I have mentioned that I cannot even remember what my New Year’s resolutions were last year.  I don’t think I even made any.  I tend to set goals but I just don’t typically think of them as New Year’s resolutions.  This is the time of the year where we have set goals for the next year.  In a post recently I had us write down New Year’s resolutions that we really didn’t expect to achieve.

I want to focus on how I go about setting goals.  To begin with, my goals all  must be simple to understand.  I can usually communicate my goals in seconds.  If I can’t understand my goals, no one else can.

I also have this little pattern that I follow that has worked for me.  I tend to set my goals by multiplying the existing goal by ten.  For example, say your company puts out 1000 widgets a year.  I would multiply the goal times 10 and set the goal at 10,000 widgets.  It pushes a person to think in new ways.  It is not realistic to multiply your whole business by 10 during the next year.  So instead look around your areas of responsibility and see if one little part can be multiplied by 10.  Multiplying one little area of your work place by 10 will make you look like a genius even if it is a very small area.  I have used this pattern to get promotions.

In my current job, I wanted to see some success when I started working here.  I knew I could not increase my main responsibility times 10.  It wouldn’t be practical.  It was way to large.  But there was one part of my work that usually had about 1 or 2 units involved.  I decided to multiply it times ten and set my goal at 20 units.  It worked.  Everyone in the organization noticed it.  I think it was the biggest reason I got my raise this year.  Realize it was only one part of my job.  In fact it was a simple part of my job.  But because it was smaller and more mobile, it could grow in a way that the bigger item couldn’t grow.

I rarely announce goals in advance.  I just go after them.  I tell friends my goals but I don’t tell anyone from work.  This way I am held accountable but I don’t suffer from high expectation from my work.  There are those who will tell you to tell people goals at your work.  I disagree.  Say you decided to multiply the area we are talking about by 10.  Say you only multiply it by 7.  People will see it as a failure instead.  If you have just told your friends, you have not suffered to high expectations.  If you told your people from work, you have failed in their eyes.

I also write my goals down in a place I can see every day.  I am the type of person that likes to see my goals in front of me everyday.  I have set a goal for my big area of responsibility this year.  I am trying to increase that area by 20%.  That is a huge jump.  When talking to my coworkers, I have set a goal in front of them at about 8% increase.  So I have set my personal goal much higher.  But I have communicated a smaller goal to the people that are around me.

I apply this principle to every area of my life.  I do it with my retirement account.  Take what you think people are saying you need for retirement and multiply it by ten.  How do you get there?  It is easier than you think.  Take your raise this year.  Say it is 3%.  Take the whole raise and throw it into your retirement fund.  Your company probably has matching funds up to a certain amount.  If you do this for a few years straight, your retirement plan will explode.  You will be surprised at how fast it can grow.  Say you place your raise into your retirement for the next three years.  Chances are you will be putting over 10% in your retirement by the end of that period.  If your company has matching funds, you may be somewhere around 15%. 

If you are already putting 10% in your retirement fund, set a goal at 20%.  There are caps on retirement funds but most people can put it in for their spouse.  In fact, it is a good idea to talk your spouse into increasing their account at the same time.  If you both increase over the next few years, you will see a huge increase.  Most companies will take the money directly out of your paycheck and place it into your retirement fund.  So you will never miss it.  The raise won’t make much difference in how much you have in your paycheck.

All of the goals I am talking about our achievable.  You set small goals to increase over time.  I have found that most people make a mistake in making goals.  They set goals that are not realistic.  So they give up.  By taking on a small goal we can achieve the desired destination.

What simple goal would you like to set for yourself this year?

I have to be the most xanga ignorant person on here.  I can never figure out anything.  People come to my site all the time and ask me how to do this and that.  I just don’t know the answer to their question.  I was on xanga for about 6 months before I learned to link a site.  I was on xanga for a few months after that before I learned how to link a site and yet type in a nice little word instead of having the whole link show up.

