? I haven’t even started.
I keep track of my x-training. Each pilates class, each bodyflow class, each run and each weight lifting workout.
I recently started tracking my car mileage. My financial documents look like they came from a major accounting firm. I have cash flow charts, I show debt ratios, net worth, disposable income. And all of these are displayed over time with charts and graphs. I adjust them to be shown in current and constant dollars. My check book is generally balanced to the penny.
If your checkbook is not balanced, let me at it. I would love to take it on.
You might think that I am crazy but I like numbers. It’s like a collection. Some people collect baseball cards. I collect data.
I even work as a statistician.
I like looking at numbers. I like looking at trends. I like to see relationships. I like searching the Internet for reliable numbers that either support or disprove common misconceptions. I even like completing my tax return.
A big tax refund is not that exciting for me. I like to see that I have estimated things close enough that I come out even at the end of the year. Not only do I look at the past numbers but I try to project the future numbers and I set goals.
So as they say on NPR….”Let’s do the numbers”
September 2008 Bike vs Car:
Bike: 528 miles 19 trips
Car: 976 miles, 11 trips
How is that for a turn around? I had a major car trip this month and most of the car miles came from that.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:25 am
Hmm… you are obsessed, but then we each have our individual obsessions and numbers is clearly one of yours… You are definitely born to be a statistician and have no doubt you must be excelling at your job…
Statistics have always fascinated me and I remember reading the famous saying attributed to the British PM, Benjamin Disraeli, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”. Point I am making here is that numbers are great for benchmarking, but need to be kept in context as they are not always indicative of true success or failure. Also I have seen how the numbers can be used to make a point any which way which is not always the correct interpretation… Number interpretation can be subjective too. This is not about you but just general observation…
Just curious - were you always like this or did this fascination come at some tangible point in life?
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:02 am
Our kids will say that their Dad always says, “numbers are your friends” It sounds to me like that is absolutely true for you.
I get a headache just hearing about all the numbers you keep track of.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:09 am
There is also a saying, I don’t know who it is attributed to, that goes like this:
“Statistics are like a string bikini. What they reveal is interesting but what they conceal is absolutely vital”
I don’t know when the obsession started. It’s not like I am really good at math. I certainly had it in college.
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:15 pm
So … don’t tell my dad but I haven’t really kept a checkbook balance since two years ago when my PDA erased itself while I was in Europe. The free program I used was no longer available. I know it’s terrible and financially irresponsible and I would probably be appalled if I actually tracked what I spent on dumb stuff.
Like my PDA. Useless. I should go back to a paper and pen calendar.
But I’m glad you like numbers. Somebody has to.