July already and another round of Performance Reviews.  What are my big five goals for the next year?  I find it impossible to say really.  Since last August there has been less time available to spend on the nice to do things let alone my last years 'big five' and it has been a daily rush just to get the basics done. Given the state of the local economy and the Government saying Local Councils need to save money....will I even survive another year.  No wonder I feel a certain lassitude towards goal setting and a certain frustration in not achieving my last 'big five'. How ever in an effort to stay positive I did look to do some reading that explained the way I felt.  I have a personal view that understanding helps in acceptance of situations and therefore hopefully inspires an action plan.  The book was 'Three signs of a miserable job' by Patrick Lencioni and it was a good read.  I found myself identifying with most of what he said.  The signs are, immesuability (how do you measure your daily achievement on the job, if you can't think of anything then how do you know you are doing it well), anonymity (the boss or your colleagues really don't know a thing about you,  it is hard to do anything about this because if you tell them all about yourself you run a risk of over exposing yourself, or being labeled as an  'it's all about me' person) and the last sign is irrelevance and that's about not really being necessary to the product or running of the organisation, if you are sick you are replaced and no one seems to have been upset by it.  My personal goal albeit a small one has been to try and find things I can count or score in some way so I know I'm doing a good job.  It is tough but worth the effort and it makes the job a bit more enjoyable.  I keep adding to the number of reference inquiries I can tot up in a day.  I must get or create a situation where there is a least one and any more are a bonus.   Since most of my job is check in, check out and shelve, the reference inquiry is a challenge, both in finding the time to address it and in delivering an in depth result.  Give the book a go and start measuring your success.