Taking a quick inventory of some major events that took place during my 2013

Without further adieu, here is a brief review of my 2013.

And there’s a brief review of my 2013. I stopped making resolutions a few years ago because I realized that they’re all eerily similar to one another. Thus I don’t have much to write about what I want to accomplish in 2014. Among my own personal goals are the same old, same old including greater financial stability, becoming healthier, continuing to improve professionally, etc. I guess one item that I really want to focus on in 2014 is reading more. I’ve noticed that over the last 5+ years I haven’t been reading as much as I used to read. One of the greatest ways to differentiate yourself from the pack at work and in life is to read more; and as a guy who was an English major in college (i.e. I like to read and write), I should be reading a lot more than I do right now. I expect that this particular goal will obviously be helped by the fact that I just signed up for a library card (and Lord knows what type of stories I’ll have from visiting the local library).

That’s it, folks. I hope you each have a prosperous and rewarding 2014!

The biggest problem that I ran into this year was finding a decent set of Christmas cards for my family. Specifically, finding a good Christmas card for my older brother was particularly annoying. I managed to luck out getting a card for my younger brother since he was born on Christmas and the dual Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas cards are pretty simple and don’t leave much room for awkward messages. But finding a card for my older brother was unbelievably annoying.

The problem wasn’t the design of the cards – I don’t care about that and I probably wouldn’t know a “good” looking card from a “bad” looking card anyway. The problem was the message written within these cards. Most of the messages read something like this:

Dear brother,

I know that we don’t particularly care for one another, but this is Christmas so why don’t you keep your bullshit to yourself and not ruin it? Okay? Great. Thanks.

Merry Christmas

Here’s the best part – I’m not even exaggerating that much with the message! Honestly, most of the brother-to-brother cards were within this vein. They either referenced an inner hatred and disgust of one brother to another or a history of muted emotions between the brothers. What type of messed up society do we live in that greeting cards for one of the happiest holidays of the year are reduced to anger-filled messages from one family member to another? It’s outrageous!

If I want to take jabs at family members, I’d rather just go to Bald Guy Greetings and get them a card from that website. At least they’d know that there was some humor behind the message – not just an angry message written by someone at Hallmark who is bitter because they come from a broken home.

This Christmas season I began looking for cards the day after Thanksgiving and wound up looking in two Hallmarks, a Walmart, a Target, Kohl’s, and K-Mart before I found a decent Christmas card for my older brother. And it wasn’t too much easier to find a nice card for my Mom, either. Most of the cards referenced how the son was a complete screw-up for most of their lives and it was only by the saving grace of their Mother that they are able to function in society today. Again, what type of maladjusted weirdos do the greeting card companies have working for them? Whatever happened to a simple “Merry Christmas” message? Or what about, “Merry Christmas, Mom. I hope you enjoy the day!” I mean is it that hard to take the anger and angst out of these messages?!

Anyway, I hope that this isn’t a widespread problem. Did you have any trouble getting Christmas cards this year? Here’s hoping that next year is a little bit less bitter for the greeting card companies!

I know, having a Trenton-based team play in a southern football league seems weird. However… why not? New Jersey is a densely populated state and we have a bunch of different semi-pro and minor league teams around the state. Why not have an arena football team playing out of Trenton in a southern football league? Lord knows we have some amazing football players in this state, so I’m all for having an arena football team in Trenton.

The game itself was very high scoring and very entertaining. And while I don’t remember the exact score at this point, I do remember thinking that there were an awful lot of touchdowns. But I think what surprised me the most was the fact that if the football made its way into the stands – the fans got to keep the ball! That’s crazy! There were a lot of fans that left the Sun National Bank Center that night with a game ball as a souvenir!

Overall, the game was a lot of fun and there was a lot of high impact action. And it’s almost needless to say, but I really enjoyed watching some football again. Here’s hoping that we can all enjoy some football in a few months…

Take a look at the pictures below to see some of the Trenton Steel game for yourself. And thanks to the team over at Prevention First for including these tickets as a part of a thank you package I received for sponsoring a basketball team in one of their recent charity tournaments. Enjoy the pictures!

