2020 - Are You Prepared?

Over the Christmas holiday MK and I traveled to Tampa to spend 10 days with my daughter, Jae, and fiance, Jeff. Driving from Cleveland was son, Andy and his wife Sarah, with their boys - Noah 8 and Isaiah - 6. There is nothing like being there when an 8 and 6 year olds open their presents.

A couple things caught my eye that reminded me of how important it is to PLAN as we are about to leap into a new decade.

Noah loves football. He plays it as much as possible and dad, Andy, does a great job of playing football with both boys. One of Noah's workouts includes preparing for when he scores a touchdown. You see it all the time on TV. I'm sure that is where he learned it. As soon as he crosses the goal line he looks to the sky, pounds his chest twice and points to the heavens. The next time you watch a game watch how many times this happens when someone scores. I'm sure when Noah has his first touchdown in a real game he'll be very prepared and will do the same.

This morning at the grocery store I was going through the cards section looking for a birthday card for grandson, Joe, who turns 13 on January 3rd. Right next to that section of cards were the Valentine Day cards. Shocking . . . but the card companies are preparing for that event nearly 2 months in advance. Speaking of that, when did you start noticing the Christmas section in stores. I think it was before Halloween. As a kid it was never before Thanksgiving . . . now the stores are preparing months in advance.

On January 1st MK and I will sit down and go over our goals for 2020. This is something we started several years ago after reading Matthew Kelly's "The Dream Manager". This book as well as his "Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction" are a couple of my faves.. In Dream Manager he provides a wonderful goal sheet covering virtually every aspect of one's life. I love what we've accomplished after getting serious about this very important task everyone needs to do. Included are setting goals for:

• Adventure and Travel

• Home Projects

• Creative and hobbies

• Physical

• Legacy

• Emotional

• Psychological

• Professional

• Intellectual

• Spiritual

• Financial

• Character development

• Where you want to live in the next 12 months

• Long term (5 years+ dreams)

• Financial - Long term

It was Einstein who wrote, "Doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results is the definition of Insanity. How true this is. The question is what will you do different in 2020 than you did in 2019 . . . 2018 . . .and the years the preceding?

12% of gym members join in January (compared to 8% in other months. Most don't make it past the 5 month mark.

Why? We all know that answer.

Getting ready for the New Year and making it the best year ever is simple - not easy.. The same with Leadership. Simple. Not easy. But oh how wonderful life can me when we take hold of it instead of it taking hold of us.

Want a blank copy of the goal sheet? Send me a note to mark.liston@nbly.com and I'll forward it to you immediately. Happy New Year . . . or should I say, "Happy New You!"