On October 12th, 2010 I wrote a post about Momentum.  It was the story of how MyRecyclingReports.com got off to a fast start and then fizzled because we let our momentum die.  When I wrote that post and claimed to be kicking off the re-birth of our project I had envisioned that we would fix the budget and the deadline of Jan 1 and flex the scope to ensure that we made it on budget and launched on time.

Fast-forward to today and we have good news & bad news.  The bad news is that I didn’t abide by this valuable advice and we ran over budget and we are late to launch.  The good news is that we are riding high on momentum and we have a hard launch date set!

This is the official announcement that on May 12th, 2011 MyRecyclingReports.com is launching worldwide.

Please visit our temporary landing page to sign up for more information.  We will email you on the big day when we go live.  You can also follow us on Twitter @MyRecycReports or on our Facebook Page.  I of course, can’t stop talking about it on my personal Twitter account as well: @michaelpmills .

I want to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who has worked on this project.  Thank you to all of our programmers, writers and designers who have truly leveraged their amazing talent to bring this app to life.

One more special note to the recyclers around the world, I hope you’re excited! MyRecyclingReports.com enhances customer communications, encourages loyalty, adds value to your business, invites higher profit margins, and strategically brands your company as never before. All in 55 days from today!

Getting serious about your goals. Making them public.
The end of the year brings cheer, but for me, it also evokes thought, evaluation, and planning. A few weeks ago I read a blog post from David at 37signals. It’s about making your goals public. His thesis is that if you are serious about your goals you should make them public, essentially binding you to pursuing and achieving them. This concept fascinated me…so much so, that I’ve been thinking about going public with my goals for weeks.

I want to do it. Right here. Right now.
For the record I am very serious about my goals. I have seven life goals (ideals); ten 3-year goals (visual goals in which I can picture what my life will look like in 3 years, but no further); 11 1-year goals (real, quantifiable and measurable events); and 11 quarterly goals (all able to be achieved or “checked off” this quarter). These linear goals are essentially a road map for what I would like to achieve during my lifetime.

My 11 1-year goals include some very personal ones, and those I will keep to myself.  However, some of them are less personal and I would like to share them with the public, in essence  holding myself accountable to many people. In fact, I want people to ask me if I’ve accomplished these goals. I believe this will really help me achieve them.

Accountability begins at the top.
One of the most difficult things about being an entrepreneur is not being accountable to anyone. I have no boss. No one will scold me if I don’t achieve my goals. And no one sets goals for me. It sounds nice, but in reality it is very difficult to only be accountable to yourself.

Publicizing my goals will keep me accountable, so let’s dive right in.
In this blog post I am going to make two of my 1-year goals public. The first goal is: I want MyRecyclingReports.com to have 10 paying customers. This may sound trivial to some, but actually this would be a huge achievement. At the time of this writing MyReyclingReports.com hasn’t even launched yet. So, 10 paying customers by November 9th, 2011 would be great.

I need to convince the owners of 10 recycling companies across this country that MyRecyclingReports.com will create enough value for them that they can justify the monthly cost. This may not sound like a lot - it’s not a lot for an existing company with a good reputation and lots of momentum. But for a brand new service, 10 is a mountain.

My second public goal?
I want to catch a 100+ lb tuna on my boat. To many experienced fisherman this may not sound like much, but to me it would be a huge accomplishment. I have caught tunas up to 60 lbs, but never larger. So, for my goal-achieving fish, I will accept a 100+ lb yellowfin, bluefin or bigeye tuna. The deadline for this accomplishment is December 1st, 2011.

In order to achieve this I will have a busy offseason. My boat will need some upgrades including more electronics and fuel bladders to allow a longer range. My partner and I will need to create fishing plans that include locations, techniques and strategies. We will need to ensure that our gear is in top notch condition. I will need to exercise and train. Anyone who has caught a tuna of this size will tell you it’s not a walk in the park, and I need to get in shape to win the fight.

Also, to fulfill this goal I need to hire more people to manage MCC Recycling Services. If you want to catch tuna in New Jersey you are always at the mercy of the weather. You need to be able to go fishing at the drop off a hat, and that means having the personnel in place at work so I can skip out when conditions are favorable.

These are only 2 of the 11 goals I’ve set for 2011.
I expect to rise to these goals. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I’ll try my best. In the meantime, Happy Holidays. I hope your dreams come true and your goals are met. This coming year. And every year after that.

Cheers!
Michael