Southern Oregon University Highlighted by U.S. Energy Department for its Investment in Clean Energy

Southern Oregon University Highlighted by U.S. Energy Department for its Investment in Clean Energy | Department of Energy Skip to main content Energy.gov Find information about your town or city. Search form Search Energy.gov Public ServicesTax Credits, Rebates & SavingsHomesVehiclesBuilding DesignManufacturingNational Security & SafetyEnergy EconomyFunding OpportunitiesState & Local GovernmentScience & InnovationScience & TechnologyScience EducationInnovationEnergy SourcesEnergy UsageEnergy EfficiencyMissionNews & BlogMaps & DataAbout UsFor Staff & ContractorsOfficesAll OfficesProgram OfficesStaff OfficesLabs & Technology CentersField SitesPower Marketing AdministrationOther Agencies You are hereHome » Southern Oregon University Highlighted by U.S. Energy Department for its Investment in Clean Energy Southern Oregon University Highlighted by U.S. Energy Department for its Investment in Clean Energy November 16, 2012 - 3:22pm Addthis NEWS MEDIA CONTACTDepartment of Energy: (202) 586-4940Southern Oregon University: (541) 552-6093

WASHINGTON – Today, the Energy Department released its fourth video in the “Clean Energy in Our Community” video series, highlighting clean energy investments by Southern Oregon University (SOU).  The school’s investments in renewable energy, sustainability, and purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are benefiting residents and workers across Ashland, a city of about 20,000 people.  SOU is working to reduce its energy waste and deploy clean, renewable energy projects both on its campus and throughout the Ashland community.

“Southern Oregon University is a leading example of how local institutions and communities can help lead the way in making sure that America wins the global clean energy race, while creating good local jobs and protecting the environment,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

SOU is nationally recognized for its involvement in sustainability initiatives through its membership in the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment and Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. 

The University is committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. SOU students created a self-imposed fee to support SOU's continued commitment to power the campus with clean, renewable energy. Funds from the student fee may be used for on-site energy generation or to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). SOU has also committed to purchasing Water Restoration Certificates (WRCs), becoming the first university to restore 100 percent of the water used on campus to a critically dewatered stream in the nearby Klamath River Basin.

“SOU's location in a beautiful mountain town surrounded by national forests and clear whitewater rivers and streams inspires our community and reminds us daily of the importance of preserving our natural resources,” says SOU President Mary Cullinan. “Our faculty teach sustainable practices. Our students are actively engaged in sustainable projects. And our staff and administration are dedicated to sustainable operations.” 

SOU is also producing its own renewable energy through the purchase of a 56-kW solar photovoltaic array in 200that produces more than 70,000 kWh per year.  This array helped the University qualify for a LEED Platinum certification for the Higher Education Center in nearby Medford.  The certification is the highest level of LEED certification in the Oregon University system. 

Addthis Related Articles Southern Oregon University: Committed to Sustainability Meadville, Pennsylvania’s Allegheny College Highlighted by U.S. Energy Department for Its Investments in Clean Energy U.S. Energy Department Launches “Clean Energy in Our Community” Video Series What We Do For You Energy EconomyEnergy Economy InnovationInnovation Nuclear Security & SafetyNuclear Security & Safety Energy.gov Careers & InternshipsContact UsEmail Updates Popular Topics SavingsHeating & CoolingIndustrial Heating & CoolingSolarHome WeatherizationAppliances & ElectronicsAbout this siteWeb PoliciesPrivacyNo Fear ActInformation QualityOpen GovEnergy DepartmentBudget & PerformanceDirectives, Delegations & RequirementsFOIAInspector GeneralPrivacy ProgramSmall BusinessFederal GovernmentThe White HouseUSA.gov

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How to Be Successful

Everyone should strive to be successful. Success is the meaning of life: your struggle, goals, where you are, where you're going, and where you have been. Success is a journey. Your job is to not give up and find a way to reach your destination. Below are 8 ways to find your way to success. You may have heard them before but that is because of how important they are. I will go into great detail with them so you know what is expected of you to be successful.

Define your idea of success
Everyone has a different idea on the definition of success. You need to have your ideologies straightened out to plan your goals. Your idea of success is not a goal let's be clear. Your idea of success is your visualization of what it is that makes someone successful. For example, my idea of success is self growth and experience. I believe with these things, I can become the best person possible over time. With that said, I now plan out my goal.

Plan out a goal
Obviously, there are two types of goals: Long and short term. Goals are a must. I think of them as checkpoints and once you complete them, they are behind you. You just keep looking forward.

Short term

I believe this one to be the more important of the two for one reason: confidence/reassurance. The correct way to have a short term goal is to make it for a short time. I would say daily. I would write down a list of what you need to do that relates towards your long term goal. As the days, weeks, months go by, you will look back on that list and see day after day that items are crossed off your list. Nothing is stronger than visually seeing forward process by looking at your to do list being completed day after day.

Long term

Long term goals when added up, together, get you where you believe is your idea of success.

Short term = long term= success. One builds off the other. Your long term goals can be looked at as a gathering or grouping of successful short term goals. For example, if I feel successful by getting married (which I don't), my long term goal would be to meet a woman. How do I do that? Through short term goals. My short term goals would be: work on myself, work on my interactions with women, maybe talk to 5 women a day, go out more often, go on dates, and so on. If I do that time after time, hopefully, I would reach my long term goal and get a girlfriend. Now when that Long term goal is completed, it's time to make another long goal which would be to get past the first year mark. So now you write down small daily goals that get you there. You keep doing this process over and over until you reach what you believe is successful. It's honestly a fail-proof formula if you stick with it.

Lifestyle
If you want to be successful, you have to live the lifestyle of success. What do I mean by that? Well, to be a writer, I would live the life of a writer. I would read, write, write, write, read, go to conferences, talk to other writers, attend classes, write, and read. You get the picture. Every aspect of your life should be around your goals. A writer once told me "I work full time to support my writing." I respected her for saying that. She made good money but her life and passion was to write. So she literally just worked so she could live day to day writing.

People
You want to surround yourself with people that have the same goals as you. It's good for a competitive drive, inside information, inspiration, and positivity. For me, I feel like I already met my goals when I have the people around me that have the same goals. I feel like a team. As a writer, surrounding yourself with other writers makes you feel accomplished and accepted as if I was a writer all along.

Mindset
Success is a mental game. You have to mentally endure the journey ahead and realize it's never easy obtaining greatness. You have to have that "no excuse" attitude and make things happen. Stop wishing and start doing. You should be positive. Success is more than having materials. A good mindset and some gratitude is a common trait among successful people. You will be amazed on what it can do for you.

Effort
My father is one of the wisest men I had the pleasure to be around. His famous phrase was "Don't tell me what you're going to do, show me what you've done." He drilled this into my head so much that I wouldn't tell him my short term goals anymore. Instead, I showed him the results of having them. I never told him when I got a job, great grades, or a girlfriend. I only showed him that I got the raise at the job, the degree at school, and the anniversary of the relationship.

Everyone talks. It's time to separate yourself from the crowd and start doing. Show people your capabilities. Challenge yourself. That is what life is about.

Time
The problem with a lot of younger people is they want things now. I was one of those people trying to find the fastest way to get what I want. Everything takes time. In fact, you should take your time anyway and enjoy the journey. You will grow and learn a lot about yourself if you grind through a long road of obstacles instead of trying cut corners and cheat your way to success. Ask anyone 30+ years old and they will tell you everything from getting over a heartbreak to getting a six digit salary will take some time.

Don't give up
This is the most important on the list. This list will not work unless you are consistent. You have to keep moving ahead. It's easy to give up. Be different and take on a challenge. Stop complaining if you had to take a step back, start over, or not getting the results you want. Go back to setting your short term goals and start over. Time flies and you'll be amazed on how much you can accomplish in a short period of time if you are consistent day to day with your task.

I promise if you follow these 8 things, you will be successful. The most important things to remember are the journey and the commitment. You have to stay on it. If you do so, you will only move forward. Good luck.

Any more tips? Comment below.

