Goals and aspirations - 2011

I wonder if Colonel Puhek knew when he enlisted that he would stay in the Air Force for thirty years? Was that his plan? To serve his country through war & peace and make it home to his wife and family to start the next chapter? I haven't asked him but I know that my career path has seldomn been so defined. I went from retail to wholesale selling to direct sales to recruiting and business delopment and back to retail. Oddly, for someone that is so focused on working and doing a good job I have always seemed to fall into things by happenstance. Even Stifel & Capra is nto what I planned it to be. It was conceived as a business to business firm marketing art to commercial clients. Of course signing my lease 2 weeks before the bank melt-down three years ago MAY have had some bearing on my re-thinking of my plan!

So does that mean I am facile, flexible, fearless and forward thinking? Or just that I am whimsical, weak-minded and wishy-washy? I'd like to think the first but the resume might make you wonder. Mostly I think I am fairly good and dealing with the cards I have been dealt. I'd like to think this is a GOOD trait...

I was more than a little frustrated the last couple of quarters at the store. I felt like I was taking care of everything but my own art. Hmmm, maybe because that was true. Some friends said "Ahh but running a business is an art form" and "Parenting is an art form." But I, ahem, got into this to make some art. So what to do?

Back when I was in sales it was all about "how much money do you want to make?" and then I would sit down and work of the activities and efforts backwards so my team could see step by step how they could reach their goals. Tricky part: as I reach the ripe old age of 50(!) this year life really isn't JUST about money. What IS it about this year? What were my goals? I sat and thought, and pondered, and contemplated.

Resolved for 2011:
-to keep appointments with myself as religiously as I keep appointments with others
-to be less judgemental and more patient
-to become a better listener
-to treat my family at least as nice as I do strangers!

Tall order. But I am six foot two. I am also a very concrete person. How to track things so nebulous.. Any suggestions?

Now mind you I still need to lose weight, get more organized and save more money (college expenses are looming!)