Goal setting should be done on a more regular basis. However, if you designate one time of year to make those everlasting changes, New Year’s isn’t a bad time to hit the “reset button”.

I found a superb list of TED talks to help set you on your new path. I listened to a few of these on my trip from Dallas to Austin yesterday.

If you have some free time I highly recommend you look through the TED Talk Audio Podcasts to help you with goal setting.

Some of my favorites include:

Mike Rowe celebrates dirty jobs
Tony Robbins asks why we do what we do
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity
Dan Gilbert asks, Why are we happy?
Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce

What are yours??

Let me preface this post by stalling….OK here at Golden Book Traveler I give you facts and stories, usually relating to travel. I have the right to express my opinion on ALL maters, but in most instances I will leave that to the commentators.

Reading into the various news articles on the subject matter, I had a hard time understanding the meaning of the diplomatic cables. Who cares if someone releases information on where to find a bunch of classified long cords?? I mean aren’t we all going wireless anyway??

The definition of a (diplomatic) cable is a telegram sent abroad.

Whewww! Ok now that we got that out of the way, the rest of my article can be rendered useless! If you want to learn more and hear my uneducated political opinions, read on….

The mess started when the founder of Wikileaks, through hacked and stolen information, posted cables that bring negative attention to U.S foreign tactics. Included in the documents are allegations of corruption, spying on allies, and human rights abuses.

The main stories circulating the news wires because of the cables:

Tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan over nuclear fuel
Talks of unification between North and South Korea
Corruption in the Afghan Government
Global Chinese Computer Hacking

You can read more on the NY Times article, leaked embassy cables.

While damaging, I don’t find many of these foreign cables shocking. The U.S. is embarrassed more than anything that these cables, through less than acceptable practices, leaked to the public. It’s as if little Timmy told the family at the Thanksgiving dinner table that his 5 star football recruit brother Bobby was on drugs. Bobby’s not happy and wants revenge!

Or maybe there’s more to the story…documents yet to be released that excite something bigger. Never the less, Wikileaks has provided unprecedented access into what goes on behind the doors of government. It’s no surprise to me that their site is currently down and the owner, Julian Assange, is on the run facing rape charges (Are you kidding?!). Run, run fast, big brother wants revenge!

Escape The City

Escape the City has about 20k members at the moment, and growing. The greatest feature of this site is the opportunities section. Employers post volunteer type jobs that give travelers amazing opportunities to work from exotic locations.

Highly recommend joining this fast growing community!

Here is a picture:

I purchased the EF-5 18-55mm lens with the camera for a total price of just under $900. I’ve got about 2 months to learn how to use this and hopefully take some great pictures for this site!

Remember to be safe on your travels and ya DON’T DO DRUGS WHILE DRIVING!

Wedding season is just about over. Weddings are a great way to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, and exchange travel adventures. I had a blast at the two weddings I went to this month, both on consecutive weeks. I learned about the way of life of a great many people and made some solid business contacts as well.

The travel information I received from some of the people at the wedding was invaluable. People will inevitably ask what I do for a living to which I give them the typical “Self Employed Internet Marketer” answer. (My job is anything but typical and can sometimes change from week to week). Lately, I have been mentioning about my travel plans next year and that really seems to peak their interest.

I really enjoyed the feedback and travel stories I heard at the weddings I attended. I only wish wedding season could be spread out a bit more instead of crammed all in one month. I never really understood why EVERYONE wants to get married in June, especially in this 104+ degree Texas heat.

I did a bit of research and found this article. Might be helpful read before planning your next wedding.

Yesterday might have been one of my most productive days ever. I created a daunting list of things I wanted to accomplish and was able to complete every single one of them. Here’s the to do list I created.

• Blog post
• Research twitter program
• Wash all clothes
• Clean room and bathroom
• Research travel stuff at borders
• Call burst.net in regards to my credit report
• Research platinum SEO pack
• Research twitter forum
• Go to gym
• Pick up shirt for kickball
• Soccer game @ 8:50

In addition to completing this list I also found time to go to the bank, order a book I wanted online, and complete some other tasks I had been putting off all before my soccer game at 8:50.

I used a two-fold strategy to go about knocking off tasks I created for my list.

The first one was easy. Get up early!. I set my alarm for 6AM the night before. I was able to see the sunrise for the first time in a while and rose before people could start bothering me on the phone or internet.

The 2nd strategy I learned from a book called Eat that Frog. Do things in order of their importance. In other words, do the hardest tasks first and slowly work from their.

The task for me that took the longest and used the most brain energy was my blog post. After that was completed, the rest of my tasks became progressively easier.

At the end of day I was completely exhausted but felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment. There truly are enough hours in the day to achieve your goals if you manage your time effectively.

Michelangelo of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Which cartoon character do you resemble?

This morning I was the official toastmaster of my Toastmasters Club here in Austin. My responsibilities include setting the agenda, calling speakers to the podium, and choosing a theme for the meeting. The theme I choose related to cartoon characters. I asked that each of the participants tell me their all time favorite cartoon character and why.

Everyone has a favorite cartoon character in which they can relate to. The interesting observation I made when asking people the WHY part of their favorite cartoon character is that in many instances the cartoon character that person choose was a direct reflection of who they were. We admire characters that have qualities we’d like to possess or already own.

For example, my all time favorite character growing up was Michelangelo of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fame. I loved his surfer-type care-free attitude, his ability to lift the spirits of his fellow ninja turtles, passion for fighting crime, and deep affectation for pizza.

Suffice to say, it was very easy for me to relate to this character. I believe the reason I am attracted to Michelangelo is because these are character traits I desire in a human being. Even as a kid, when watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took up many of my hours in a day, I admired people with Michelangelo’s character traits. Now as a young adult, these traits have been reaffirmed to me as some of the more quality vitures I look for in other people.

So, who is your favorite character and WHY? (Hint: it’s probably the first one that comes to mind!)