Looking Towards 2007 and Beyond

I use to be jealous of my sister. She is a professor at an east coast university, Old Dominion in Norfolk, VA to be specific. Every year she has three opportuntities to start over: January, June and September. She gets to put a lesson plan together and then gets to follow a path to educate her students. If she follows the lesson plan, her semester has been a success. Wow, a plan that doesn't change every 4 hours. I think I miss that -- sometimes.

I use to think that in business you never really got to start over. You just kept plugging away. But, reality is, in business we get to start over each and every month, day, and in some cases each and every hour!

My goal moving forward is to look at each moment as a NEW YEAR. I get to come in to the office and focus my efforts on doing the things that I need to to do to reach my goals, whether they be yearly, monthly, weekly or daily. (It's a sickness, I know.)

Whether I like it or not, in business you have to focus on the moments. You have to focus on doing what you need to do today... this day... to reach your numbers for the year. If you don't do what you need to do today at this moment, your numbers on December 31 will be off. It stinks, but it is reality.

I equate this feeling to running a marathon that never ends. I think that goes back to how I was raised. My dad would pat us on the back and tell us what a great job we did on whatever it was... winning a racquetball tournament, or making good grades. The next thing out of his mouth was... "what's next?"

In business, stopping to relish in your success too long just gives your competition the chance to pass you by. While we all need the time to rejuvenate and refresh, just remember, that if you get stuck in what you just did, that allows someone else to take the opportunity and run with it. If it isn't me, it will be someone else... and frankly... it should be me. AND, it should be you.

Have a great New Year... I mean day... I mean moment!