Lectures: Seattle Garden Club hosts Thomas Kiernan on Feb 21st, discussing the future of our national parks, free.  We all realize what a gem our national parks are, but they always seem to get the short end of the funding stick.  *  Also, Antioch's Global Issues and Perspectives, starting Jan 31st, free, including Business and Climate Change, Finding the Road Home, and When in Gaza.  *  Also, Translation in Wartime, Jan 31st, free, exploring the historical, political, and pragmatic relationship between translation and empire.

Family: Model Making Workshop, Feb 2nd, $15.  If your kids are taking their Lincoln Log homes seriously, here's the next step up.  Kids design and build a little model, while learning about how people live.  *  Also, Strange Matter, starting Feb 2nd, bringing out the freaky matter in over 40 cool, interactive exhibits, learning about how our world operates on the nano level.  *  Also, Alice's Wonderland - A Most Curious Adventure, starting Feb 2nd, $7.50, taking a Alice in Wonderland trip down the rabbit hole with your kid, exploring and learning along the way.

Dating: NW Dating Expo, Feb 2nd, $99, of a full day of classes to get your game together.  Like anything in life, training helps, so if you're not getting the success you'd like, then get some real education.  *  Also, Single's Winter Ball, Feb 8th, $30.  This is a dressy event.  Start off with some dance lessons, and then the party gets going.  *  Also, Valentine's Day Meet & Mingle Singles Mixer, Feb 14th, $25.  This is the antidote for single people spending the day alone.

Forum: Global Warming Solutions, Jan 31st, free.  The forum examines how transportation, food, and economic and political choices affect the temperate gauge.  Don't drive your SUV to this.  Together, individuals banding together can become part of the solution.  Global warming has a certain environmental cause de jour about it - it'll be interesting to see if this issue still has legs in 5-10 years.

Fitness: Fit for Fun, Jan 31st, free but must RSVP.  Most exercise equipment ends up as a clothes hanger about six months after purchase.  This little party helps you stick to your new year's resolution by making sweating fun.  There are door prizes, light bites, and a fashion show.

Ballet: Romeo and Juliet, starting Jan 31st, $20+.  This story has been fodder for all sorts of derivative works, so here's to tragic young love in dance form.  This one has gotten good reviews all over the world since it premiered about a decade ago, so it finally makes its way to Seattle.

Business: Build Your Business Case, Jan 30th, $55.  If you're going to be talking someone into joining your venture or handing over a wad of cash to invest, you gotta have a solid reason as to "why?"  This event helps you nail the points and formulate a convincing case.  *  Also, Village Business Circle, for small businesses trying to connect with theater audiences, since those theater audiences are generally affluent with bucks to spare.  Here's how to get the theater crowd to spend some of their spare dollars at your business.

Paddle Sports: Sea Kayak & Canoe Seminar, Feb 2-3rd, $35.  The pros give talks and vendors offer specials on the merchandise.  Take up these paddle sports, and you end up with iron pecs.  This event helps you get some exercise and find solitude on the water.

Gala: Chinese New Year, Feb 2nd, $88.  This one is a notch better than the usual gala fair with a Luly Yang runway fashion show.  The price itself, besides being a bargain, symbolizes fortune and good luck since the number 8 sounds similar to the word Fa, or wealth.  Take a look in Chinese supermarkets, and you'll see that many products deliberately have 8's in their prices.

Implementation
Much of success coaching nowadays centers on the thinking part, of motivating yourself to take risks, creating new ideas, and setting goals.  Left out is the other half the equation--the "how?", the doing part.  More time is spent on creating ideas than the sweat work.  After you formulate a goal, what actions do you actually take to make that goal happen?  When you're ready to get to work...

Set goals which are solid, relevant, and measurable.  First, if the goal isn't measurable, how will you know if it's met?  Second, emphasize actions with the best payback, those moving closer to the goals with the least effort and time.

Identify actions to the lowest level:  Actions should be concrete, broken down to a single unit of effort, a simple and specific physical action that advances the goal.

Brutal honesty: postpone soft goals, analyze and follow-through, reward and punish.  Deprioritize the mushy goals, such as "improve employee morale."  Analyze if the actions are having the intended consequences.  If something isn't working, ditch it, and move on.

Getting Things Done has been in vogue for the last several years.  This system helps you manage your actions.  Instead of a prioritized to-do list, this system emphasizes control and perspective.  Those who follow this system always seem to be able to respond to their email within ten minutes, and they never have old emails cluttering their inbox.

Cool Video: The Case of the Missing Diary: