Erin Albert’s Blog

I’m in the throws of writing out my 2010 goals.  This is a habit I always reserve for the week between Christmas and the New Year each year.  First and foremost, I want to thank you, the readers of my random thoughts and books, for making my 2009 one of the best yet!  It is definitely forcing me to set the bar even higher for me and my writing endeavors in 2010, and I’m truly honored to have had the pleasure of sharing ideas with you.  THANK YOU!!!

Secondly, although I shared my holiday card with 1000 of my closest friends, I didn’t get to everyone that I wanted to get to - either I’ve lost touch, lost addresses, people have moved, etc.  So, I thought I’d share my greeting with you electronically, in hopes that you enjoy it, but more importantly USE IT to make YOUR 2010 YOUR BEST YEAR YET too!

Have a FANTASTIC blue-moon-happy-new-year and I look forward to hearing about your vision (and reality) of your very best 2010 in the future!!!!

After digging through my video collection (which honestly isn’t all that huge) last night, I finally found my copy of It’s a Wonderful Life and had a chance to have my traditional viewing prior to Christmas.  This year was the first year I’ve watched it since I’ve started law school.  This year, different items caught my eye.

The biggest thing I noticed this time around was the stark contrast between Bedford Falls and Pottersville, the “alternative reality” to the city that could have been without just one person.  If George Bailey had not lived, Pottersville, rather than Bedford Falls would have been.  Hmm.

Fresh out of Constitutional law, I’m starting to wonder more about just how important it is to elect fantastic local, city, regional, state, and national leaders.  What if George Washington had not been our first President?  And, what makes a city great?

Well, DUH!  It’s the people!  That’s my favorite thing about It’s a Wonderful Life this Christmas–that just one person can make a difference, a HUGE, cantankerous, in your face, awesome difference!

I just sincerely hope that we will be in Bedford Falls later this morning when the Senate votes on the 2,000 page healthcare bill that no one has read, rather than Pottersville.

I’m sure you’ve already heard about this from some other source, but it appears to be more of an urban legend than actual hard core, scientific data.

There is a study (supposedly) somewhere published that looked at graduates of an ivy league college and studied their rates of “success”. Those who had infinitely more success than their colleagues (allegedly) wrote down their goals.  The goals being written held them accountable and made their dreams more concrete.

Now, this is all pseudo-hypothetical, because I’ve heard that the study exists…somewhere….but I can’t for the life of me find it.  I decided instead to try a little social experiment of my own this year instead.

So, you can try it too!  Just take 1,000 of your closest friends, print out postcards, and send it to them with “My Best 2010…EVER” on the front of the card with a few goals (with blanks) so people can think about and write down their goals for 2010.  Then on the back, wish them happy holidays, and tell them you can’t find this crazy study either, but wanted to gather some data on your own to validate the idea AND help them at the same time create their best new year ever!

This is exactly what I have done for my 2009 holiday card.  I shared with my 1,000 friends that I can’t WAIT to hear about their goals for the coming year when we meet.  And yes, I’ll be watching to see who writes down their goals and achieves them….I REALLY can’t wait to see what happens!  NO MORE urban legends, but maybe some hard core data - at least in this world!

When you think of the title of this post, what comes to mind?  Is it the following:

TOO BIG TO IGNORE.

The very first book I’ll be ripping into after finals is Everything Counts, by Gary Ryan Blair. (It’s also a super cool song by one of my favorite bands, Depeche Mode.  I digress.)  Anyway, he talks about how excellence is really in the dirty little details.  Ritz Carlton.  Chick-Fil-A.  You name it, the successful companies out there really step it up on the details.

This is all I know thus far, but thus far - I like what I see!

I should be cramming again for Constitutional Law’s final tonight.  I’m taking a study break to share with you my favorite Con Law things (very a la The Sound of Music).  And here they are:

1.  The Separation of Powers Youngstown Jackson 3 part test.  Part 2?  The ZONE OF TWILIGHT!

Awesome!

2.  The fundamental right and undue burden parts of Casey.

3.  The 13th Amendment applies to EVERYONE, not just the state or public institutions.

4.  10th Amendment - Congress can’t put erroneous demands on the state (Printz), but they can incentivize them.

5.  That despite meeting only prong 3 of the 3 part Jackson test in Medellin v. TX, justice was still served.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, lucky you!  If you do and I got something wrong - don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll get my points deducted on the final tonight as justice being served…!

Last night after a couple more hours of cramming for Con law, I took a break to look over my 2009 annual goals and resolutions, to see how I shook out.  One of my friends sent me hers, and we’re now trading them in order to keep each other accountable.

I’m sure I’ve written about this before, but I think it is super important to write down one’s goals.  It is really the only way to hold yourself accountable.  If you just keep them in your head, they can change on a dime, and then you really have no indication about how much you did, or how much you rocked the previous year.  This year, while I hit half of my goals (not bad, considering a bad economy), I ONLY HIT HALF of my goals!  But, I know post-analysis which goals I totally hit, which I missed, and which others turned into something pleasantly unexpected during the course of the year, which has led me to other fantastic ideas and goals for the coming year.

