But first, a message from the sponsor of today's show, the International Socialist Organization. The lastest issue of the International Socialist Review (The Journal of Revolutionary Marxism) is available at ISR. Especially check out the write-up of my friend Anthony's work with Howard Zinn in the book review section.

And now back to the life of a Revolutionary Marxist Navy Seal. It's the dead of winter and you may be feeling low. Perhaps it's too cold to get out of bed, or maybe you live in one of those cities that is covered with snow. All the more reason to re-focus and re-evaluate your ability to hit your targets with swift brutal force. Unleash the warrior within and remember the power of positive thinking. As the old self-help adage goes: "Life is a series of wonderful opportunities, brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."

So, my warrior companions, it's time to take those impossible situations and make them work for you: let the training begin!

For those of you who are new to Lisablog, we will now recap the importance of having a vision statement. What is a vision statement? A vision statement is a concise paragraph-long postively worded picture of your immediate future and who you want to be and what you want to accomplish. It's useful to begin by thinking in bite-sized chunks of progress. For instance I might say something like "I do one nice thing for someone every day" rather than "I single-handedly rid the world of fascist regimes and capitalist hate-mongers". Remember to act local. Your efforts will reverberate in a global way.

Also while writing your vision statement, use your imagination! Here is a tidbit from John DeRosalia's Mental Training for Skydiving and Life:

"In the words of an anonymous Apache shaman, 'We can only be what we give ourselves the power to be.' If I want to be a world-class anything I need to begin acting as if I already am. I need to see and experience this achievement repeatedly in my mind. Just like a child pretending to be a doctor, firefighter, police officer, or Olympic athlete, I need to pretend as if I am already there and 'fake it 'til I make it.'"

Here are a few more tips:

1. Make a list of basic issues you want to address in your life, for instance:

health/nutrition/working out
money: must make more money
family and friends
work goals: finishing that novel
community goals: volunteering at the animal shelter
household: why can I never find the forks?

This then can be elaborated upon and dreamed about in your vision statement:

I always have a good set of forks and spoons in my kitchen and I keep them neatly arranged and I feel good about it and I do fifty push ups every morning before I go to work and now is the time to focus on looking for a new job and from 9 a.m. until 12 noon every Saturday I work on my novel and drink a little bit of coffee and I am a real writer like Norman Mailer or James Joyce and I commit time to family outings and we all walk the dogs at the animal shelter once a week and then we have a fabulous vegetarian dinner and we all feel good and eventually we save the planet from George Bush.

2. Read your vision statement EVERY MORNING! If you read it and remind yourself of your goals you will meet your goals!

3. Revise your vision statement as needed. You may find that some of your goals simply become intrinsic parts of your daily routine. Then you can move on to the next level of goals.

4. Give yourself the room to dream. Add positive far out language to your vision statement. Think of yourself as Muhammad Ali, or as Neo in the Matrix. Say to yourself "I am the One." Remember to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

5. And keep one more fact clear in your mind: nothing is impossible.

Coming tomorrow: the plight of polar bears: an update from Jennifer and Allison at the Environmental Defense Fund.