New year goals. Looking back, looking ahead.

I stopped making resolutions long ago, but each new year, I set goals that I want to achieve by the end of the year. 2013 was interesting, and certainly threw some curveballs my way. 

At the beginning of the year, I set 19 goals.

- I was successful in accomplishing 6 of those. Woo! 
- I came very close to achieving two more. One will be a goal again in 2014. The other won't, simply because I'm setting another goal that will make that one less of a priority this year.
- One, after researching it more, just wasn't feasible. 
- I simply lost interest in 2, and have no regrets about not pursuing them. 
- I decided that 3 would be nice to achieve someday, but they weren't big enough priorities to pursue this year. 

But the last 5... I attempted each of them, ran into some unforeseen hurdle that made them more difficult than I thought, but really should have had the discipline to complete them. They'll be back on the list for 2014. 

Aside from the successes and shortcomings of my 2013 goals, I had the opportunity to experience and learn a number of things that weren't even on my radar at the beginning of the year. 

Looking ahead to 2014, I'm going to follow the same approach I used in 2013. I'll set a few financial, fitness, professional and personal goals. Each should be realistic, and will include a plan for making them achievable. I hope the biggest difference will be how often I track and measure my progress, for I firmly believe that is almost as important to success as effort itself. 

2014 looks promising. I hope you've set goals, and I wish you all the best as you pursue them. 

A Frightening Realization

I came to a startling realization this week. More on that later. First, the backstory.

Earlier this year, I committed to getting back into shape. I completed the entire P90X program and, while I didn't really follow a strict diet, I became a bit more mindful of what I was eating. I cut down on some portions and made a conscious effort to avoid unnecessary fats and sugars.

Slowly, a pound or two at a time, the weight came off and between February and the end of July, I had lost 18 pounds. Not bad.

Determined to trim a bit more body fat, I decided to cut out sweetened drinks for the entire month of August. Since I had already cut out regular soft drinks and rarely drink sweetened iced tea, that really meant eliminating artificially-sweetened diet drinks.You know, the zero-calorie stuff.

That sounds a bit unproductive, so I imagine you're asking yourself, "why?"  Well... I had read that diet drinks might not be any better than the sugar-laden stuff and cutting them out might actually help lose weight.  I'm not sure why, but one theory is that the combined sweet taste but lack of sugar confuses your body, makes it crave carbs and triggers fat storage. Another is that the chemical sweeteners are actually irritating, and your body responds by inflaming... essentially growing fat cells to protect the rest.

I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist, so I don't know. I'm not sure they do, either. Regardless, I figured I'd give it a try. Couldn't hurt.

Fast forward to last week. I weighed in at 189, a 3 pound drop from July 27. Impressive, but the surprise came this week.. I was down another 4 pounds, my steepest one-week drop all year. Keep in mind, I hadn't changed anything else. In fact, if anything, I've been a bit lax on the workouts lately.

OK, so the weight loss part worked. Still not sure why, but it did. I also found that I have more energy during the day and generally feel great.

But that's still not the mindblowing part...

This week, I realized that since I've rid my system of diet drinks, I'm more mentally focused than I can recall being in a very long time. I'm thinking clearer than I have pretty much since high school. I'm solving problems faster... sometimes without giving them much thought at all.

In hindsight, that's actually utterly terrifying.

Needless to say, I think I'm permanently done with artificial sweeteners. My gray matter agrees. 

A shining example of how NOT to use social media in your business.

What began as a minor annoyance turns into a social media failure. Smart businesses can benefit from one company's unlearned lesson in how to properly engage people on Twitter.

Read the rest on Storify...

Why Should I Follow You?

Whenever someone follows me, or Twitter suggests that I follow them, I run through a quick series of questions to decide whether or not they're worthy of a spot in my stream:

Do I already know you? While Twitter provides an excellent channel to discover new people, there's something to be said about existing relationships.

Are you local? Along the lines of the first item, even though the internet makes the world smaller, it provides an incredible way to share what people are saying and doing right in your own backyard.

