"I am easily satisfied with the very best." -- Winston Churchill

It is a new year, a concept that appeals quite a bit to me every time it comes around.

We all work with cycles, whether it's the seasons we see reflected in our gardens; or the house-keeping we do each week; or the quarterly or semi-annual maintenance jobs we perform at home and at work. A year is just a longer cycle than others -- and it offers us the chance to start anew, to turn the page, to become a better person. Customarily we think of the end of a year as a chance to make resolutions that will be carried out in the new year.

At the Santa Fe think tank, we were offered the opportunity to divide a circle into slices, each reflecting some part of our life. For me, there were six: personal relationships, creativity, health, books, finances, and business. It was suggested that once a year we review the slices and then set 2-3 specific goals per slice. We'd then try to find the most important goal in each slice and carry it with us as we went through the year, as a reminder of what we were trying to do.

A summary of my most important goals for 2011 looks something like this.

Personal relationships -- lunch or coffee three times a week with a friend or colleague.

Creativity -- concerts once a month and exhibitions twice a month

Health -- train twice a week, and add yoga twice a week when possible.

Books -- finish draft of new book by end of Q1; design concept and sample by end of Q2; locate commercial publisher by end of Q3.

Finances-- develop multiple revenue streams from ASA.

Business -- become a federal contractor by end of Q1.


This last goal is testing my patience and fortitude. In order to become certified by the government, there are a number of online databases you pass through. I'm 80% of the way done, but I must say that I'm still learning codes and acronyms. The learning curve is steep.