This isn't 3rd grade where there is no such thing as a bad goal, there is. "Being Happy" is a horrible goal. The idea of happiness isn't, but as a goal it is. How do you define "being happy?" When you have achieved that state, do you have to stay there? Or, it is a "more often than not" kind of thing? And, if so, how will you know for sure that you have achieved it? Will you write down the number of minutes each day you were able to keep yourself in that state of happiness?

In my post yesterday, I talked a little bit about the high level story lines that I've started to pull out from the unfiltered ramblings that I jot down when planning for the year ahead. But, I realized after getting some feedback (from you the reader, thanks!), that I left out how I determine if something will in fact make it from the hair brained idea phase to the committed and inked phase of the year.

I've had the chance to be a part of a lot of "goal setting" meetings, both professionally and personally with mastermind style roundtables. It is always amazing what you can learn about a person by the goals they share and the approach that they take to prioritizing what they think are the have-tos for the next year. But, in those meetings and roundtables, I've also hear a ton of really bad goals, like the previously mentioned "being happy."

For me, in order for a goal to be counted as a legit commitment, it must pass the SAM test.

Significant: It has to be something that you don't know exactly how it is going to happen and it is going to take your very best to continue to pull the pieces into place so that it can occur.

Attainable: In the time frame of the goal being set, in this case 2012, it has to be something that can be achieved. If not, you will end up failing and knowing that you are going to fail is never a good place to start.

Measurable: If you can't precisely define when you have arrived and what steps and progress you are making along the way, how will you know your are getting closer? You must be able to tick of units of success as you go.

By having these checks and balances in place, I've been able to take big lofty ideas like "Being Happy" and boil them down to specific goals that aim towards the bigger idea AND pass the SAM test.

I had the chance to spend some time with Jeff Swartz, the former CEO of Timberland. In talking about goals he put it another way: "It has to be big enough to matter, but small enough to achieve."

Happy Resoluting.

I am in an incredibly awesome position as I think through what I want out of 2012. I haven't finalized my next career move now that Gowalla has been acquired by Facebook and therefore am thinking about and writing my plans for next year with a ton of unknowns attached. And it's awesome.

For years, I've broken my annual and monthly goals down into 6 categories as I think through what I expect of myself:

- Professional

- Financial

- Relational

- Spiritual

- Physical

- Educational

I start with very broad strokes in each of those categories, everything that pops into my head gets written down. I usually end up with 10-12 ideas for each category. Then, once I have all of those ideas in front of me, I take a big step backwards and look for trends, themes, or story lines that need to be pulled out and highlighted. What did I tell myself about myself in the free flow of goals and aspirations for the next 12 months? With some intentional thought and a large cup of black coffee, I was thrilled by what I found this year. The unknowns of what my business card will say I am and what I do in 2012 actually freed me up to think about things I hadn't before. I am still refining what I will commit to for 2012, but the big idea(s) are there.

We are all telling a story with every action we choose to take or not take. We are both the protagonist and the antagonist of an epic tale more commonly referred to as our life. Going into the new year feels fresh and full of possibility, but, 12 months from now, one thing is guaranteed to be true: 2012 will only ever be what we choose to make of it.

Happy New Year.

For the past couple of years, I've had what might be called an "obsession" with TED and the amazing talks the world's brightest minds share there. I watch a TEDTalk everyday that I'm in the office for lunch as a part of my hopefully life long continuous education. Since each talk is no longer than 20 minutes, the amount of intellectual and motivational gold that can be found on the TEDTalk YouTube Channel is incredible and perfect for the quick lunch and learn.

In an amazing interview with Warren Buffett and Jay-Z (that I detailed yesterday),  the discussion of "what advice would you give" led to some great thoughts from the two legends. Mr. Buffett said “The best moat that you can have is your own talent. The markets can’t take that away from you. Neither can competitors or inflation.” This is the kind of truth keeps my curiosity and hunger for knowledge and truth piqued.

As I've gone through over 100 TEDTalks in the past two years worth of lunches, I've taken a ton of notes and incorporated what I learned in a lot of the projects that I've worked on. I've also kept a list of my favorites. On Labor Day, a day that a lot of folks might have a little bit more free time to work with than other days, I thought it would be worthwhile to share them and encourage some on going learning.

Check out my Top 10 speeches and let me know which ones are your favorites in the comments. Also, if you have a favorite, let me know. Would love to keep learning.

