How many New Year Resolutions have you made in your days? How many of those resolutions have you kept?  If you’ve broken many, you’re not alone. Studies say <15% of resolutions are kept.

Would you like to never make a resolution again? If yes, you should replace that resolution habit with a new one. Be like a smoker stopping the smoking habit and replacing it with a walking habit or a deep breathing habit. The replacement habit keeps you distracted from the bad thing and focused on the new, better thing.

Creating a theme for your year is a great way to give yourself a direction to head. Themes are easy to stick with for 12 whole months because they’re positive and something you like. Please pick a theme that you like and will embrace! And, with themes there isn’t guilt associated with ‘breaking my resolutions’ because themes bridge a greater amount of time. Themes are somewhat broad and allow latitude while still showing the way to where you want to be.

Here are some themes to inspire you:

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As the year winds down and 2008 peeks over the wall all the lists of 2007 are published – the top 100 Songs to the Bestseller lists to beautiful people of 2007. So, here is our list of top 10 productivity certainties that are in fact perpetual:

1. Have a personal planning and review meeting with yourself weekly. You will be stunned by the outcome.
2. Simplify. Get rid of extras – extra meetings, extra stuff, and extra responsibilities. Focus on your core people, things and responsibilities.
3. Get energized through being active. Whether it’s a pickup game at the Y or a guided walking tour, get a move on. Energy begets energy.
4. Eat well. New Year resolutions aside, eating well is like premium fuel in a car. You’ll operate better with it.
5. Learn something new. You will stand out for your knowledge, move forward in your life, and be proud.
6. Comment on others’ strengths to them. There is enough success to go around for everyone. You build all good things when you catch someone doing good stuff… good karma, good feelings, and good legacies.
7. The things you’ve heard before still work in 2007. For example: a Place for Everything and Everything in its Place whether that is something in your inbox or your keys when you get home each day.
8. Using tools makes getting the job done easier so it’s worth learning how to use the tool. Building a house with a hammer is certainly doable. Building with a nail gun will build your house faster, offer consistency, and you will be less tired.
9. Stress does not yield success. Sure you’re smart, popular, unique, indispensible, irreplaceable, and priceless. And should you not show up again, the job will be done by someone else before long. Practice asking yourself, "How will I view this in 5 years?" If it’s going to be forgotten by then, be cool, respond with purpose and don’t stress.
10. _____________ left blank for your comments. Please leave your Productivity Certainty in the comments.

Merry Christmas to those celebrating the holiday.

Look at today as a day for no regrets – do what you’ve been waiting for ’someday’ to do.

May many blessings be yours, PC readers.

Susan

How do you think your spouse or kids would respond to you delivering them breakfast in bed? It’s considered an ultimate treat by many and you can make someone’s day by delivering breakfast on a tray. Since this is a holiday weekend for many of us, I’m hoping you have time to execute this one.

Plan A –
Kid’s Plan

• Griddle some pancakes, sprinkle them with powdered sugar
  
• Put milk in a glass (with a lid if age appropriate)
  
• Add real silverware
  
• Ultimate touch: make a character out of a napkin or simply write ‘You Are a Special Daughter / Son to us!’ on the napkin 
  
• Deliver it all on a tray
  

Plan B – Adult Plan

• Brew some of her or his favorite coffee or tea 
• Find the newspaper, a novel, or favorite magazine and put it on the tray
  
• Cut a bowl of fresh & colorful fruit
  
• Make some waffles (do not butter so they stay crisp)
  
• Put some syrup in a pitcher – a creamer pitcher works great – then warm the syrup (don’t leave it in the wonking big bottle from the store)
  
• Add a cloth napkin & silverware
  
• Ultimate touch: a flower in a vase for her; for him ? ? ?  (what do you guys like/want on your tray??)
  
• Deliver with tunes playing in the background
  

Enjoy!

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R & R (rest and rejuvenation) are the intentions behind Friday @ Five entries. Often these are inexpensive and low key because you recharging your batteries can be more easily achieved without running around and doing, doing, doing. Many Friday @ Five entries are geared to do with your family or friends.

Talking with Cheryl about all the time it takes to wrap presents. "As if shopping wasn’t time consuming enough, there’s the wrapping to do," she said. Given that it was 34 degrees and raining all day yesterday I didn’t mind spending the 2-hours wrapping and wrapping some more. Cheryl’s remedy to the wrapping blues is gift bags. A little tissue, a gift bag, a tag and viola her gifts are ready to give. Great Idea Cheryl! Speed counts in effectiveness and efficiency here!

