The truth be told, my main goal was to reach the green without majorly embarrassing myself, so I was satisfied even when my ball dribbled onto the fringes. One day, a local golf pro told me the key difference between average and excellent golf is this: The truly great players shoot for the hole, not somewhere near the hole or somewhere on the green. They aim directly for the hole. He told me, “You should make the hole your goal; don’t just aim at the green.”

As we’ve taken the first steps across the threshold of a new year, there’s a key lesson in this story for all of us pursuing a life of meaning, significance and excellence. Jon’s golf-story is an excellent metaphor when reflecting on our lives and perhaps the ideal theme for 2008… “make the hole your goal; don’t just aim at the green.”

Some time ago I came across these words by an aging monk who was reflecting on his many years of Christian service.  He`d worked hard, sometimes too hard.  He`d taken life seriously, often too seriously.  And as he approached the end of his active service to others, he sat down and wrote these words:

If I had my life to live over again, I`d try to make more mistakes next time.  I would relax.  I would limber up.  I would be sillier than I have been this trip.  I know of very few things I would take seriously.  I would take more trips.  I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets.  I would do more walking and looking.  I would eat more ice cream and less beans.  I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I am one of those people who live prophylactically and sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day.  Oh, I`ve had my moments, and if I had it to do over again, I`d have more of them.  In fact, I`d try to have nothing else.  Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead each day.  I have been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, aspirin, and a parachute.  If I had to do it over again, I would go places, do things, and travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.  I would play more.  I would ride on more merry-go-rounds.  I`d pick more daisies.

Take time out to relax and enjoy as 2007 draws to a close… Merry Christmas… Make meaning in 2008… God bless!

Indifference:  The most effective cure for this mild approach to life is to get excited about something.  Point yourself in a direction and move toward it.  It could be anything from being the best gardener on the block to running an effective organisation.  But you will never know the thrill of the hunt until you get yourself worked up about something.  Today, start putting everything you`ve got into everything you do.  It`s the perfect cure for this killer disease.

Indecision:  The antidote for indecision is actually simple: Don`t just stand there … do something!  Get off you backside and get a move on.  You don`t have to discover the cure for some rare disease.  Your decision may simply be to read a book on how to further your career, or it may be patching up a relationship that is significant to you.

Doubt:  This is the greatest killer of all.  Especially self-doubt.  We shouldn`t think overly impressive thoughts about ourselves, but think realistically about our strengths, abilities and talents.  The cure for self-doubt is belief not a blind allegiance toward doing the improbable, but a healthy belief in ourselves and in our talents.

Worry:  The truth is that 95% of our worries never even realise.  Why then waste precious energy on something that most probably will not even happen?  It only causes lower back pain and peptic ulcers.  Keep your hart free of worry, for it will infect your soul.

Overcaution:  This is the what if syndrome.  You`ve been there.  What if I speak up and declare my own point of view on this issue?  I might lose some friend in the process.  What if I decide to do something nice for myself, like buy a car or take a long trip?  They might think I`m selfish.  What if I buy a new home, get saddled with high payments, and then lose my job?  

The opposite side of timidity and overcaution is adventure taking risks and accepting challenges that are beyond your immediate ability to deliver… Pushing your own boundaries.  This is what living to the full is all about.

But these diseases of attitude are always lurking, always ready to infest and infect the garden of your mind.  So be on guard.  Keep sowing attitudes that are constructive, that will bring you a step closer each day to the goals you have set for yourself… And it will help keep you from being afflicted with that most dreaded of all diseases the status quo, which is the Latin for the mess were in!

The diseases of attitude are:

Indifference: The mild approach to life.  Don`t let this rob you of a good life.

Indecision: The greatest thief of opportunity.  A life of adventure is a life filled with decisions good ones and bad ones.

Doubt:  One of the worst is self-doubt.  Turn the coin over.  Belief is a better gamble than doubt.

Worry: The real killer.  Worry in the final stages can reduce you to begging.  It causes health problems and financial problems.

Overcaution: Some people will never have much.  They`re just too cautious.  Let the record book show you won, or it show you lost, but don`t let it show you failed to play the game.

The major key to a better future is you.  Not your boss, not your salary, not your situation, but you.

Do you know any grumps?  I mean real bona-fide grumps the kind who frown, mumble incessantly, belittle others, and walk around with a gray cloud forever hanging over their drooping heads?  Not much fun to be with, are they?  They are afflicted with a disease of attitude.  By six o`clock each morning they already know it`s going to be a lousy day!

And then there are our friends who always seem to be up, pleasant, interesting, and interested.  They are, in contrast, a joy to be around.  Their warmth and good humor are contagious.  They have the capacity to share their gift of encouragement with everyone they meet.  Their attitudes are healthy.

So, one of the ingredients for a life of meaning is just that healthy attitudes.

You are unique.  Develop your own style.  No one has had the life experience you have had; no one has the contributions to make that you can make.  So it`s not a question of being better than someone else, but being better than yourself.

