The Unemployment numbers look good for Massachusetts:

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 20 were in California (+20,866), Kentucky (+13,337), Michigan (+8,160), Missouri (+7,091), and Indiana (+6,795), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-4,016), Georgia (-3,525), New Jersey (-1,866), Tennessee (-1,649), and Illinois (-1,194).

Connecting with your Goals: Creating a road map for success

• Challenge yourself to work on areas that need improvement
• Goals should be challenging, measurable, self-referenced, and within your control
• Technique goals, practice goals, competition goals, mental training goals, strength/conditioning goals, etc.
• Goal Planning (begin with the end in mind, develop specific action plans and strategies for achievement)
• Set short term goals (daily/weekly, monthly) in relation to long term objectives (Career)
• Balance outcome goals with performance goals
• Outcome goals (Bonuses)
• Performance goals (In order to win the big accounts, we need to commit ourselves to …)
• Write your goals down and specify timetables for achievement
• Monitor, evaluate, and adjust your goals based on the progress you are making (adapt and persist)
• Get in habit of using weekly journals
• Think of creative ways to quantify and measure your goals
• Take Pride and Ownership over your goals - be accountable to yourself and to your teammates
• Finally, have a passion for you are doing - challenge yourself to raise the bar in your pursuit of excellence

Putting Your Mind in a Position to Think Confidently and Compete Well

• Personal Meaning and Incentives (what drives you to reach your goals)
• The Psychology of Personal Excellence (Terry Orlick, 2000, "In Pursuit of Excellence")
• Knowing where you want to go (having a vision)
• How much you really want to get there (commitment)
• How strongly you believe in your ability to arrive at your desired destination (belief)
• Connecting with each step in front of you (focused connection)
• Ask yourself "what type of engineer do I want to become here at XXX, and what is it going to take for me to get there" (vision and commitment)

The four areas are: (In the order of Economic Impact)

1. Health Care
2. Education
3. High Tech
4. Tourism

1. Oil prices are close to hitting $45 a barrel and could cause another spike in gas prices. An increase in gas prices has a negative effect on businesses, and many will probably hold off spending in anticipation of raising gas prices.
2. Unemployment numbers are still not great. The last two unemployment reports have fallen short of analyses expectations.
3. Retail sales in June were below analyses expectations.