Earlier today I was digging through the contents of my childhood bedroom growing up and found a list of 5 goals that I had made my Junior year of high school. Reflecting upon the goals I had set more than eight years prior, I finally realized a couple of things: The power of visualizing your goals: Visualizing your goals allows you to simply and eloquently put your dreams into a time capsule that can be reviewed at a later time and date. What better way to track your progress over time than with a single sentence or simple picture? Think to yourself: Have you ever written or drawn out your goals, hopes and / or dreams? If yes, how often did you review these items to check your progress?   The power of reflection: I tend to associate the word reflection with a spiritual connotation, although that’s not always the case. Periods of reflection can allow you to slow down, smell the roses and actually learn something from all the events we experienced on a daily, weekly, monthly, etc. basis. Life moves fast, and sometimes we don’t make enough time to sit back and actually reflect upon our experiences. Make time for periods of reflection so you can actual learn something from the events of your life.   Take time to reflect upon your goals — as I was, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results of your miniature soul searching...

Justin.tv founder Justin Kan wrote a recent TechCrunch guest post describing the current state of employment for the millennial generation. Here were a few of his talking points that begin to describe what it’s like to be part of Generation Y. The system is broken: No longer can you go to school, get good grades, graduate with a job in hand and move up the corporate ladder. This rise to the top no longer applies to our generation; The system is broken. Millions of young millennials are unemployed or under-employed, according to Scott Gerber of The Young Entrepreneur Council. Our generation aspires to control our own destiny: To steal Justin’s own words, we’re “autonomous, impatient … refuse to pay our dues … hate the idea that we should ever be beholden to someone else.” We are like this because we have been abandoned by the instituions that should have embraced us. From an inefficient government run by elder statesmen politicians who don’t understand technology to corporations that turned their backs on us following college graduation, negating on their promise of jobs post-graduation for those who worked hard to get their degree. We are a generation of passionate makers and creators: The words “why?” and “why not?” seem to exist within our vocabulary to act as legitimate answers to “nobody has ever tried doing it this way” and “you can’t do things that way.” “Why not?” has become an invitation to challenge the current way of getting something done. Embracing Innovation Innovation takes place when some courageous individual defies popular belief and begins operating in a completely different manner than anybody else in their marketplace. Think it’s a mystery why consumers jumped up and gobbled the iPod when it first came out, even though Apple was years behind the competition in releasing an MP3 playing device? That Box and DropBox surpassed SharePoint as the most widely used cloud storage solutions in less than five years? Absolutely Not! The chiefs at Apple, Box & DropBox set out with a vision that was bigger in scope that their existing market. The absolute disregard for the state of their current industry led them to take actions, create products and push consumers in ways that nobody else could have predicted. Instead of following a set of broken rules established by an elder generation that could no longer support their existence, these companies offered their products and services in ways that had never been thought of before. So What Does This Mean For You? It means you should dedicate some time to reevaluate the way that your life is headed. Ask yourself a few simple questions: Am I truly happy where I am at right now personally, professionally and morally? If I could do anything in the world, what would that be? When I look back on my life in one month, one year, one decade, etc … How will I view the decisions that I made? Will recalling these decisions make me beam with pride or stew in regret — and why? We, the Millennial, are one hell of a generation. It’s time to show the world what we’re made of by re-writing the rules....

Even when you peed on the carpet, I loved you. When you stopped peeing on the carpet, I found a way to love you even more. When you woke me up early on a Saturday morning, demanding breakfast and a long walk in the rain, I loved you, even though that meant I had to shake off the cob webs much earlier than I had originally planned. When you listened to me, I loved you a LOT. Even more so, listening to me in front of a group of people made me so proud I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for hours. Those times when I took you to Green Lake to pick up girls, and instead you’d attract more middle-aged men because you’d remind them of their dog growing up, I loved you (although I told you we needed to work on that!) When you disobeyed me and I was forced to raise my voice with you, I still loved you. I loved you so much that I always wanted you to know the difference between doing the right thing (“good boy!”) and the wrong thing (“Tyyy-soooonnnnn!!!!”) The fact that you always knew when it was me coming through the front door meant the world to me — you were always there. Tail wagging. Barking up a storm. Giving me big fat doggie kisses when I bent down to pet you. You’d run up and lay on my bed — waiting patiently for me to give you a belly rub and head scratch. When I tried to give you nice toys, you spurned them in favor of a stick from the back yard, showing me how much the little things in life matter and how material possessions are precisely that: material. Temporary. Meaningless without context. Your love of the simple things in life reminded me of a fantastic quote I once heard: “A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn’t care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he’ll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?” You made me feel inexplicably special, Tyson, and I hope that from this day forward I can deliver a fraction of that feeling to every single person that I meet; that I can make somebody else feel as extraordinary, special and loved the way you made me feel over the past nine months. Until the day I die, you’ll always be in my heart and on my mind. Forever and always your best friend....