Don't look now...two months GONE!

Ouch! It's the last week of February 2009. We have been having a pity party, America. We have been wondering what the economy is going to do, how bad it's going to get and how Obama can save us. We have been counting cancellations, scrutinizing collections, watching employees and generally worrying ourselves to death. And we don't even know if we are on track or if we need to change something to get back on track.

Your "product" may be widgets, or you may think of it in terms of the number of new patients, how much they “buy”, and/or the number of productive hours you work. The structure of business is the same no matter what your profession.

There is only one way up and out of a recession. It's called work. But you have to plan your work and then work your plan if you are to reap rewards. That's call strategy.

So, instead of sitting there feeling bummed out waiting for someone to give you answers, tell me, what have you done before and what do you want to do now? What is possible?

Do not be afraid to set a goal. Set it in stone and strategize! Here's what it takes:

• Your Calendar - How many days a week will you be “open?” When will your practice care for patients? Weekends? How many hours a day will you work? When will you take vacation? What is your schedule for continuing education? Put everything in your Calendar. You can only make money if you are open for business. That doesn’t mean that you can’t take time off. Nevertheless, don’t miss a goal because your calendar changes! Pay attention.
• A Goal Tracking System needs to provide you with a snapshot of your Yearly, Monthly and Daily Goals compared with your actual productivity. At every daily morning huddle, review your Daily Data and your forecasted production. Update your daily goal amount every time you adjust your production days in order to stay on track. A team that knows where they are today can see where they need to go tomorrow.
• Monthly Production Summary Reports - You must have a monthly report that shows your providers’ productivity, as well as your total production, collections, and accounts receivable aging reports. Your data should easily compare your current productivity to both your past production and your annual plan.
• Bonuses and Incentive Tools - Yes, you can, and you should build a customized incentive plan that will help you track your daily achievement. You can have complete control. Just don't give away more than you earn. It's really not complicated. Pepper the year with games and incentives to reach short-range goals. Use your team bonus program to cement your long-term goals.

Use this strategy to lay a firm foundation, focus on growing your practice, and then let yourself enjoy the fact that it is also growing you. You are becoming a bigger person with each milestone you hit, with each person you empower, and with each day that you work toward your goal.

Okay, time out. Something doesn't feel right.

Sunday's first section of the New York Times was my favorite ever, ever, ever, ever.

If you were from Mars and tried to figure out who the people in the USA are, you would be totally confused. And I am not talking about the news.

Past the headlines, pages 2 & 3 are about diamonds and furs and fragrance and watches. Valentine's Day is coming up so we can forget we are in a recession apparently.

Page 5 - There is a rousing "We are here for you and we have always been (even though we screwed up with Merrill Lynch") note (full page!) from Bank of America. Come to us and borrow money! "This is America." it says.

Page 7 - full page! - Citibank. More of "come borrow" but with a Disney Imagineers flair. "Every imagination needs access to capital."

Page 9 - A scary one. 56 TRILLION. The Peter G. Peterson Fund thinks committees of citizens can do better than congress at solving our problems. I thought that committees of concerned citizens WAS congress.

Page 11 - full page! - Let's take the kids to the Bahamas! (Wait...I thought no one had any money for vacations? )

Page 13 - This is my favorite page. "The Value of Team Member Recognition" signed by John Stumpf, Wells Fargo CEO. I am going to write a whole separate post on this one. If you are from Mars, you may not know that banks have bad PR right now. Spending money on employee outings (like going to the awards dinner in the Bahamas) wouldn't be prudent in the eyes of your stock holders. But John Stumpf sounds annoyed. Ah, I smell a double standard. More later.

Page 15 - Forget page 13. Let's go to Barcelona! Only $192 one way. We can forget about all this and eat paella.

Page 17 - I've changed my mind let's buy a 3% CD with the money we don't spend on a trip to Australia.

Page 19 - More of the same

Page 21 - We must think about redecorating our home. It is very patriotic, apparently. They say it's a President's Day Sale.

I'm confused, again. I must be from Mars.

Baby, it's cold out here

Winter is cruel this year. When we left Alaska in our rear view mirror, we worked our way south to Florida for the winter. We thought we were going to avoid it.

Last night it was 19 degrees. That's cruel.

So, there it is - another lesson about flexibility. I had envisioned long walks and bike rides this week. I had the wine chilled and the chairs set up by the fire pit. I bought salads.

Yesterday, I made bean soup.

Frank keeps the motor home comfortable by making himself uncomfortable. When it's cold outside he has to button up the motor home, drain water at night, fill up the tanks in the morning, set up heaters and smile. I love being cared for, but, it's the smile that matters the most. He's convinced me it's "no big deal."

Sometimes leadership is about doing the hard stuff with a smile. Working through hard stuff with a smile will make people want to help you. They will feel secure through change. They will help you get you where you want to go. They will make you soup.

The thing is, Frank, I wonder if we're supposed to be in Mexico? I hear it's warm down there.

What can I say? I'm a fan.

Super Sunday. Super sized. Super bowl.

More people watching today than any other event - including the inauguration. Go figure.

Could it be Faith Hill? Jennifer Hudson? Bruce Springsteen? Big Ben? Kurt "Cinderella" Warner? John & Al? Terrible towels? General Petraeus? Or President Obama's pregame interview with Matt Lauer?

I risk an "Are you kidding?" here, but, we, the good people of the US of A, watch the Super Bowl because it is about winners and losers.

It's about rising up from NOTHING - that big zero on the scoreboard that's the measure of a meaningful life - and then fighting to become SOMETHING. It's a memory of a jubilant team holding a trophy after working really, really hard to get it. Someone wins! And we like to watch them win.

We need to watch more stories like that. If it's true that 60% of Americans get their news from their television, wouldn't it be great if a victory story was on every night? What if, when we clicked the remote, the feelgoodstory was Headline News instead of tucked away at the end of the Friday night news? Don't you think that a good victory story every night would make all of us happy, give us hope, and fuel some ambition?

If your kid is watching TV right now, he heard about ordinary kids growing up to be extraordinary people. He is watching team work in action. He is seeing grown men cry and hug and hope and lose and win.

Martha is right. All of that is a good thing... and a really good story.