Remain Happy and Joyful During and After the Holidays

Childhood holiday memories are among our most common life experiences. I remember, growing up in a village on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, the holidays seemed to take forever to arrive. That is the experience of every child: a year is like eternity. For us too, the holiday period was simply Christmas-New Year.

What I remember most about the holidays was the anguish I caused my mother when she took me to the market to buy new clothes. There was an open market in the village twice a week and as the holidays approached, merchants and vendors from far and near filled the market with every kind of merchandize.

My mother would tell me ahead of time the choices I had: I could have a pair of shoes and a shirt, or a pair of shorts and shoes, or a pair of socks and a shirt. The choices always seemed to be incomplete. Going through the display of goods there was so much that I wanted but my mother would say, no; either this or that, not both.

I would then cry in the market which in turn caused her embarrassment and even anguish. What I did not know until I grew up was that my mother simply did not have enough money to buy me everything I wanted. There was no way she could have satisfied my desires.

So, how could she have found joy and happiness in the holidays given that she had six of us?

Even in that remote village on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, holiday demands today have extended far beyond a pair of shoes, pants and shirts. The list today includes iPads and iPhones... some electronic devices that are very alien to me but household names with sixth graders! The anguish my mother experienced that many years ago is many times more today.

One of - if not the - main feature of the holidays is giving; typically giving presents. With giving, inevitably, there is receiving. My mother was giving all the time and we, kids, were on the receiving side.

For Christians and the spiritual, giving is a response, not a cause. We give because we have received. If we get it right, this can be the main source of joy and happiness. Giving to those who have given us or will give us quite often will be unfulfilling. For the Christian giving is in response to the gift of Christ already received. Similarly for spirituality: The realization and appreciation of the gifts of the Universe prompt us to joyously give in response.

There is a second aspect to giving, and that is sharing. There is joy in sharing what we have received, be it material or spiritual. This means that everybody has something they can give or share and find joy and happiness in doing so.

Remember these four points:

1. Give your heart first and if that is all it will suffice.

2. Give because you have received. Count your blessings first and give out of those blessings.

3. Give what you have because you cannot give what you don't have.

4. Giving and obligation are not the same. It is a spiritual exercise not a law.

The Invisible Little Burrowing Owl, Is He Your Neighbor Too?

One thing most owls are good at is being invisible. We can walk right under them and not even notice. This little owl is even better than most owls. The Burrowing Owl is wide-spread across America but, few of us have noticed one. Or if we did get a glimpse, we're not quite sure of what we had seen.

Around 1782 in Chili was the first time this little owl was documented. They have been called Ground Owls, Rattlesnake Owls, Hill Owls, Prairie Dog Owls, Tunnel Owls, Gopher Owls but they all mean the same thing; the Burrowing Owl. This owl is only about ten inches high with a wing span of 1 1/2 - 2 feet. It is easy to see how they can be over looked so often, they are a bit un-owl like in appearance and behavior. With a small rounded head with no ear tufts, and white eyebrows, sitting on top of a fence post or a log they blend right in and look like part of the wood. Their color is that of aged wood so it is hard to tell where the branch stops and the owl starts.

Burrowing Owls are one of the few that can be active during the day. Their favorite time is still dawn or dusk for their hunting! But, because of their size they like to be done feeding by the time the bigger "owl eating" predators come out later at night. Since they can see in the daylight too, if the evening feed didn't go very well they have the option of hunting longer in the morning. Due to this most Burrowing Owl sightings are during the day. Most states west of the Mississippi Valley have these owls at least for part of the year. If you have Prairie Dogs, Gophers, Voles, grasshoppers, or mice chances are pretty good you have this owl. His favorite habitat is grass lands but he will be adaptable if his food source is available. They also can perch in pine trees, or on the fence in your suburb. He prefers to live in old Prairie Dog or Gopher holes though he can do some pretty good digging if necessary, to have that just perfect hole. If your in the top states closer to Canada, this owl is migratory, the lower half of the US. he stays year around. It just depends on the weather. (OK, Bad pun!)