Thinking about 2010, I’m going to write down my goals yet again, on one page, and see if I can compete with myself and the universe to make them come to life.  I might even go a little more audacious this year just to play with fate.  Regardless, I hope you met your goals this year, and even more importantly, I hope you consider your next year to come, what you wish to accomplish, and dare to hold yourself accountable.  As the saying goes, “Life is what happens while you are making other plans”, but I say, plan your life at least a little, that way you can celebrate what you’ve accomplished, and can set the bar even higher for awesomeness in the coming year!

One of my mentors recently met one of the four authors of the book, This Is Not The Life I Ordered.  So, naturally I was intrigued to read it.  The most resonating piece for me in the entire book was the gal who was shot and left to die in a foreign country.  I’ll save the details for you to read - but suffice it to say, she thankfully is still alive.  When the paramedics got to her, after she basically played dead for a long time (and what I’m sure felt like days to her) they said she was 3 minutes away from death.

That has me thinking a lot today - what if we all lived our lives like we were 3 minutes away from death, all the time?  How would we act differently?  Would we say different things to our friends, family, loved ones?  Not knowing fully when our numbers would be up anyway, maybe it would be a good thing to live as though we are 3 minutes away.  I’m sure it might make decision making easier, and really clarify what is important to each of us….

Anyway, you should read the book.  It is interesting.  Really, are any of us living the lives we ordered?  I’m not, but I’m thrilled to be living the life I have…3 minutes, 30 minutes, or 300000 minutes away from death.

The following are all officially, brilliantly, off the hook awesome:

1.  Greenies for pets, Pill Pocket Edition - Yeah, you’ve heard of herding cats, right?  Well, trying giving a cat a tablet.  That’s WORSE than herding them…BUT now, with these awesome treats for dogs and cats to stuff pills into and around, disguised as a treat - it’s SO EASY to give them meds!  Now, if we could just get them for humans, in tootsie roll and mike & ike flavors, we’d be set….

2.  Coffee.  My life would not be the same without coffee….but if we could get a clear, non-staining, yet still caffeinated version, that would be utopically brilliant.

3.  My iPhone. Another entity in which, without it, I could be lost…literally.  Now, if I could just get my first profession (pharmacy) to use some apps for pricing out prescriptions online by zip code or store levels without me having to call, that would definitely take my phone to the next level.  Heck, even other service fees by service providers by zip code would rock.  Like froogle meeting google meeting the iPhone…WHAT an introduction!

4.  Agents - Geek Squad did it - they’ll come into your home and fix your computer stuff.  BUT, where’s my health and wellness agent?  Where’s my fashion/cool/diva agent?  Where’s my life coaching agent?  We need some more agencies on demand or an hourly basis to HELP US live our best lives!  Watch for this - I’m predicting more agencies of the future.  (Geek Squad for healthcare, Diva Squad for fashion, Best Life Squad for managing your career and finances…)

5.  Quantum Teleportation - Beam us up, Scotty…seriously.  If Star Trek could dream this up in the 50s and 60s, why don’t we have it yet?  Can I just throw myself into a fax machine as a starting point?  Beats 6 hours in the car!

I wish I had the title when it came to my property final tonight, but I can’t lie - it was nowhere near “Empirical”.

That aside, I’d prefer to talk more directly about the empire state of mind.  Not only is it a KILLER song by Jay-Z right now (I got that off Gossip Girl.  Yes, I’m 30 something going on 14, in case you were wondering), but I also think it is a monumentally important notion to pass on.

Case in point:  I was PLEASANTLY tickled by something earlier today (which had NOTHING of course to do with my property final).  Instead, it was on a retail transaction for my under-the-weather cat, Bob.  I was so pleased by the transaction that I had to share my gratitude with the powers that be at this particular institution.  I shared that they made my day and thanked them for it!

In response?  I received that I MADE THEIR DAY!

AWESOME!

So, consider elevating to the empire state of mind in making someone else’s day by sharing with them that they, in fact, made your day!  Yes, it is EASY to complain about the bad, icky stuff in our lives, but why not instead focus that energy on those who MADE your day!  It doesn’t have to be monumental, just good, just nicely surprising, maybe even fierce.

Who knows, by you sharing that they made your day, you might, in return find out that you made theirs too!

Now THERE’S an empire state of mind!

I’ve seen (and felt) this phrase quite a bit lately.  It’s a Jell-o nailing time of the year, I suppose, with finals here, the holidaze, and of course, the economy.

But, on the other hand….why would anyone WANT to nail Jell-o to a wall?  Just either play with it, or eat it!  Best of all, what can you learn from the jell-o nailing experience?

I prefer mine with whipped cream, BTW…