I never mess with the layouts.  I know it would take me forever to get it looking right.  I also took forever to put my pics up the first time I tried it.  The second time it took me a long time too.  Xanga is too complicated for a guy like me.  I can’t use barely any of the functions.  After being on xanga several months, someone informed me that there was a spell check function.  I could have used that information early in my xanga life.  The only thing I know how to do on xanga is update and I do that often.

Describe an area where you are xanga ignorant.

Would a merciful God send people who have never heard of Him to hell?

My wife, my sons and I went to play laser tag this afternoon.  It is amazing how a game that only last for 15 minutes can cause you to feel so tired.  I have played several times in the past.  I don’t consider myself the best player but I play to win. 

One time I took my youngest son to play when he was about 5.  I just assisted him and didn’t play myself.  So I got him up to one of the high places and then blocked his body so no one could shoot him.  I helped him with the shooting.  At times I would just take the gun out of his hands and would shoot for him.  He was only five but he was in second place out of about 14-15 kids.

This time he was on his own.  He is 8 and he can fend for himself.  I was going to play on my own.  I took up my gun and looked for a high place to shoot the opposition.  About halfway through the game I made a deal with my oldest son.  We would not shoot each other but would work together to win.  He agreed.  The child can not be trusted in such an agreement.  He got behind me and started to shoot me.  I couldn’t believe the little fart.  He shot me in the back.

But as I went to the top part, I had gotten myself into a good position.  Then my little son went up there with me.  He is only eight and he wanted my help.  I told him to go away.  He was bringing too much attention to my spot.  He was all upset and began to cry.  I told him to quit crying and go find his own spot.  He persisted.

Name a game that brings out your competitive side.

I had a friend who was experiencing depression.  He needed help but struggled to ask for it.  I think part of his problem was he was afraid of what others would think.  I think the other part of his problem was that he had a hard time admitting he needed help with anything.  But finally I think his greatest problem was that he didn’t know he really had a problem.  He actually didn’t get help until he was found rolled up in a ball in the corner of his room.

I think that those who suffer from any type of problem like depression or some other type of illness struggle to figure out how big their problem really is.  By its very nature a mental illness issue would be difficult to identify.  A person who struggles with the problem is having a hard time deciding if there is even a problem at all.  So they continue to struggle through not asking for help.  For some reason, people struggle to admit they have a problem that may be going on in their brain.  A cut on the arm is so much easier to think about objectively.  It is either infected or it is not.  It is either bleeding or it is not.

How do you know when you need help with a mental illness?

My wife and I were walking through the mall last night.  My children were being watched by their grandparents.  It was a great time to walk around and talk.  We were at the Katy Mills Mall which is just one huge big circle of stores.  My wife would occasionally stop and want to look in a particular store.  So we would go in and look around. 

We happened to walk past a Frederick’s of Hollywood.  They were having a sale on bras.  She decided she wanted to go inside and check them out.

Should the husband walk into Frederick’s of Hollywood with his wife?

This time of the year the holiday blues can really set in.  People feel down this time of the year.  For some, they are experiencing their first holiday without a special love one.  Someone they know is not there to share in the holiday fun.  The idea of going through the holiday season without your mom or your dad is difficult to handle.  I have a close friend who always struggles around the holiday season because she lost her son a few years back.

For others, it is the stress of the season.  They have tried to accomplish so much and all of a sudden everything has come to a halt.  They realize in that break in the action that they are not moving in the right direction.

Still others come to the realization that they are alone.  As I have responded to comments today, I have read several blogs that have communicated a feeling of loneliness.  For some, the holidays are not so happy.

What do you do to fight the holiday blues?

When I was a kid, I became accustomed to getting gifts that I did not want.  Every year I would ask my parents for certain items and every year I was disappointed with the gifts.  My dad had a way of just picking out whatever he wanted.  So one year I told my dad that there was a certain type of item that I did not want.  My dad would always buy me something with the Bear’s football team logo on it.  It was not the official league type of clothing.  It was some knock off brand that I didn’t want. 

