Happy New Year!

The New Year celebration is one of history's oldest, dating back to ancient Babylonia. Over the centuries the New Year's celebration has not changed much even if the method or format may have.

January is reportedly named after the ancient god Janus. Janus was the pagan god of two faces, each facing a different direction. Our long gone ancestors thought that such an icon was appropriate at the beginning of the new calendar to symbolize both looking back on the past year, and looking ahead into the new.

Despite the advent of Christianity and the shedding of pagan ritual the New Year celebration remained. Many religions changed the focus from revelry to a contemplative look at the past year and a commitment to do better in the coming one. The Puritans of the 17th and 18th century went as far as to avoid the traditional month's pagan root name, instead calling it First Month, but still held to the concept of introspection as the year cycled.

Whether celebrated with prayer or fireworks, through recorded history the New Year has been the time that we looked back with reflection and ahead with optimism and new commitment.

New Year resolutions are an ancient tradition too! Human nature strives to do better, to believe that we can achieve better, and to voice those hopes. Our resolutions run the gambit, from promises to stop a bad habit, to finding love, from being more patient with our kids to running a marathon. In reality most fall by the wayside quickly. We may as well have resolved to "leap tall buildings in a single bound".

There are some things we can do to increase the chance of successfully keep our resolutions.
Make your resolution achievable and something important to you. If we are doing it for someone else, or because society says we should, we will lack the motivation to achieve.

Plan your resolution in bite size chunks. Don't plan to lose 50 pounds this year, plan to lose 4 this month. If your goal is too big you may feel defeated before you get started.

Action precedes motivation, not the other way around. Even a small start on a plan breeds enthusiasm and motivation to do more.

Avoid perfectionism. If you don't achieve all of your goal look at what you did get done and not what you missed. You are better off if even some of your resolution is completed. You can always go to work on the rest of it again. Use failures as a learning tool and make adjustments to start in the right direction.
Don't keep your resolutions secret! If you share your resolution with a spouse or friend who will give you encouragement or a nudge when you need it the chances of success go way up.

Writing out your resolution and outlining a plan to achieve it over the year will provide focus as the year goes on and help to keep the motivation alive.
If you are like me and pretty content with your life as it is and you are having a hard time thinking of where you would need improvement just ask your spouse.

Happy New Year!
John Miller

What Can We Do…
To Earn, or Keep Your Business?

Over the years I have been to dozens of so called “expert management” classes that have taught me how to market better, sell more, increase production, inspire employees and retain customers. Now I think I have missed the boat on all of this. Maybe I missed the best source around to find out how to improve Freedom Automotive, recruit new customers, inspire customer loyalty and keep you coming back and sending your friends. I need to simply ask you what to do.

What is it that we can offer, do better, or start doing that will make Freedom Automotive the best place in town for you to have your car serviced?

Our lives, finances, social interaction, and car needs have changed over the last decade. What we did that was so successful a few years ago may not be what you need today.

We want your input if you have ideas. If you are an existing customer please let us know what we can do to keep you as a loyal Freedom Automotive customer? If you are not now a customer what can we do to earn your business?

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New Year Resolutions

If you are having difficulty coming up with your own resolutions for 2012...here are a few you might consider:

• Watch more cute and cuddly kitten videos on YouTube
  
  
• Check my work e-mail account at least once this year
  
  
• Switch my username to "password" and my password to "username" to make each a lot harder for hackers to figure out
  
  
• Watch less T.V…. in standard definition
  
  
• Stop buying worthless junk on Ebay, because QVC has better specials
  
  
• Start using Facebook for something other than Farmville and stupid quizzes
  
  
• Help kids stay safe by not texting on my cell phone while eating McDonald's and speeding through crosswalks in school zones with a frost covered windshield
  
  
• Avoid fingertip soreness by learning to play "Rock Band," instead of a real guitar
  
  
• Start a blog about how I would write more often if I had something important to write. Only make one blog entry and leave it published for years
  
  
• Talk with a robot voice all the time