I always write them down on the first page of my calendar for the New Year. Unlike resolutions that tend to be lifestyle changes or A Message from the President breaking dyed-in-the-wool habits, setting goals can just be establishing a mark of achievement for something positive that I already do. I know a friend of mine who is a runner and he sets a mileage mark each year. When he tells me the goal, it sounds unreachable.

Like 800 miles sounds huge but if you break it down, it is only 15 miles a week, which he easily accomplishes. Writing that goal down however, ensures that he will accomplish it. It also forces him to keep a log of how many miles he does each day, which he records on his calendar.

I have always found that writing goals down and tracking them has been really positive. As you are making progress toward your goals you feel a sense of accomplishment.

If you are off track you can take action to step up your activity to still achieve the goal. With resolutions once you break it you tend to feel defeated and the original intent of the resolution is gone forever.

Goals should cover areas of your life that are important to you. You may have one regarding your relationships with your family, one about your health and one about your finances. They can be as simple as to do more listening with your kids or as complex as setting up your financial plan for retirement.

Goals for the new year can articulate your dreams. As a banker, I work with people and businesses all day long that cover every shade of dream you can imagine. Every successful business has started with someone's dream.

We all have dreams. Often they are small, short-term dreams, like sending your high school senior to college, or they may be dreams that are more expansive like providing a comfortable retirement. Some dreams are very personal, such as taking a family vacation back to the roots of your ancestors.

Others are more pragmatic. When the van breaks down at your flower shop you are out of business if it's not replaced - fast. Whatever those dreams are, a good banker is often at the center helping to make them happen. Think about how you can use us to launch you toward achieving those dreams. I like to think that we do better than most at understanding our customers and providing good advice. In the office I like to know the dreams of the people who report to me. It helps me when we have discussions about what they want to do with their careers.

I have always felt that dreams are important. In this,, the month of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I am reminded how powerful it is to articulate your dreams. Dr. King galvanized not simply an entire race, but an entire generation around his dreams of equality and judgment based on the "content of your character" versus the "color of your skin." The dignity of this dream in many ways validates the notion that if we are willing to work hard and stay focused, we can achieve any dream that we set our heart on. And don't you think that our presidential inauguration is the ultimate achievement of what seemed like an impossible dream?

Go ahead, write down that dream...set a goal...and go for it.

Good luck in 2009. May you achieve all of your goals.