And yes, this owl has it's nest in dens in the ground. The mom and dad will both feed the young. If they have to they will feed their young 24/7 taking turns sleeping and getting food. At around 14 days old they can be sitting on top of their mound, outside the den entrance. By two months they will be chasing insects around on their own for dinner. If there is room the Burrowing Owl may stay close to his family unit if there are enough burrows and food.

The Gopher Owl can live up to ten years in captivity. Other owls, hawks, badgers, skunks, cars, cats and dogs all try to shorten that life span in the wild. Unfortunately in Colorado the Burrowing Owl is listed as "State Threatened" which is just a breath away from endangered. Most of the states that have the Prairie Dog Owl, have it listed either protected or endangered. But which do you save first, the owl or its food source which is a nuisance to most of us? Maybe we should look a little closer at the food chain.

Wildthings Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is in the foot hills of Colorado. We are licensed and trained in over a hundred species of wildlife native to Colorado. Our web page can help with human / wildlife conflict, finding a licensed rehabilitator near you. and other helpful links. With all of us we have released thousands of Colorado's wildlife. Thats enough to make a difference, one at a time.
http://www.wildthingsrehab.webs.com/

Finding Your "Why"

The purpose of finding your why is to create a passionate reason for you to accomplish whatever you are looking to achieve in your life.

You may have a number of different "whys" and over time, your direction may change. If your mission is to create wealth and have passive income, your "why" is financial security. If you want to create wealth to take care of your family, your "why" is your family.

To create your mission statement, one that is created on purpose and in alignment with you true desires, your reason for accomplishing your mission must be bigger than you.

Knowing your "why" is very important. If you goal is to create wealth but you don't have a why, at the first obstacle, hurdle or challenge, you will give up. Knowing your why, you may still stumble and even fall, but your why will keep you focused and give you the strength and determination to get up and continue on your journey. Overcoming adversity will prepare you for greatness. Your "why" will act like an invisible magnet, drawing you step by step towards your goals and dreams, until you achieve them.

Creating your mission statement:

By knowing and standing by your mission statement, you control your results. When you are faced with a decision, you will make that decision easily and without delay, because your mission statement will give you the specific directions you require and you will know exactly which actions to take to keep you on the right path to achieve your goals and dreams.

You may not enjoy every moment of the process. What is important is keeping your eyes on the outcome so you continue the process. You must focus on the results. A woman may not enjoy the pain of childbirth; she will enjoy the results - a beautiful baby! An athlete may not enjoy the pain of training; an athlete will enjoy the results - winning!

Average people compare themselves to other people. That is why they are average. You only need to compare yourself to your potential and you will not be average.

Exercise:

You may have multiple statements for different areas of your life, 1 for personal, 1 for business, 1 for physical or any other area in your life you want to change. A mission statement is only a paragraph long, has specific and measurable outcomes and a deadline to achieve that outcome. It is the best way to start your journey to success.

Food for thought for your mission statement:

List 5 positive characteristics that describe you:

1__________________________________________________
2__________________________________________________
3__________________________________________________
4__________________________________________________
5__________________________________________________

List 5 goals (personal and/or professional) you would like to accomplish 12 months from today:

1________________________________________________________________-
2________________________________________________________________
3________________________________________________________________
4________________________________________________________________
5________________________________________________________________

List 2 financial goals you would like to accomplish 12 months from today:

1________________________________________________________________
2________________________________________________________________

To Your Success.

For more information, lessons and exercises, visit our website and sign up for the FREE 7 Day Success E-Course: http://www.createyourownlife.com.au/

iPhone App Development - What You Should Be Looking for in a Developer

So you've just realized that you need an iPhone app for your business. You go on line, Google-search app developers, but you a hit a snag. You've pulled up hundreds of entries and you've got no clue as to how and who to choose. iPhone app developers and development companies indeed number by the thousands. Discretion is certainly needed to be sure that your ideas, specifications and requirements are complied with, as well as to avoid mishaps, especially when the app is already out in the market.

To that end, we wish to provide you with a few tips in order to avoid incurring these dangerous problems.

