I always look forward to the change of year. It is a time for reflection as well as looking forward. 2013 for us was an incredible year and we have many of you to thank for that. Our growth rate for the event management and timing business far surpassed anything that we would have dreamed. There were many lessons to be learned both good and bad and those will help shape the future of our company.
Reflection on the past year is something that I have always done because I also set goals for the new year. Each year I look at where I have come from to see whether or not the goals I set at the beginning were met, lost, or exceeded. I'm not one to set resolutions because I think that they are too generic and amorphous. What I prefer is to set definable goals. Some are conservative while others are stretch goals. Much like running a race where you may set an attainable goal and a stretch goal, all areas of life can be handled the same way. There are goals to be made in finance, health, spirit, family, etc. I've always believed, although not always practiced, that there should be a balance in my life with all aspects. Having a business makes that decision difficult at times, but it is still a worthwhile goal.
As we look toward 2014, how many things do we want to accomplish and in what areas? How lofty are the goals. Are there things that we want to achieve but have not tried? Instead of saying I resolve to get in shape this year, how about setting a goal of running your first 5K, or half marathon. How about setting a goal of dropping 30 seconds off your mile time. Instead of saying I want to lose weight, set a goal of losing a pound a week. It's easy to resolve to do something generically, but only until we actually set a defined goal can we truly achieve what we want. Plus it also gives us a target so that we know when we have arrived.
There are also stretch goals that you may not believe you can hit, but you will do everything that you can to try. Think about running a marathon. You may have a stretch goal of 3:45 but a reasonable goal of 4:00 based on your level of training. You do everything that you can to hit that 3:45 but are content if hit your goal of 4:00. I set many stretch goals with our business knowing that there are factors that may come into play that will make them truly difficult to achieve. They are still goals though that I do everything that I can to meet. If we don't, it is okay because the journey itself was worthwhile.
I look foward to seeing many of you out there at the races this year working on your own personal goals. It is so much fun to talk to athletes who have run their first 5K, or set a new personal best. There's nothing quite like the accomplishment and it is infectious. I challenge everyone of you to set a goal and do what you can to meet it.
See you at the race!