Barry Schwartz

The paradox of choice: http://youtu.be/VO6XEQIsCoM

Sir Ken Robinson

Do Schools Kill Creativity http://youtu.be/iG9CE55wbtY

Bring on the Learning Revolution

Hans Rosling

No more boring data http://youtu.be/hVimVzgtD6w

The magic washing machine http://youtu.be/BZoKfap4g4w

Elisabeth Gilbert

A new way to think about creativity http://youtu.be/86x-u-tz0MA

Derek Silvers

Keep your goals to yourself http://youtu.be/NHopJHSlVo4

How to start a movement http://youtu.be/V74AxCqOTvg

Malcolm Gladwell

What we can learn from spaghetti sauce: http://youtu.be/iIiAAhUeR6Y

Tony Robbins

Why we do what we do: http://youtu.be/Cpc-t-Uwv1I

Richard St. John

Secrets of success in 8 words and 3 minutes: http://youtu.be/Y6bbMQXQ180

Simon Sinek

How great leaders inspire action: http://youtu.be/qp0HIF3SfI4

Daniel Pink

The surprising science of motivation: http://youtu.be/rrkrvAUbU9Y

Last night, Annie and I went out with one of our favorite couples to The Smith in the East Village.  Our dinner conversation ranged from the insanity of extended families to politics to Bob Ross' Joy of Painting (happy little trees!) The discussion also turned to the lists that we all wrote down as kids about what we wanted out of life when we grew up. We all recounted the categories and the hilarity of the details that we went into when describing our expectations of the future.   My favorite was the description of the perfect husband though the eyes of a 17 year old: "He must be good looking (if at all possible) and not go bald." This morning, still relishing in the glow of the great dinner (think beer battered green beans, bacon wrapped apricots, and a culinary piece of perfection:"Stout Braised Beef Short Ribs."), I got to thinking: when do we stop writing down what we want out of life with the expectation that it is still something that can and should happen? When do our lists have more to do with this week's to-dos and less to do with the biggest ideas that we can imagine? When did the lists we make change from our dreams and goals to a detailed account of this week's groceries and bills that need to be paid?

My favorite book in the world is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Early on in the book main character, a young boy name Santiago, meets a wise king. The king exhorts the young boy to not believe the world's greatest lie:

“What’s the world’s greatest lie?” the boy asked, completely surprised. The King responded, “It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”

At a certain point we all run into a brick wall on our way to achieving what we committed ourselves to when we had the innocence of a child. That brick wall, the first failure or set back of our adult life, is the end of their pursuit of the much larger vision they envisioned for themselves before the toils and responsibilities of "growing up" were upon them. That first roadblock is enough of a disappointment for the majority to stop, slow down, and put away their childhood lists. It is enough to convince them to believe the world's greatest lie.

But for others, like Santiago in The Alchemist, it is just the beginning of an incredible adventure up, over, around, or through that wall.  It is hitting that wall, and the next, and the next, that strengthens our resolve to go through this life with a resolve that we were made for the things of our dreams and the only thing standing between us and the life we've imagined is our own cowardice and willingness to turn our backs on the dreams of our youth.

200 days. That's all I have. 200 days left until life changes for good and I have to check a new box on the demographic section of surveys. And, only 200 days left to get to Africa and complete my goal to be to all 6 inhabited continents before I turn 30. As I've recently shared and my lifestyle has shown, I love to travel. I love the experiences that happen on the road, the people that you meet, and the bigger view of humanity that is only possible when you go and see it for yourself.  This year has been especially full of travel (100,000+ miles flown this year so far) and I'm thankful for each journey and the continued awesomeness that has continued to develop from each of them.

About five years ago, I decided that I wanted to get to all 6 inhabited continents by the time that I turned 30. At that time I'd only been to North and South America and Europe. I shared that with a few folks and they gave me some positive feedback for having a good dream. I like having dreams that other people think are cool. But, over the past few years, I have really committed to a statement that changed the way that I think about dreams.

"A goal without a deadline is just a dream."

If there isn't a deadline to our dreams, they'll never happen. For some really big dreams that I've had, the only time they've ever happened was when I assigned them a deadline. If there is an open ended timeline for when it can happen, there wasn't any urgency or pressure to make sure it happened. I love that pressure and love the feeling of making it happen. When I turned 29 this February, I had still only been to North America, South America, and Europe and didn't have any trips planned to any other continents. Since then I've been able to check off Asia and Australia.

But, according to my handy "Days Until" app on my phone, as of today, I have 200 days until my 30th birthday. Which means I have 200 days to figure out how to get over to Africa and make sure that this goal isn't just a dream.

If you have any ideas for speaking gigs, philanthropreneurial opportunities, or just plain fun times, I'd love to hear them!