Are your tweets interesting or relevant? Your last 10 posts either sell you or they don't.

Do you interact with me?  The best way to get on my radar is to say something to me. Simple, huh?

Do the people I follow follow you? Well, do they?

Is your profile complete? Photo, bio, website. Without those, I question your commitment. Speaking of bios... if yours reads like a sales piece, I'm probably not going to read much further.

Happy Meat Week!

Let me start off by saying, we've let you down, albeit unintentionally, even if you don't know it yet. You see, right around this time last year, fellow carnivore and craft beer enthusiast Kevin Myers sent me a link about Meat Week, an eight-day celebration of  BBQ that began in Tallahassee in 2005 and has since spread to various cities around the country. That is, various cities with one glaring omission... there was no Triangle chapter. Determined to rectify this travesty (heck, even Iowa City* has a chapter and I'm not 100% certain anyone actually lives there), we said we'd make an effort to coordinate Triangle Meat Week 2011.

It's Meat Week!

Unfortunately, time got away from us and by the time the official reminder emails came around, it was already too late. After all, we'd rather do it right than simply throw something together at the last minute. Alas, this year's edition of the great gastrointestinal love fest is upon us, and we don't have any local gatherings planned. 

That's the bad news. The good news is, Meat Week goes on, with or without us, and the national organizers say you don't necessarily need a scheduled event (see Flyin' Solo) to celebrate these High Holy Days of Hog. Our poor planning should in no way inhibit your ability to partake in the meaty goodness of which you are so deserving. So, be sure to round up a few friends and family and pay a visit your favorite BBQ shacks and smokehouses any night, or every night, between January 30 and February 6. Order a pile of the smoked animal of your choice and wash it down with a pint or two of a good local beer (let me be clear... I said local, not lo-cal).

Think about which of these places you'd like see on the Triangle Meat Week 2012 schedule and let us know. In the meantime, consider this a commitment to do whatever is necessary to make Triangle Meat Week 2012 a reality.

*My sincere apologies to the residents of Iowa City for casting your hometown in a negative light in order to make a point. I hope you'll both forgive me.

So I open up my web browser...

... and the leading news story - wait, let me stress that - Leading. News. Story... is about what Katie Holmes is wearing. Not the oil leak, not the latest government power grab, not event the weather.

Nope, just Katie's ugly shirt.

There's something wrong with people.

Curling: You KNOW you want to try it

With the Winter Olympics quickly approaching, you will no doubt at some point find yourself staring at the TV, mesmerized by the mystical, ancient sport of curling. You may even think, perhaps out loud, "I'd really like to try that."

Well, your dreams can soon become a reality. See, I found myself in that exact same place during the 2006 games. Then, almost as if by fate, I stumbled upon the Triangle Curling Club while searching Google for an explanation of the game. As luck would have it, they were hosting a Learn to Curl event, where I really could try it.

After several attempts (apparently, I wasn't alone in wanting to check it out), I managed to get into one of the sessions. I immediately fell in love with the game, joined the club and began playing.  Over the next few years, I've taken on the role of the club's PR person and have since begun the process of becoming a Level 1 Instructor. I even managed to collect a couple trophies along the way by finding myself on the winning team in our most recent fall league and summer bonspiel (tournament).

The game itself is simple to learn. Sure, everyone struggles with balance and delivery at first, but the overall concepts are fairly easy to grasp. The best part is, you don't have to buy any equipment to get started. The club owns the stones and has brooms and sliders to borrow.

So, if you want to give it a go, the club has arranged for several Open House and Learn to Curl events surrounding the Olympics, Open Houses will be set up as stations where you can try out different aspects of the game. Learn to Curls are more of a step-by-step learning process.  Dates are:

Thursday, February 4th - 8:00 pm
Open House

Friday, March 5th - 8:30 pm
Open House

Sunday, March 7th - 4:00 pm
Open House

Friday, March 12th - 8:30 pm
Learn to Curl

Sunday, March 14th - 4:00 pm
Learn to Curl:

Thursday, March 18th - 8:00 pm
Learn to Curl

Friday, March 19th - 8:30 pm
Learn to Curl

Check out the club's upcoming event schedule for details, costs and RSVP instructions.

