Welcome Back, Let's Make This a Happy New Year

I've had a miserable holiday season. I woke up on the 24th with "cold" symptoms and have spent the last 10 days feeling awful. I stayed in bed on Christmas, missed every party and went to bed last night still feeling like death warmed over. Miracle of miracles, I woke up feeling well this morning.
So, once I finish writing this, I'm going to jump in the shower, grab a bite to eat and get back to work.

Catch Your Limit began with the new millennium and we've just celebrated by having the best year in our ten year history. The nation as a whole has not been as fortunate. This last decade has brought terror to our shores, while employment has moved off-shore for millions of people. Healthcare has become an onerous expense and many people are having to choose between visiting a doctor and eating. To top it all off our young men and women are in harm's way around the globe. Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

I don't mean to make light of our hardships, but to display that "spunky" attitude for which we Americans are known. In other words, "and your point is?"

My point is - let's get back to work. The circumstances are what they are. Let's focus on what we can accomplish. There are a lot of things beyond my control. I had intended to play catch up over the holidays. Well, I was sick. I can't do anything about that, so get on with it. I had a screw-up with COBRA and find myself post-cancer entering 2010 without health insurance. I can spend time wringing my hands or I can gather information, assess my options and make a choice from those options.

Admiral Stockdake said he survived his time as a POW in Vietnam by facing the brutal truth and then dealing with it. Americans are famous for our Can Do attitude.

So, as we move into the teens of this new century, take some time today to assess your current situation, assess what you know, identify what information you need, gather it, analyze it with your team, build your plan for the next 90 days and then let's knuckle down and execute.

I've been through downturns before. Staying focused on hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly goals pays off. When I've lost sight of my goals, performance has always suffered, good times or bad. It's a discipline. If you fly off course, re-orient and move back toward your goals.

I am happy to be going back to work today. I am looking forward to identifying my goals for Q1 and working on those things within my control.

As for the rest, I'm sure y'all will handle those.

(Damn, I just sneezed)

><(("> Gayle Turner

Gayle is a ><((“> Team Member at Catch Your Limit Consulting, a management and marketing firm with offices in Tallahassee, Florida and Richmond, Virginia. He is a keynote speaker, facilitator, blogger and contributing author for international, national and regional publications. To learn more, visit http://www.catchyourlimit.com/ .