Check rates
Smart buying sense would tell you that in most cases, it is important to compare rates. Just because you're sure of the quality, doesn't mean you'll jump into it straight away. Go down the list further and, you might find a cheaper service with the same quality if not even better. It's also important to find out the prevailing rates to get a clear picture. You could use this information should you get the chance to negotiate for price.

Experience and Testimonials
Experience will tell you that experience is a good determinant of the quality of work that an individual or a company is capable of putting into a project. Ideally, the longer the experience, the better the results, the faster the delivery and the better they are at dealing with clients. To be safe, a lot of people do go for trusted names. However, counter-verify the experience that they claim to have by going through their portfolios. Some put up testimonials on their websites from allegedly satisfied clients. Don't take their word for it though. Contact those clients if you can. Ask for their number or e-mail address from the iPhone app developer, and if they refuse to give it to you, well, experience will also tell you that there must be something fishy.

Of course, these are true only if it is your first time to do business with that developer. If you've already established a connection with them through past deals, then there is no need to do background check on them. If they assign you a new hiree, however, you might want to ask for more information about him just to be sure.

Time
Being able to deliver on time is also an important factor. This is part of being professional. If they can't keep their promise, you have a very good reason to go elsewhere next time. Try not to be too strict about mistakes, however-they are but humans too. Minor mistakes won't be hard to redeem. The important thing is that you get updated in every step of the project, that they repair the damage and still be able to finish on time (with some leeway if need be and if you approve so).

Extra Details
Some other details that should be looked into include the following:

Should you decide to transfer to another developer, your app should be readily and easily understood and edited by the next guy/s. Your app should be exactly like that now so that you won't run into problems in the future.

Your developer should make your app, as much as possible, not be too heavy such that it consumes too much power. Apps that drain batteries fast could annoy users, who might then choose to stop using it (i.e. delete it). Drum it in your developers' ears if you must.

Finally the developer should also able to make your app SEO-friendly.

Alfie Ethan is a Content Manager for Techliance, he writes mostly on Web Development, gadgets and iPhone application development. Feel free to say hello on Facebook.

In How Many Ways Can You Use a Blog in the Classroom?

The introduction of the online marketing brought about a boon in the ways of formulating strategic advertising campaigns and promotions. Individuals and organizations have started using social networking websites to promote their products, services, and events on a large scale; surpassing national boundaries of a country. Educational institutes have also started exploring the online world to communicate with varied people and university authorities. A number of school and university management have created their own organizational website and blog to inform and update prospective students and their parents about their programs and course schedules. Blogs can be used in a number of ways to enhance the learning experience in the classroom.

· Update students about courses you intend to offer in the upcoming semester. Allow students to view class catalogs plus fill up or download an online class registration form along with easy transfer of registration fees without travelling to the school or university to complete formalities.

· Blogs are great platforms to carry on discussions from a distance. Students can simply respond to blog posts and discuss topics through comments.

· Allow students to publish their assignments and project works on their individual blogs for you to easily edit the same.

· Teachers can post various assignment outlines; plus the key points of the lectures on the class blog which is easily accessible by the learners. It will specifically benefit those students who were unable to attend the lecture. They can follow the discussions without any problems.

· Add important website links plus your upcoming class registration details (online class registration form, etc.) on the blog for people to book a seat.

· Communicate with students and their parents by posting important information about upcoming field trips, related registration forms, and trip-related documents for easy viewing online with instant downloading options.

Teachers should encourage their students to create blogs and update it regularly posting topics that will be discussed in the upcoming classes. It will help students to get an idea as to what will be discussed in the next class; plus read through text books or search for added information on the internet preparing themselves before joining the class.

Get your students blogging so that they can share their work and thoughts every day. Blogging provides the learners with a stage to be more interactive and glued to the lessons taught or to be taught in the classroom. Blogs act as a great collaborative platform where all students and teachers can participate and quickly create, co-manage, and even edit content, if needed.

Jonathan is a professional trainer. He employs latest technology for online class registration and online training registration that results in more attendance and ROI.