To make this a green gift I suggest buying the reusable bags at the grocery store and putting a gift in that. Do the bow and label routine and you’ve got an attractively wrapped, interest-catching gift that keeps giving all year long. The photo to the right is of the bag I purchased from Wegmans, my local  grocery store, for the family gifts for my sisters. I like these Wegmans bags because they’re not shouting ‘I’m a reusable grocery bag’ – the black is classy, the graphic is unassuming, and the material is a fabric-feeling plastic. They’re washable and can hold 25 lbs. with handles that don’t cut into your hand the way the typical slippery plastic bag does. I’ve been using the Trader Joe’s fabric bags for most of this year and am hooked. There is a good feeling that comes with doing a little something for the environment with your regular grocery shopping.

My iPod died.  That’s the bad news. The good news is that it was 2 days on this side of the warranty
expiring. Since it was just 48 hours from losing coverage I raced to my local Apple store to get it taken care of.  I was in no way ready for what I was about to see. I had to wait 20 minutes for my time with the Apple Guru. While I was waiting I was blown away by the marketing and branding there. I think what they do could help you brand yourself for easier representing or selling of Brand You.

Before I get into the branding let’s take a minute to answer the question, "Why brand me?" First of all, know that you are branded already. I could ask the people you work with for a list of 3-5 words and phrases that describe you in your position.  The responses for any one person could be as varied as maddening to effective.

If you want a promotion, recognition, or a raise, you want that brand to be as good as the Apple brand. In some companies if you just want to keep your job you need to have a good reputation. Your brand represents that reputation. By consciously examining your brand and reputation behind it you will be able to direct it, through your actions, to be what you want it to be. It’s more productive than having to defend your position or make your case in an interview. You’ll be a known entity; someone who can be counted on.

So on to some of the lessons from the experts at Apple from the point of view of this marketing oriented productivity barista. . .

First I was struck by how many people love Apple. I was there at 9:50am and already loads of people were checking out computers,

This weekend bring the focus onto family for a short while by drawing your family tree. The aim of this activity is to look at where you’ve come from and to share that with your kids, spouse, partner, nieces & nephews. It might spark conversation during holiday gatherings as you query your parents or grandparents regarding your heritage.

You can be simple and streamlined in your tree like this drawing – the basics of names. And you might find fun and intrigue in expanding that to include the country of origin, great-great grandparents, city of residence, your sisters & brothers and whatever tickles your fancy.

Let us know if you learn anything surprising or new as you document your family tree.

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Friday @ 5:00 is a weekly suggestion for R&R (rest and regeneration) on the weekend. Recharging your batteries so you’re energetic is an important part of being productive. For related posts, click on Friday @ 5:00 under the categories heading.

I have to confess that I’ve been holding out on you. The World is Flat is my favorite book of the year and this is the first time I’m writing about it. This is a book I read in the winter (January) and re-read over the summer because it speaks clearly to the world we live in. And, it projects vividly the world that your kids, and you, will be operating in. Thomas Friedman wrote this in 2005. He has updated it twice since then, "Because [he] can." Friedman illustrates that we’re in the world of printing on demand, for example, and has updated his book to incorporate answers to questions that readers of the earlier versions have asked. So, if you’re buying the book, be sure to get the ‘Updated and Expanded Edition.’

Friedman first introduces the 10 flatteners then expands on them. A selection includes: outsourcing, the fall of the walls, the Web, and advancing technology. You will say, "Oh, yes, I see that all around me," as you go through the flatteners. Friedman continues and applies the flatteners to the countries of the world. The view he gives includes economics, politics, and job prospects (this key if you have high school aged kids). He boldly addresses issues such as protectionism and skill sets.

Don’t miss the section on ‘dirty little secrets’ where Friedman exposes where he sees Americans as ‘on the fence’ in succeeding or failing to make it in a flat world. (see chapter

Friedman continues with ways the Flat World can save developing and struggling countries, conflict (war) prevention through interdependency, and what could go wrong as things progress toward complete flatness.

Be prepared to have your perspective of the world challenged and expanded. You will be held captive by Thomas Friedman’s outlook and words.

For more information on Thomas Friedman go to: http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/ .

A quote that I heard recently repeats itself to me because there is so much truth behind a simple phrase.

Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do.   

Mrs. Washington (Mother of Denzel Washington)

What does that say to you?

Can you tell quickly whether you’re due at a personal appointment or business meeting? How would you like to never miss a birthday or anniversary again? One easy action can help you see your day or month clearly at a glance. That action: color code your calendar! When I demonstrated this one to 50 sales people yesterday the oh’s and ah’s reminded me of people watching fireworks. This will probably hit a chord for you.

Here is a copy of a calendar created in Outlook (with names erased to protect the anonymity of people):

One can pick out the business meetings (blue) and differentiate them from the personal meetings (yellow) swiftly.