And for the rest of my readers here at JerseySmarts.com, I wish you all a Merry Christmas! I hope that the Santa in your life brought you what you were looking for and that you have a happy, healthy, and safe time with family and friends.

Enjoy!

Aside from the television and an extended warranty plan I also picked up the items needed to mount the TV to the wall, a new DS game (which is interesting because I really don’t have time to play the thing these days), a bunch of new books from Barnes & Noble (thanks to a gift card from my older brother), a new luxury sheet set, new pillows for my bed, a new carry-on piece of luggage and travel kit, and some minor pieces of clothing. For what it’s worth, all of my cost cutting and budgeting over the last few years allowed me to purchase these items with no concern about long-term financial burden.

So…over the past few days I’ve done my part to help kick the economy in the ass!

In the mean time, check out New Jersey Carpet Cleaning for the best carpet cleaning in the Garden State!

Now everyone get back to opening presents…

Is there anything more pathetic than a person who just “exists” in their job and does nothing to make their company or employer better at the end of the day than when they arrived in the morning? People should have a ferocious passion for what they do everyday. They should attack their job on a daily basis. Career workers should grab each day by its neck and make that day their own!

I believe that I think this way because I come from a family of hard workers. My Father was a dedicated and committed employee even up until a few months prior to when he passed away. He was a loyal employee during his active working years and he was a trusted hand during his retirement years. My Mother is the same way. She works for a local Township and because of her efforts since assuming her department’s management role, the department has become more efficient than it has been in years. She makes her department better each day than it was when she showed up in the morning. My brothers and I are on the same track. My older brother has worked his way to a front end manager (when needed) at his restaurant and he’s one of the Owner’s trusted confidants. Plus, he’s been working diligently at this various jobs for the last decade – even becoming the number one cell phone salesman for the now-defunct “The Wiz.” And my younger brother is so committed to working that the kid held TWO jobs while taking college courses last semester! In my family there is a ferocious commitment to working and making our employers better before we go home for the day.

For what it’s worth I see these types of passionate employees all around me. My roommates, my friends, most of my coworkers, etc. I know people who have to be at the office between 7am and 7:30am and who generally leave the office between 6:30pm and 7pm; and these people do this on a daily basis and excel in their positions because they attack their jobs and their various daily tasks. They make their employers better.

Sure, everyone has an off day here and there. And yes everyone “slacks” from time to time. But anyone can tell the difference between an employee who wants to make a difference and the employee who is there to collect a check. Think about the last time you called your cell phone company or cable company’s customer service hotline. How many of you encountered someone who thought outside of the box to solve your problem? How many of you got someone on the phone who didn’t need to transfer you because they were going to take the initiative to solve your problem in the best interests of every party involved? Very few of you, I’m sure.

In an economy like this it becomes blatantly apparent when you’re dealing with an employee who just wants to get his or her check at the end of the week. I recently asked a vendor that I’ve been working with to make a business inquiry to a third party on my behalf. Three days (and multiple opportunities to make the inquiry) later, my vendor not only had not asked the question on my behalf (which, remember, he is being paid to do), but he actually assumed what the third party’s answer would be! What the hell is this?! Without going into too much detail, the “assumed” answer from my vendor could have only been reached if he didn’t take a ferocious stance in favor of his client (me).

Talk about taking no pride in one’s work! This vendor is being paid by me to represent me to the third party! F’ing stand up and represent my best interests, damn it! This is a blatant example of someone who doesn’t have a ferocious commitment to their client. This is an example of someone who is concerned about making their quota for the week/month. This is an example of someone who wants to generate revenue at anyone’s expense – even his client’s! This is also an example of someone who has lost my future business.

The moral of the story is that you should be proud of your work. If you hate your job, then find a new one. It might take some time in this market, but start looking today. You should be passionate about what you do; at the very least you should know at the end of the day you’ve accomplished all that you can accomplish to the highest degree of excellence that you are capable. Attack your work. Be ferocious. Excel.