I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a little tired of all the new acronyms coming out of Washington.  First there was TARP – what a joke.  A bailout program with no accountability built in whatsoever which spells $700 billion down the drain.  Now, as part of Wachington’s stimulus plan is this little ditty called TALF.  I’ll spare you the expansion, but in essence it makes $200 BILLION available to businesses and consumers to get the economy moving again. 

How stupid does this sound?  The root cause of all this mess is the over-leveraging of America through subprime lending practices.  What makes anyone think that handing out even more loans is going to bring the economy back around?  Who are the most likely borrowers?  Those who can least afford to borrow – broke, living paycheck to paycheck, trying to live above their means.  That’s a textbook description of the folks who are looking for our government to bail them out of the house note they can’t afford or the credit card bills that they’ve run up and can’t pay.  One little bump in their lives and the house of cards that they’ve built all comes crashing down.

You simply cannot borrow your way out of debt, and certainly can’t borrow your way to prosperity.  It’s like filling up a bathtub while the drain plug is removed – you never make any progress until you close the hole.  The hole in this case is the continued, out-of-control spending that epitomizes the American culture.  You’ve got to break free from the pack and live differently than everyone else in order to win.

So Washington, keep your alphabet soup.  In fact, keep all of your other programs too.  All of these moves and gyrations that have taken place since the fall of last year to shore up or stimulate the economy, and we have nothing to show for it.  Crap, look at the Dow on October 1, 2008 – 10,831.  It closed yesterday, five months into all of these junk packages, at 6,763.  That’s a 37.5 percent drop in my book, all since October!  Lay off and let some of these troubled industries correct themselves , or even fail for goodness sake – but you don’t have to take the whole market down with them.

I heard a quote yesterday that I thought was wonderful.  It is from Charles Kingsley, a British author and professor from the 19^th century.  It goes as follows:

“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.”

It’s easy to see this principle lived out – we all get excited about our favorite teams, our kids, our hobbies.  Why can’t it be that way in our work?  As much as I’d like to believe that you’re all happy and content in your work, if you’re not then it’s time to change.  Don’t let fear or other circumstances dictate that you remain in an unfulfilling position.  Remaining there only serves to make you unhappy, which leads to lower productivity because you dread going to or doing that work.  No matter what you do, every moment of every workday won’t be all sunshine and daffodils, but overall you should enjoy your work and be fulfilled.  There are too many opportunities and too few days in this life to be anything less than happy – find something that you can get excited about and get after it!

What is holding you back?  Everyone knows the phrase “The Sky’s the Limit” but do we really believe that?  We have limitless opportunity in this country to accomplish or be anything we want to be.  It’s simply up to us.  Sure, there are decisions to be made, obligations to be met, and things that have to get done, but nothing (outside of legal and moral boundaries) stands in the way of us using our lives however we want to.

Or is there something standing in your way?  We’ve also all heard of Chicken Little.  You remember the story – Chicken Little believes the sky is falling.  Are you caught up in Chicken Little thinking?  Are negative events and self-imposed beliefs about yourself leading you to think that your sky is falling?  If so, and you combine that thought with the notion that the sky is the limit, then we can personally be limited by the height of our own sky.

Think about your ideal life and what it would look like.  Is it visible in the sky that you see above, or has your sky been lowered to the point where you no longer dream about what could be?  If that’s the case, then we need to get rid of Chicken Little.  Allowing external situations to control who we are and what we can become will always make your sky fall.  Decide today that you are in charge and take control of your own destiny.  What you’ll find is that the sky isn’t really falling – those are just clouds in your way, and if you can rise above them you’ll find the sky where opportunities really are limitless.

I have a son who is struggling in school.  It’s not because he can’t do the work; he’s a very smart child and is classified as gifted.  His struggles are because he is a teenager and he doesn’t want to do the work; he has a dislike for school.  Outside of school, he is a wonderful child; kind, well-behaved, loving, and funny.  His test scores are good but he continues to get zeroes on homework and in-class work.  He always has a reason or a story behind these; it was lost, stolen, or the teacher simply didn’t grade it and the score is wrong.  So, after a couple of these stories on a project last week, my wife went to his school yesterday and asked to go into his locker.  The principal and a couple of his teachers accompanied her, and my son was called out of class to come to his locker.  My wife said that the look on his face was as if he had seen a ghost; much of this incomplete work was stuffed into his locker along with a host of things that he has said was misplaced or stolen.  She also had the opportunity to hear the stories that he was telling the teachers – how he didn’t have any help at home, couldn’t get onto a computer to do his work, left his books at school, and so forth.  At the end of the visit, much had been accomplished and both teachers and parent had a much better understanding of what is happening. 