How to lose my business in 10 minutes or less....

I've been getting swamped by advertising proposals lately. One quick way sales reps dig themselves into a deep hole is by including our logo in the proposal. It's not that they lifted the logo from our website that annoys me, it's the fact that they stretch it to fit a space in the document but fail to maintain the proper dimensions.

If you can't get my logo right in the presentation you're sending to me, how I can be certain that you'll be able to look after the integrity of my brand when exposing it to complete strangers?

Beer and BBQ...

In case you're wondering why I don't post here very often, it's not because I'm not blogging. On the contrary... since August, I've been putting the majority of my blog efforts (and liver function) into developing another project, Hops & Hickory.

It's taken awhile to add content, mostly because each post requires a bit of 'research'. However, now that it's starting to achieve critical mass, I'm ready to share it.

So, if you enjoy good beer and barbecue like I do, I encourage you to check it out. I'm always making tweaks, and suggestions are always welcomed.

Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Taxed

Recently, a handful of my friends became fans of a Facebook page advocating the revocation of the tax-exempt status of churches if they engage in political action. I challenged one of them on it, and after an initial dismissal and subsequent goading, we actually had a reasonable debate (although much of it focused on business taxes). He made some good points, but I'm still adamant that using taxation to silence politically-active churches sets us down a dangerous path.

I should preface all of this by saying that I neither belong to a church nor provide financial support of one, making my position purely one of principal. Taxing them puts no strain on me whatsoever, as I don't have a turtle in this fight.

That said, here are my reasons for thinking it's a horrible idea:

1) A lot of very good non-profits (particularly those in the health field) are heavily involved in political action. If you start taxing churches, you might as well tax them, too.

1a) Political action could become tough to define. Does lobbying against stem cell research make a church subject to taxation? If so, then does lobbying in favor of it also make the Alzheimer's Association subject to taxation?

1b) What about schools? When professors engage in politically-charged blathering, should the institution get a tax bill?

2) The idea could be viewed as racist; inner-city churches have long been a hotbed for political activity. Churches act as a rallying point within minority communities.  

3) Taxation shifts power, giving influence to affluence. Poorer churches would be forced into silence while those with financial backing can afford to have a voice. Imagine a community where a political issue is divided along income lines (a stretch, I know). Under the threat of taxation, the churches in the affluent community can weigh in on the issue (creating the perception of widespread support for their side) while essentially sending the message to the poorer churches, "go ahead, say something (and face financial consequences)". The civil rights movement would have been bullied into non-existence.

4) Either tax them all or don't tax them at all. Otherwise, you put the government in a position of monitoring the activities of religious groups (I told him, he can break that news to the Muslims). Enforcement of an if-then policy requires monitoring, and is subject to interpretation, the combination of which leads to intimidation, which leads to persecution. It would get ugly, fast.

5) I really don't support taxing organizations or businesses, anyway, which set off a secondary debate that I'd love elaborate on in another post.

If you use taxation to keep churches from engaging in politics,you run the risk of giving the government a workaround to the First Amendment. Selective enforcement could very well be used to shape which religious viewpoints are 'acceptable' and which aren't.

And that is a very dangerous path for this country to tread down. 

The Plight of the Inter-Office Envelope

Today, while sending out a pile documents, I couldn't help taking notice of some of the horrible things my coworkers do to inter-office envelopes, the unappreciated workhorse of corporate communications. Actually, I can't blame my coworkers specifically, since I've witnessed the same abuses in other companies.

Anyway, the entire concept of the inter-office envelope is fairly simple. It's covered with lines, where you write down the name and department of the recipient, insert your document, then tie it shut with a little string fastener. The next person is expected to cross off their name, and then re-use the envelope in the same manner as the first. If you get an envelope where your name is filling the last spot, throw it out (or recycle it, if that's an accepted material).