New Titan Supercomputer Named Fastest in the World

New Titan Supercomputer Named Fastest in the World | Department of Energy Skip to main content Energy.gov Find information about your town or city. Search form Search Energy.gov Public ServicesTax Credits, Rebates & SavingsHomesVehiclesBuilding DesignManufacturingNational Security & SafetyEnergy EconomyFunding OpportunitiesState & Local GovernmentScience & InnovationScience & TechnologyScience EducationInnovationEnergy SourcesEnergy UsageEnergy EfficiencyMissionNews & BlogMaps & DataAbout UsFor Staff & ContractorsOfficesAll OfficesProgram OfficesStaff OfficesLabs & Technology CentersField SitesPower Marketing AdministrationOther Agencies You are hereHome » New Titan Supercomputer Named Fastest in the World New Titan Supercomputer Named Fastest in the World November 12, 2012 - 11:04am Addthis NEWS MEDIA CONTACT(202) 586-4940

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced that Titan, a new supercomputer located at the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has been named the world’s most powerful according to the TOP500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers. Ten times more powerful than its predecessor, the Jaguar system, Titan will provide unprecedented power to accelerate scientific discoveries using technologies first developed for video game systems like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The Department now has five systems out of the fastest 20 in the world, with Sequoia at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, in second place; Mira at Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois, in fourth place; Cielo, located in Los Alamos, New Mexico and operated jointly by Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, ranked 18th; and Hopper at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, ranked 19th.

“The nation that leads the world in high-performance computing will have an enormous competitive advantage across a broad range of sectors, including national defense, science and medicine, energy production, transmission and distribution, storm weather and climate prediction, finance, commercial product development, and manufacturing,” said Secretary Chu.  “Titan joins the Department’s top-ranking supercomputers in equipping our nation’s researchers with the tools needed to keep the United States on the cutting edge of innovation.”

Titan uses a combination of traditional central processing units (CPUs) and a family of processors called graphic processing units (GPUs) that were first created for computer gaming and have a unique capacity to perform the same operation simultaneously on multiple pieces of data. In video games, this capacity enables them to update the pixels on a display to make the imaging more realistic. For Titan, the combination of CPUs and GPUs help the system perform parallel processing operations at blinding speeds.  Titan reached a speed of 17.59 petaflops (quadrillion calculations per second) on the Linpack benchmark test – the specific application that is used to rank supercomputers on the Top500 list.  Titan is capable of a theoretical peak speed of 27 petaflops.  Additionally, because the CPU-GPU combination provides more processing per watt of power, Titan occupies the same space as Jaguar while using only marginally more electricity.

Scientists will use Titan’s computing power for a wide range of research, including developing the next generation of materials used to manufacture U.S. goods; for nuclear research to model the behavior of neutrons in a nuclear power reactor; to model the combustion of fuels in an internal combustion engine to improve engines for cars and trucks; and to simulate the atmosphere at new levels to help researchers better understand future air quality.

Earlier this fall, 61 science and engineering projects were selected for access to 1.84 billion core processing hours on Oak Ridge’s Titan and 2.83 billion hours on Argonne’s Intrepid and Mira computers through the Department’s Innovative & Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program. INCITE grants scientists and engineers at universities, national laboratories, industry and other research organizations access to lightning-fast high-performance computing systems not commonly available in academia or the private sector. For a complete list of the 61 projects, visit: http://www.doeleadershipcomputing.org/awards/2013INCITEFactSheets.pdf.

For more information on the Energy Department’s supercomputers, visit http://energy.gov/science-innovation/science-technology/computing.

Addthis Related Articles New Titan Supercomputer Named Fastest in the World Sequoia Ranked as Fastest Supercomputer in the World United States Regains Lead with World’s Fastest Supercomputer What We Do For You Energy EconomyEnergy Economy InnovationInnovation Nuclear Security & SafetyNuclear Security & Safety Energy.gov Careers & InternshipsContact UsEmail Updates Popular Topics SavingsHeating & CoolingIndustrial Heating & CoolingSolarHome WeatherizationAppliances & ElectronicsAbout this siteWeb PoliciesPrivacyNo Fear ActInformation QualityOpen GovEnergy DepartmentBudget & PerformanceDirectives, Delegations & RequirementsFOIAInspector GeneralPrivacy ProgramSmall BusinessFederal GovernmentThe White HouseUSA.gov

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Finding the Right Direction Part 1

Happiness is a direction, not a place.