Nevertheless, for my son, he has an integrity issue.  He had stories going one way and lies and cover-ups going the other way.  We are working on finding the root cause of these issues.  But for us, he no longer has our trust.  We will constantly be watching over his shoulder, visiting his school for these surprise locker checks, having excessive communication with his teachers, and he will suffer the consequences long from now because he has broken trust.  We’re hurt and our relationship with him is strained.  We love him, but we don’t like this part of him right now.  If he doesn’t turn away from this type of behavior, it will control and dominate his life into adulthood.

Take this opportunity to investigate your life, not only at work but in your personal life.  If there are any areas such as this, they ultimately will be discovered and will only bring pain into your life and into the life of others.  Reveal those today and set yourself free from those burdens; it is always better to face up to the truth than to have it discovered.  What would folks find if they could go through your locker?

This week’s installment is a pretty simple concept, but one that’s tough to put into practice regularly.  It has to do with harmony, or getting along with others, in the workplace.  We all have that one person (or maybe you have several) that drives you crazy, gets under your skin, doesn’t seem like they’re pulling their weight, seems to get by in spite of their actions, or whatever it is about them that bothers you continually.  So what are your options?  You just can’t go to the person – that would be crazy and then they would know that there’s something about them that you don’t like.  You think maybe you’ll go to the boss, but they may think you’re just a chronic complainer.  You can take it home to your spouse, but they don’t understand and that doesn’t change anything.  So, most folks settle in by starting a gripe session with their coworkers.  We hope to find that others have the same problems with that annoying coworker and, in the process, feel better about our dislike for that individual too.

Complaining to your team members about coworkers is the most divisive behavior that can destroy a team.  It creates a culture of gossip and rumor, and ultimately creates animosity and mistrust within the team.  You should avoid this type of activity at all costs.  In close-knit teams that regularly work with one another, this can be especially damaging.  When talking with your team members about your coworkers or the organization, you should use only neutral or positive language. 

How about being open and honest with the person that irritates you?  Everyone wants to be liked, so maybe by having a tactful, well-thought conversation you can understand the person and situation better and perhaps find your way to a happy medium.  You may not want to go to your boss because they may not understand.  However, if you bring a legitimate concern to your boss, you’re handing criticisms and problems up the ladder to someone who can do something about it.  Besides, that’s what your boss is there for.  Talking to your spouse can also be therapeutic because it gives you a safe place to vent your frustrations without creating more problems in the workplace.

Remember that we all have differences in our actions and personality styles.  It is a better road to accept and appreciate our inherent differences than to criticize and complain to others hoping to find a sympathetic ear.  Finally, think hard about the source of your complaints – if they are legitimate and valid, and you can’t resolve them with the person, take them to your boss.  Your coworkers can’t do anything about it.

We, as a culture, are being pulled and tugged at continuously to pay attention to something new and exciting.  If we allow ourselves to be pulled in by all of these things, we’ll never be able to focus on the things that ultimately define our success and happiness.  Worse still, if the trap is fully set, then those things become who we are as a person, and if we become what we drive, where we live, or what we have, then our identity is rooted in things.  The major problem with things is that there will always be something nicer or newer, which means that we’ll never be fully satisfied if we allow things to define us.

It’s time to ask ourselves the question – what defines me?  If you had enough money to live on and enough time to spend on whatever you please, how would you spend your day?  Be careful – your answer (or answers) to that question gives you a strong hint as to what your priorities are.  The truth is that we can put as much time and effort as we want into those priorities.  But, in order to do so, whatever you’re putting ahead of those priorities has to be moved lower in your list. 

So it’s time to shuffle the deck.  Let’s reorder and reprioritize our lives to spend the time doing the things that ultimately make us happy and fulfilled.  It’s not my intention to define those things for you – those are individual decisions.  You’ll know if you’re not spending enough time on your priorities, because you’ll feel agitated, restless, bored, unsettled, and unsatisfied with your day.  The best part about this is that you are in full control of these decisions.  Do we have responsibilities and obligations that we have to meet?  Yes – that’s just part of living life as a responsible adult.  However, each of us has hours available that we’re able to spend as we please.  Whether you have two hours or twenty hours per week, put those priorities at the top of your to-do list and get after it.  It’s the only road to happiness and contentment.

Today is Inauguration Day, which marks the beginning of the Obama administration.  During the day, there will be many speeches and ceremonies to observe the occasion.  As we mark the beginning of this new chapter in American history, my thoughts go towards how my life will be affected by this administration.  Many individuals believe that the American government, under the leadership of President Obama, will deliver to or make it easier for them to obtain the basics of life – food, shelter, clothing, transportation.  But is that how we want to be defined?  Do we want to wait on someone to provide for us, to take care of our needs?  If so, then we’re allowing someone else to decide what’s good enough, what’s sufficient for us, and in doing so to rob us of the contentment and happiness that comes from independence, from taking care of ourselves.  What do I want from my government?  Simply put, to protect the most basic rights and freedoms that our founding fathers spelled out over 230 years ago.  Beyond that, we live in the greatest country that the world has ever known, full of opportunities.  I expect that beyond those basic freedoms that it’s up to me, with the grace of God, to decide what I want my life to look like.