Some people are outgoing, while others are introverts.  Some are thinkers rather than doers.  Some are leaders; some are followers.  Some are ahead of their times; many are behind.  But whatever category you are in, right now you can make that single deliberate move toward a life of significance.

We are all aware of true and challenging illustrations of hosts of people who have triumphantly overcome seemingly impossible handicaps and disabilities.  An outstanding example is that of Helen Keller.

At the age of nineteen months, because of illness, Helen became totally blind and deaf and speechless.  Needless to say, it would have seemed that she had no future.

But Helen was a highly spirited girl and was tremendously encouraged by the loving care of her mother.  When Helen was seven, the beloved teacher, as Helen called her, came into her life.  Anne Mansfield Sullivan was greatly responsible for unleashing in Helen Keller the great desire to express herself.

Through Anne`s help, Helen went on to graduate cum laude from Radcliffe College.  Devoting her life to helping others deprived of sight and sound, she traveled all over the world on their behalf, giving lectures.  She wrote several articles and books, and her contributions were such that Mark Twain said that the two most interesting characters of the nineteenth century were Napoleon and Helen Keller.

What about you?  Whether your handicap is physical or emotional, today can be the day you begin to chip away that granite mountain of self-defeat.  You can read books on how to do it.  You can attend seminars on assertiveness training.  You can discuss your plans for change with your friends and pray about it until the cows come home.  But ultimately it`s up to you to take action.  And to take action that is productive you must know who you are … and what you are.

It is my hope that today you will recognise that you are someone special, and that you will become all you were meant to be.

The genius inventor Thomas Edison was one day faced by two dejected assistants, who told him: We`ve just completed our seven hundredth experiment and we still don`t have an answer.  We have failed.

No my friends, said Edison, you haven`t failed.  It`s just that we know more about this subject than anyone else alive.  And we`re closer to finding the answer, because we know seven hundred things not to do.  He went on to tell his colleagues: Don`t call it a mistake. Call it education.

What a marvelous perspective.  I don`t know how many additional tries it took before Edison achieved success, but we all know that eventually he and his colleagues did see the light… Literally.

Whether you are an inventor, a student or a business executive, you must adopt the same principle that guided Edison in his laboratory work: Learn from your mistakes and keep going.  In fact don`t call them mistakes at al; call them education. Don`t be afraid of failure.  It is by failure that we learn and profit.

Therefore, when it comes to strategy, seriously question, if not totally ignore, tradition.  Think outside the ‘box` within which your organisation operates.  No organisation can afford to believe that competition or changes will come from solely within its own industry, or that a small firm cannot overturn the largest.  For example: Who would have though that food and clothing retailers will move into the domain of financial services?  The opportunities and threats for organisations in the present environment are limited only by an organisation`s ability to break industry traditions, conventions and boundaries.  This implies keeping a sharp eye on surroundings and asking unwelcome questions that can cause conflict.

1. The Movers: Organisations that continually change to meet the needs of their environment and constantly innovate to find new ways of delighting their customers and differentiating themselves from the competition.  These organisations take a proactive approach to change and innovation, and put learning at the centre of their development.
2. The Watchers:  Organisations that play ‘catch-up` with the competition.  These organisations wait and see what impact changes in the environment have, and then copy the successes of other organisations.  Such organisations will remain in a precarious position by being reactive to change and are more likely to become failures than successes.
3. The short-lived:  Organisations that do not change and innovate, and lose out.

It is a striking thought that the average lifespan of a small business is 3-5 years, even more eye-popping that for a large one it`s about 30 years.  A company may be strong, yet it can disappear very quickly.  Current success holds very little guarantee for future success.

At the outset, you have to decide if you really need a team in some cases an individual working alone may achieve a task more effectively than a group. The benefit of a team is a mix of different capabilities, including personal and technical skills.

You need to think about how you want the team to operate in terms of:

1. Coordinating individuals` efforts in tackling complex tasks.
2. Making the most of individuals` strengths.
3. Raising and maintaining motivation.
4. Encouraging team members to spark ideas of each other.
5. Bringing about commitment and ownership of the task.

To succeed with this, you will need to establish the ground rules. There will be a need for honest and open communication so that everyone especially those with minority views can say what they think without fear of put-down or ridicule. Include yourself the teamleader as a team member who passes on the leadership of the team when specific skills are needed. This will also require the allocation of responsibilities and working out how to measure progress and report it.

Team-working tips:

1. Change is impossible without agreement and commitment.
2. Realistic timetables is vital, as unlearning may have to take place first.
3. Teambuilding will probably increase individual workloads.
4. Development is basically self-regulated, and domination undermines individual and team progress.
5. People cannot be forced into attitude changes.
6. Stick to the agenda but be open to new and different ideas.
7. Admit when you are wrong, and learn from mistakes if you are right all the time, you are probably not developing.
8. You can`t necessarily motivate people; you can only create the right conditions for motivation to happen.