- Sydney J. Harris

The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination.

- Carl Rogers

In last week's post, I wrote about the importance of persistence and determination, about not giving up. I wrote about the importance of recognizing when something wasn't working and of being willing to try a different approach. That we can become so invested in the direction we've taken that it blinds us to other possibilities.

I used the image of going up a hill as a metaphor for going after a goal or an objective. I also wrote that sometimes taking a different approach might mean choosing a different hill, a different goal, or objective.

I thought a lot about that metaphor this week. After thinking about it, I'm not sure I liked it, or maybe it's I just didn't like the way I used it. It gives the impression that once you've got to the top and reached your goal, you're done. I think you will agree that's not true.

Because there is always another goal, something else you want to achieve, or there is the feeling like there is something more, something left undone, unfulfilled.

I thought back to the times when I had completed something, achieved what had been an important goal. There was the initial elation, the glow of satisfaction, and the mental high fiving that puts a snap in your step. But before long you start to feel something crowding in on your sense of satisfaction, like some small, persistent child tugging at your sleeve demanding something that eventually becomes a thought impossible to ignore: So now what do I do?

Then, if you are like me, you discover that whatever baggage you thought you had left at the bottom of the hill: the fear, the doubt, those nagging insecurities, worries, anxieties, and the rest of your particular problems, have all seemed to find their way to the top of your new hill just in time to "help" you enjoy it.

Finally, you realize that the hill you're on is surrounded by even higher hills. As one person put it, success is just a ticket to solving a more complex problem. And so off you go eventually onto the next climb.

I like the way Carl Rodgers and Sydney J. Harris describe this notion in their quotes. Success, happiness, living the good life is a process, a set of actions and tools that keep you moving in a direction of your choosing. Its not "I'll be happy after I do X, or I'll have no more worries when I make Y dollars".

For Carl and Sydney, what makes you happy, or at least should make you happy, is the process of completing X or making Y, and then going on to make or complete Z, and so on.

However, I don't know about you, but I haven't always felt so good about the "process" I was in. Clearly, you have to be moving in a direction that works for you. But when you are doing something that is right for you, it really feels good. It is the good life.

So, if happiness, the good life, success is about moving in the right direction, taking the right hill, how do you know what is the right direction or hill.

Conversely, how do you avoid taking the wrong direction, and how do you figure out when you are going in the wrong direction?

Is it even possible to really know, or is it just a roll of the dice, some kind of trial and error, hoping that we end up liking where we end up.

I believe that you can determine the direction that is right for you at any time in your life and you can determine when it is time to change direction in the future.

Figuring out the answers to those what-to-do-next questions begins with understanding what you find meaningful in your life.

Meaning in this context is composed of all the things that you value most in life. Sometimes people will describe meaning as your purpose; what you are meant to do, or what you were put on earth to do. However, I think it is much more than just things you do in the world. Meaning includes what you experience in the world, the events, and people that engage you, your interactions with your environment.

Meaning is closely aligned with inner satisfaction, the aspects of your life that give you pleasure, a deep sense of fulfillment.

Next week I'm going to further explore this concept of meaning and why linking your actions to meaning is so important in finding the right direction, the right set of hills.

Ultimately, we should not ask what the meaning of life is, but rather we must recognize that it is we who must answer what is the meaning of our life. (Paraphrased from a quote by Viktor E. Frankl)

John Golding left a successful 25+ year career as an Information Technology executive to pursue the one part of his old career that he had truly come to love: coaching people.

As a mentor and coach, John has been strongly influenced by Victor Frankel's seminal work Man's Search for Meaning. John has discovered that as important as it is for you to clearly define what you want to do, it is even more important for you to understand why. John teaches that once you understand your purpose, what gives meaning to your life, you become the driver of your actions, and not a passenger.

John often likes to quote Dale Carnegie who wrote, "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get."

Begin your journey to the life you want, to the life you deserve. Learn more at http://www.thesuccesstrigger.com/