We thought it fitting that with the new year should come a few changes that will serve to make reading your newsmagazine even easier. Still the same large type, larger than most other newspapers and magazines, and a lot more color to keep you awake as you turn the pages.

Though we hope you like our changes - enough - let's look forward to 2006.

The new year usually brings with it an assortment of personal resolutions for some people: lose a few pounds, lose a lot of pounds, work out at the gym three days a week, run a marathon, spend more time with the family ... you know the routine. Occasionally, some business resolutions find their way into the annual ritual: increase prices, reduce callbacks, optimize profits, add training programs for employees.

I've always been curious as to how many people actually make New Year's resolutions. I tried it a couple of times; it was so long ago that I've forgotten what the resolutions were.

Goal-setting is a different animal, though. I remember setting one particular goal when I was 12 years of age. Another important one came at age 14. Another, prominent in my memory, occurred at age 20. From there, goals became a way of life for quite a few years to follow. Frankly, some were attained, some were missed. But, I recall each one as if it had been written just this morning. Whenever I want to remember something, I write it down. Even if it's a note that I throw in the trash two minutes later; that act of writing helps me to commit the item to memory.

At the turn of the millennium, my family and I created two time capsules, one for five years and another for 10. Each capsule included the obligatory photographs and lists of their favorite songs and TV shows.

However, each was also required to set goals for the five- and 10-year outlooks. At the time, my daughters were only five and eight years of age, respectively. You should have seen their faces when they looked at their five-year capsule last New Year's Eve with all their predictions for what the future would hold. They can't wait to open the 2010 capsule.

There is something special about looking forward with the hope that the coming year will bring good fortune. The slate is clean each Jan. 1, and no matter how outrageous the goal may have seemed last year, we have an opportunity to do it all again, if we so choose.

However, setting goals is only the foundation of building the year that might be. Laying the bricks and mortar in place takes a concerted effort. That effort is execution. I don't often plug books in my column. This is probably the one week of the year to make an exception.

As you ponder either your New Year's resolutions or your goals for the coming year, please consider reading a copy of Mark Matteson's Freedom From Fear Forever, (www.mattesonavenue.com). It's a sequel to his best-seller, Freedom From Fear. I liked the first book, but I highly recommend the second because it's a hands-on approach that will make you think, write, and act upon those things that are most important to you.

Here's hoping that with your good fortune and execution, you may lose a few pounds, spend more time with your family, or optimize profits.

Happy New Year!

Mike Murphy, Editor-in-Chief: 248-244-6446, 248-244-2905 (fax), mikemurphy@achrnews.com

Publication date: 01/09/2006