For the past three or four years I have followed a system for reviewing my life and my progress towards meeting my full potential and walking boldly in faith in the path that God has placed before me.This system is comprised of an annual review of my personal mission statement, a review of last year's goals, and setting specific MT goals for next year.

People talk about SMART goals or SMARTA goals, but for me the Measurable and the Time-based abbreviations are enough. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable,Realistic , and Time-based. The extra A get's you Alignment with your mission.I've seen a lot of SMART goals over the years that really weren't that smart.The reason seems to be that even though organizations and individuals profess to be using SMART goals, they are really weak on the metrics and measurements that will determine success or failure. They also often allow the due date slide as well.Now having said that, I've also seen some dynamite SMART/A goals as well. My point is that we need to be cognizant of the fact that choosing the right measurement is important.

Michael Gerber in e-Myth tells us that businesses need to measure everything!

Jay Levinson in Guerilla Marketing tells us that if we don't measure our marketing results, we're throwing money away.

So take the time to set goals for next year and review them on a regular basis. Share them with some colleagues or friends that will hold you accountable. You'll be surprised how much you can get done. I set goals in each area of the life wheel - Career/Education, Relationships, Financial, Spiritual, Physical, Personal Improvement/Learning, and Social.

Each of these are important if YOU want to reach your Potential!

We all have so much to be thankful for.

My wife got a call last Thursday that her father would be undergoing quintuple heart bypass surgery.  We loaded up the crew and headed for Mississippi.  He came home today in good spirits and as healthy as you can be after that type of surgery.  We are thankful for the doctors and nurses who cared for him and we're thankful for the successful surgery.

We all have many things to be thankful for even in this time of economic challenge.  A grateful heart is a key prerequisite for success in life and in business.

Put a system in place today to ensure your mind remembers to tell your heart to be thankful for the many ways in which you've been blessed.

Hi everyone.

Sorry haven't been around much.  Life is been very busy.  I just returned from a one-week vacation in Savannah Georgia, where my parents live.

I'm trying something new and wanted to share with you.  I've had the thought that I am a person who verbally processes things.  And it's easier for me to talk sometimes than to write or type.I recently bought the application, Dragon naturally speaking to see if I can actually talk to my computer and type for me.  In theory, it's supposed capture my words.  Up to three times faster than I can type or write.

It seems to work pretty well, but I'm still learning some of the command language how to work with the software.  I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes so far I don't see too many typos in this blog.

Hope you guys are all doing great!

I made a choice to attend my kids archery competition on Sunday, so I missed the Sunday events.  I'm sure Dr. Ratey's discussion  was a great finale for the conference.

Reflecting back on the conference, I think the best part was probably the people I met and the news friendships I formed.  I've heard from many people prior to the event that being around a bunch of ADHD'ers was a lot like coming home and I concur.

I learned a lot from Sari Solden and David Giwerc which probably tells you a little bit about where I am in my journey if you're familiar with their material.  I'm reading Sari's Journeys Through ADDulthood book right now and getting a lot from it.  I'll have a lot to discuss with my coach later on this week.

Speaking of which, my coach Mike Anderson did a great job with his presentation Saturday afternoon.  People were still there discussing it with him when I went back an hour later.

I really appreciate the willingness of great experts in the field to be accessible and genuine.

I'll definitely make plans to be back next time.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the conference as well.  Leave a comment or shoot me an email at jaycarter@jcartergroup.com .

A little bleary eyed this morning. I'm commuting back and forth to my home in Wisconsin.  Dr. Hallowell started off the day for us today. He gave a wonderful presentation that met all the expectations you'd have of a Dr. Hallowell presentation.  Following that Dr. Ratey and Sari Solden joined him for a question and answer session.

Following that I attended Tara McGillicuddy's presention on ADHD Support 2.0 which covered some important advantages and dangers of today's web offerings.

My session this afternoon was David Giwerc's discussion on Successfully Navigating the Turbulent Waves of your AD/HD.

All the sessions so far have been superb.

Wow! It's amazing how much professional level talent there was here.  The talent show was awesome.  There was a great variety of talent.  There were musical numbers from jazz to rock.  There were some braves souls who did a great job with accapela singing - If I were a Rich Man and an original song Cold Stone Killer. We even had a great accordian number.  There was story telling and some outstanding comedy.  I'm kind of a data guy.  I'd be curious what the statistical odds are of having that much talent in a group this size.

Wow! What a packed day.

Just finished a break out session by my personal coach Mike Anderson .  He really takes productivity thinking to the next level.  He presented a formula called the Selective Solutions Reuptake Inhibitor.  I'm sure Mike will feel free to correct me on how I wrote that if I messed it up.  The reasons we have difficulty with productivity are deep.  We need to understand the underlying beliefs and issues behind what we do.

Before that I attended the session "Succeed in a Flash" presented by Linda Walker .  She laid out a system that she and her husband Duane developed that uses progressive small changes to make large improvements.

Enjoyed lunch with three friends I didn't know until today.  It's amazing how easy it is to talk to people in this group.

Wow! The first keynote speaker was Sari Solden .  She may be one of the people who has the best way of dealing with the whole person of Adults with ADHD - not just the ADHD.  She told a story about her farm and her sheep.  It hit close to home with my farm and my llamas.
Some of the great points

• Heal old wounds then build toward meaning
• Aim for wholeness not perfection
• Learn to live your own life
• Move toward improvement instead of moving toward a solution
• Balance acceptance with action
• Tell yourself a new story about yourself

Sari has some new things happening on her website  - it's worth checking out.

Wow!  I made the front page of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  They interviewed me about ADHD and Parenting and came out and took pictures, but they never mentioned it would be on the front page.  Hopefully it will help the awareness of the conference.  I had to walk a long way to find a copy because in Minneapolis, the Star Tribune is the paper of choice.

Discovered a wonderful new social networking site from Dr. Kenny Handleman.  You''ll remember him from the teleseminar that he and Dr. Hallowell put on on Unwrapping the Gift of ADHD. The location of the site is ADHD World .  It's brand new and seems like it's going to be a great way to connect with other ADHDers.

I'm off to hear Sari Solden this morning.  I'm really looking forward to it.

Copying my blog posts from the conference here.

After the Meet the Presenters session there was a reception in the exhibit hall.  Great food and a lot of fun talking to a lot of different people.  I didn't realize we were so interesting. It felt really comfortable to sit and talk to a group of people I'd never met before as if they were friends. The exhibition booths were all open and I had good discussions with Tara McGillicuddy and Jennifer Koretsky. Looking forward to tomorrow.

My name is Jay Carter and I have had ADHD for 44 years.I'm excited about the conference that starts tomorrow here in the Twin Cities.I've done some volunteer publicity work and was interviewed over the last couple of days for the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper.

I plan to do some live blogging from the conference over the weekend. My liveblog is at http://ADDman.typepad.com.

There is a really great line up of speakers and I've highlighted my copy of the agenda for who I want to hear.I've included below what I plan to attend.You can see the full list at ADDA's Website.