Simple, right? Apparently not.

Today alone, I saw the following:

• Envelopes that were stapled shut instead of tied, making them difficult to open, often to the point of rendering them nearly un-reusable.
  
• Envelopes that were severly torn, probably by someone trying to open it through staples.  Yet, somehow not torn enough for the last recipient to discard.
  
• Envelopes that were completely filled, and therefore useless.
  
• The worst is probably the person who took up the entire envelope writing out one oversized address.
  

Honestly, I don't think I saw a single envelope that was used the way it was intended.  

I wonder, is there anything that gets less respect than the lowly inter-office envelope?

Not so golden opportuity

I'm amused by all of the "buy gold" commercials I'm seeing on TV lately. They're everywhere!

I have to laugh. If gold is at an all time high, it's not time to buy, it's time to sell. The reason they're advertising isn't because gold is a good investment for you, they're advertising because now is the right time for them to dump it on you and turn a profit.

What are the Odds?

I got a good chuckle out of an article in this morning's News & Observer Lottery player gets 2 identical tickets, protests). According to the N&O, a lottery player became upset because she bought quick picks on the Pick 3 game, and received two identical tickets.

I find it amusing. She thinks it improbable that the two randomly-generated tickets could be the same but plays because she thinks she just might have a chance to win. Anyone with a basic understanding of probability should know that the odds of the next random ticket being identical to the first are exactly the same as the first ticket's odds of winning.

All Hail the Math Tax.

One Step Closer to Freedom

The title for Alison's car arrived this week along with a small refund for overpaying what was left on the loan with GMAC. That's one more debt retired!

Currently, we're without a car loan or any credit card debt, having focused on knocking out one after another. That just leaves the mortgage and 3 student loans standing between us and debt-freedom.

Hate Walmart? Shut Up and Work Toward Something Better

I'm tired of hearing people bitch about Walmart. I fully support their right to go with whatever business model they think works best for them. Personally, I hate the place. I don't shop there because out of their service, prices, products, store atmosphere and the convenience of their locations, not a single one of those elements is attractive enough for me to be willing to accept an inferior level of the others. I don't complain about it, I take my business elsewhere.

If you choose to do business with them in any capacity, that's your choice. If you don't like it, choose something else. Exercise your options, and if you don't like the options you have, work to create more.

The Walmart Experience is the sum of what is universally, minimally acceptable by the company, its employees, its suppliers and its customers. People shop there because there is something about one or more factors of the experience that makes Walmart more attractive to them than any of other options available. People work there for the same reason. Walmart's management makes business decisions because each decision is better for the company than any other choice the company has. Vendors do business with them because its a source of revenue they've determined they can't do without.

No one is required to shop there. No one is forced to work there. No one is obligated to supply them. If you think you have no other options, you need to re-evaluate your own situation and make changes in your life or your business to create more options and opportunities that work for you.

Here's a challenge... if you don't like Walmart, make Walmart Avoidance a motivator. Strive to improve your own situation and reevaluate your consumer priorities so you don't feel the need to shop there. Keep building your job skills and become the kind of employee that doesn't have to work there. Continually work toward developing quality products that consumers want and retailers want to carry, so that you can capitalize on that demand and dictate terms of vendor agreements that are more favorable to you. Focus on a factor of the shopping experience where you can blow Walmart out of the water and attract away customers who value that one factor more than anything else Walmart can provide. Reward good competitors by not only doing business with them, but by referring business to them.

If we can channel all of the negativity toward Walmart and turn it into self-serving positives, we can create an economic force much bigger and more powerful than Walmart can ever hope to be. 

Misguided outrage and missed opportunities

Does it matter that the President wants to address the students of the nation?

Don't spend too long thinking about it. The answer is no.

No, what matters is what he says. What matters is how your kids' teachers handle it. What matters most is what YOU do.

Will you, too, listen to the speech and point out to your children where you disagree with Obama, and why?