 So, what are your hopes for this new beginning?  I think there would be nothing more exciting than to take this opportunity to look at things fresh, new, and inaugurate some change into your own life?  President Obama’s slogan during his campaign was “Change we can believe in”.  I tell you now, the most powerful changes that you will ever experience will be those changes that come from within.  Decide to change, and put that change into motion.  If we continue to wait for change from others, we will never be satisfied with the results.

Last week, we talked about the setting specific, measurable targets in order to determine if your efforts are being effective.  Humor me for a minute – since we’re talking about targets, think about this like a hunter would.  First of all, a good hunter has to decide what the best weapon is to hit that target.  The weapon to be used to bring down a squirrel is much different than the weapon best suited to bring down a bear.  The biggest difference in these weapons is their intensity.  You could use the same weapon on the bear as you used on the squirrel, but you’ll have to hit the bear a lot more times in order to bring it down.  In addition to choosing the right weapon, the hunter needs to study the target that they are going after.  They need to know where the target lives, how the target behaves, when the best time is to find the target, and so forth.  Then, when they reach the woods or habitat where their target lives, they may have to be patient and even miss a few times before they hit the target.

OK, so we’re not hunting big-game here.  But we are establishing targets that we deem worthy of our time, energy, and efforts.  If the target is a big, nasty, gnarly beast, you aren’t going to be able to use a slingshot to bring it down.  Same thing goes for the amount of intensity that you need to expend on hitting your personal targets.  Let’s use the example of paying off debt.  If your target is $10,000 and your weapon is $100 per month, you’ll have to “hit” that target 100 times (plus interest) in order to bring it down.  Likewise, if the weapon is $1,000 per month, then you only need to hit the target 10 times to bring it down (plus interest).  With the smaller weapon the target will eventually come down, but you’re going to have to stick with it a lot longer to be successful.

You also need to know about your target.  In order to lose weight, you need to learn what you can about effective diet and exercise.  To become a better parent or spouse, you could find experts in the field and spend some time learning their principles.  Or to have a million dollars by the time you retire, you would study about investments and learn how those investments work, then determine how much you need to invest monthly to reach your goal.  For all of these, another way to learn is to hang out with those who have been successful in each of these endeavors and learn how they did it.

In short, reaching your goals and hitting your targets is not really that much different than hunting.  Those that are most successful in reaching their targets have learned about their target, have chosen the appropriate-sized weapon (intensity), and have persisted and endured hardship, setbacks, and missteps without losing sight of the goal.  Don’t be denied your target – there is no substitute for intensity, patience, and knowledge.

A new year – so many opportunities to wipe the slate clean and start new.  Many use this as their opportunity to mark a line in the sand and begin doing the things they knew they should be doing all along.  We all have lofty aspirations with non-specific goals like “lose weight” or “save money/get out of debt” or “be a better spouse/parent/child”.  While there is nothing wrong with any of these goals, their non-specific nature can be hard to accomplish.  Without specific targets, how do you know if you’re making any progress on these goals?  Think about smaller, more specific goals, like the following:

Exercise 30 minutes three times per week
No more than one regular soda or sweet tea per day
No snacks after 7 pm on weeknights

Add 2% to my 401K contribution
Save $50 per paycheck in a Christmas club account
Pay an additional $100 per month to my credit card balances

Limit TV to two hours per night
Eat dinner together as a family five days per week
Have a date night once per month

All of these may contribute to the loftier goals that you may have, but by setting these types of sub-goals you have a measuring stick to decide what kind of progress you’re making.  Set them at a comfortable level so that you can stick with them but not so easy that you don’t make any headway towards the bigger goal.  Above all, never quit.  The best part about each of these is that if you miss the mark for a day or a week, you don’t have to wait for another year to start again.  Get going today and see what has happened to you when you set your 2010 resolutions!

So as we wrap up 2008 and head into a new year, I thought for a bit about what to write that would make the most impact.  The past year has personally been a very eventful year in which I’ve faced some situations that I haven’t dealt with before.  Probably the most consistent lesson that I’ve learned through those times is that someone is always watching you.  In every situation we face, there are those around you that look to you for guidance, for leadership, and to be an example to them.  Spouses, children, friends, and others all look to you in times of trial.  Jesus commands tells his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount that they are to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth; that command transcends to Christians of all generations. 

Your example comes out in the things that we do much more than in the things that we say.  Talk is cheap and words come freely, but what you do speaks much more loudly than any well-crafted comment.  It is also as important that your actions match your words.  To say one thing then do another, well, that totally destroys your credibility and trust that others may have in you.  Many powerful persons have been brought down by living in a way that is contrary to the impression that they publically put forth.

As you enter into 2009, I wish for you prosperity, peace, and happiness.  By living out a good example, you almost can’t help but hit those targets.