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!)

Happy New Year from Stifel & Capra!

It's not that I intentionally forget. It's just like I am more of an "you are in or you are out" kind of girl. What do I mean by that? You know exercising everyday and then the path freezes over so I can't walk safely. I stay home. Path thaws. Do I make my way out again? Uh, no. Blogging? Religious or non-existent. So many people said to me , what no cheery pics of the store? No humorous anecdotes of your madcap adventures? Uuuuuhhhhhh, apparently not. I seem to have been a bit overcome by the "urgent rather than the important" to quote Steven Covey. I didn't used to run my life like this. What happened?

I teasingly told my friends who asked how the shop, the kids, the family, the hubby's new job et al were going that they were all fine but I was in the "bitter and resentful" stage. Usually said in cheery voice and a hearty smile. The folks who know me remarked that this was not my normal operating mode. That this is still perceived as true makes me breathe a sigh of relief I must confess! But things ARE on the upswing. Why? I think the acupuncture is working for my neck pain (praise the Lord!). The Spouse has settled into his new job. Parents are well and kids seem actually rested and refreshed from their winter break. Thus leaving me time to quit micromanaging and worrying about them and actually focusing my attention back on my cranky self!

In my past life as a recruiter the week between Christmas and New year's was always a time for reflection and planning. I decided to go back to what works for me. And plotted. And planned. And will tell you about it. TOMORROW. Promise.