This issue is made up of the following sections:

1. Personal Effectiveness Tips
2. Questions for Growth
3. Reality Check
4. Introducing Gable

1. Personal Effectiveness Tips
• Nip excuses in the bud whenever possible. Excuses serve one real purpose: To buffer our egos from a reality we might not like. Therefore, the less excuses we allow ourselves to employ (“I'm too old/young/inexperienced,” “I don't have enough time,” etc) the more we will be able to see ourselves as we really are. It may be uncomfortable, but nobody has ever passed away from being uncomfortable. Once we reduce the excuses in our lives we can begin the process of making profound changes in our lives.

• When possible, stop over-thinking. Anxiety is the curse of the intelligent mind, but a needless one at that. Just as some athletes need to “dumb-it-down” and focus merely on playing rather than thinking, so to do all of us that tend to overanalyze and interpret every moment of our day. As Freud once said, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

• Instead of setting New Year resolutions, try setting New Month resolutions. Why? To ensure proper perspective and to reduce your chance of failing at any one resolution (and I would venture that probably seventy percent of all resolutions are forgotten or given up on within two months). Break your one-year resolutions down into bite-size chunks, and pick a few (two or three) to go after immediately. Set an end-of-the-month deadline to achieve these goals, and get after it.

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2. Questions for Growth
1. What life lessons did 2004 deliver to your doorstep?

2. What do you anticipate being the biggest obstacles to making 2005 your most effective year yet?

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3. Questions for Growth

As January 2005 comes around, most of us find some time to sit and process our disbelief at how quickly the years churn. What we usually are left with, once this process is complete, is a strange combination of regret and hope-regret that we did not quite give our all towards the year and hope that we can change that fact within the coming months.

I've come to the conclusion that life is best lived moment-to-moment, though this is most likely the most difficult principle to see to fruition. The Vikings knew a bit about this: In their determinist views, death was already a scripted part of life. Many of their views on war centered around the idea that to die in battle (fighting the good fight) is the best of scenarios, as it assured them a seat at the banquet hall in Valhalla. There they could dine amidst the company of friends and relatives that went before them.

So what can the Vikings view of war do to influence our day-to-day functioning in 2005? Much. In order to live a better life (better being defined as happier, more satisfied), we can do worse than attempting to break our days down into moments and attempting to live those moments to the best of our ability. In your life this may mean maximizing those moments with your family and friends. Perhaps it means standing up and deciding to fight a battle you've been shirking. Or maybe it merely means putting more of yourself into each day's decisions on how to spend your time and whom to spend it with.

The reality check here is that life is all about moments. It is certainly not about tangibles, nor is it about winning. It is about making the most of the important moments in our lives. Sometimes these moments are obvious, as they can be in sports (last minute free-throws, two-minute drills, etc), but many times they are more subtle (meeting someone for the first time, standing up for yourself, doing something spontaneous and selfless, etc). As 2005 comes around, I suggest that we can all learn to better live those moments in our lives. The Vikings, I believe, were on to something, in that their views allowed them to minimize the dire effects that fear places on the human mind. They were not afraid of dying; they were afraid of not living well when the moment was upon them. Any steps we can take in that direction will merit positive changes in our daily lives.

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4. Introducing Gable

Gable Landen Smith is the newest employee at Personal Best Consulting, and I thought his arrival warranted a note in this newsletter. He weighs in at 8 lbs 14 oz, and was born on 12/14/2004. He has deep-set blue eyes, and wisps of dark hair, and has a quiet, charming personality (which he must have gotten from his mother) that easily endears him to all.

Welcome to the world, Gable!

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