To insure that I wouldn’t get anything like the Bear’s clothing, I also expressed my wishes to my mother.  I knew in my heart my dad was going to buy me exactly what he wanted.  So on that Christmas morning, I opened up my gifts and there was sweat pants with the Bears logo on it.  I was able to use them as PJ’s.

Recently my dad visited with gifts from the previous Christmas.  He got me a cane.  I am 34 years old.  I don’t need a cane.  He bought my wife a flashlight.  He bought my boys a game that would have been fun if they were 5.  I don’t mean to be ungrateful.  I just realized that he will probably never buy me what I want.

Describe the most unfortunate gift you ever received for Christmas or your Birthday.

Dear Democrats,

I am a conservative republican.  I have some advice for you.  You can listen or reject my advice but I believe it is good advice.  You may question my motives because I am a conservative republican.  But I can assure you that what I am telling you is in your own best interest if you want to win the White House back in 2008.

You are in a great position.  Opportunity is at your door.  I would like to suggest candidates for the next election.  I want to give you the names of people that I think can win.  I say that because I am concerned you will miss the obvious.  I think you should pick Al Gore or John Kerry.  You may laugh and say I am trying to trick you.  I am not.  Just listen to my logic.

Al Gore is a good candidate.  Some of you don’t remember that election so I want to remind you.  Al Gore got more votes for president than George Bush did.  I am a republican and I will give you that point.  The American people elected Al Gore in 2000.  He ran a great campaign.  The election would be looked at totally different if Al Gore had a few hundred more votes in Florida.  I voted for Bush and I am glad he won.  But if you want to win, you will not forget about Al Gore.  His campaign is only looked at as a failure because of a few votes. 

Al Gore was also in a difficult position.  He had all the scandal from the Clinton years.  He did a pretty good job of rising above that controversy.  But it did hurt him with some voters. 

Next I want to tell you that John Kerry was a good candidate too.  He lost to a president with the backdrop of 9/11.  President Bush was difficult to beat after 9/11.  I don’t think 9/11 impacted every vote.  But it impacted some.

I have some history to depend on here.  There was the comeback of Richard Nixon.  The republicans didn’t forget him.  He went out looking silly after the 1960 election and still made a comeback.  Then there is Ronald Reagan. 

Don’t make the mistake of removing someone just because they lost in the past.  Bush is a much stronger politician than you give him credit for. He took a beating in the election for governor against Ann Richards.  She was a very popular governor and he beat her.  Some of you look at Bush and think he is so weak.  It has caused you to think your candidates were weak too. 

If I were you I would match up your candidates the following way.  I would run Al Gore as president with John Kerry as vice-president.  I think this team is unbeatable.  I have not seen anything in the republican field that can beat them.  I would also consider John Kerry with Hillary Clinton as his running mate.  I would put John Kerry as the presidential candidate in this case.  Hillary is a good candidate.  She will excite some of the base but I think she will get beat in the general election if she were the presidential candidate.  She would make a great vice-presidential candidate for you.

People want to try something new.  Don’t pick weaker candidates just because they are something new.

Sincerely,

Dan

If you could give advice to the leadership of either political party, what would you say?

I just got back from watching the movie “Munich.”  The basic idea of the movie is a recounting of the story of how terrorist killed 11 people at the Olympics back in 1972.  The movie is said to be based partially on actual events. 

A certain liberty was taken to show retaliation for those killings by Israel.  The idea of the movie is that assassins killed the terrorist that were involved in the Munich killings.  The basic theme is that the violence continues to escalate as each side responds to the killing of the other side.  The last scene of the movie is a conversation between the leader of the assassins and his contact.  The leader of the assassins feels that they have caused the problem to grow instead of decrease.

The last scene in the movie is filmed with the World Trade Center as the backdrop.  A reasonable person would wonder if the idea of the movie was that responding in the wrong way to terrorism, lead to the 9/11 event.

The question for me centers around two opposing views.  I have several close friends who are pacifist.  They believe that violence only increases with retaliation. 

Should we respond to terrorist with pacifism or with a stick?