Will you engage your children in conversation to find out what goes on in their scholastic lives, what their teachers discussed? Will you point out what was only opinion and assure them that it perfectly OK to disagree?

Will you take the President and teachers to task and hold them accountable for presenting as fact what isn't?

Will you also build your own credibility by pointing out that, despite your disagreement on his positions, there are points where he was correct or where your opinions are aligned?

Will you teach your children to gather facts and not rely soley on the opinions of others or information that is spoon-fed to them by the authority figures in their lives?

Will you, regardless of your own political leanings, teach your children to think for themselves, even if it means they might form an opinion that differs from your own?

Will you teach them not to stifle the free thoughts of others?

If not, you're missing an incredible opportunity.

-- via BlogPress

Cats Should Come with a Snooze Button

Seriously. Cats need a snooze button.

Ours like to get up exactly 30 minutes before the alarm goes off. Not a problem in itself, but they don't just wake up and putter off to be cute while waiting for us to wake up. No, they're noisy. Abby in particular likes to shake the blinds, knock things onto the floor, chase the other cat, Scarlet, and paw at the edge of the bed in such a way that it not only makes a loud, FLICK, FLICK, FLICK noise, you also feel it.

I'm certain it's on purpose. When the rest of the 6 a.m. symphony fails to get me out of bed, she resorts to hopping into bed and bathing herself next to my head.

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to cling to those precious last moments of rest with the sound of cat butt being licked within inches of your ear?

Exactly.

It has to be a domestic cat thing. That crap wouldn't fly out in the wild. Turn on Animal Planet. Go on, I'll wait....

OK, it's on. What do you see? Lions chasing zebras. IN THE DAYLIGHT.... right? Right. What you don't see is the lion batting a TV remote around the floor while the zebra is trying to sleep. It simply doesn't happen, because if it did, then Animal Planet would have tons of footage of pissed off, tired zebras chasing lions at dawn, looking for their snooze buttons. 

Beware of this common Facebook scam

This morning, I received a chat message from one of my Facebook friends claiming that he and his family were stranded in London after being robbed at gunpoint. The scammer claimed that he needed me to "loan him a few cash" in order to pay for his hotel bill and a cab to the airport so he could get home.

Unfortunately for him, I was already aware of this fairly common ruse. In fact, he wasn't the first FB friend to have his account hacked by this same scam. If I had to guess, I'd say he had a password that was easy to figure out.

When I asked him to verify his identity, he of course only provided information that was readily available in his profile. When I countered by asking how we knew each other, he immediately logged out.

Protect yourself by creating a hard-to-guess password and keeping some information about yourself out of your online profiles. If you are approached by a "friend" in need of help, always verify their identity. 

Be vigilant.

Go

OK, I think this is ready to go. Still making minor content & design tweaks, but it's as ready as it's going to get.

Charting Discourse

It's nice to see the editor of our local rag calling out my Congressman ( Can't take the heat? - Columns by John Drescher - News & Observer ) over his refusal to hold town hall meetings during the summer recess.

Yeah, people have been obnoxious. Then again, that's just what we see on the news. It's easy propaganda for the media to grab a YouTube clip of the most ridiculous people at a meeting and present that as "what we're up against". I counter with, for every irrational yahoo whose sound bite makes it to the newsreels, there are hundreds more of us who are fed up with the course that this government has charted, but too civilized to get any attention.

Perhaps if,  instead of hiding, our 'leaders' would host more public meetings, those of us who are capable of presenting a rational and civilized counterargument might actually get heard.

Rep. Miller has always made himself accessible whenever I've asked to meet with him. Of course, I'm not the type of yahoo who makes it onto the most-forwarded list of YouTube clips. But, as Drescher puts it,

"If you can't hold your own with Joe Sixpack from Roxboro, should you be in Congress?"

As obnoxious as some of them are, Miller and his colleagues represent those people, too, and they're every bit as entitled to voice their opinion as I am. Perhaps if the news focused on us instead, the circus might go home and we might be able to finally have a constructive debate.

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