Great Western Trail, Website Management

Happy New Year 2016!!

I spent some time yesterday with my journal, reviewing the past year. It has been a productive year for me. During 2015 I realized a number of personal accomplishments and goals that have opened a number of opportunities to me. I’ll list some of them.

  • I became an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor (NRA Basic Pistol)
  • I became a Utah state certified Concealed Firearm Permit Instructor
  • I became a licensed Armed Private Security Officer in the State of Utah
  • I became a certified PACSCO instructor for training Unarmed and Armed Private Security Officers for licensing in the State of Utah
  • I became the Director of Training for Bedrock Protection Agency
  • I obtained a Private Investigator Agency License in the State of Utah
  • I became the Private Investigator Agency Licensee for Bedrock Investigations
  • I started Mountain Enterprises, LLC, registered in both Utah and Arizona, to be the parent company for my business enterprises
  • I started Guardian Personal Firearms Training, as a firearms training business for the Utah Concealed Firearm Permit courses and other defensive firearms training for private security officers, individuals, and families
  • I registered Western Trail Rider as a business under Mountain Enterprises, LLC
  • I made and sold my first three pairs of chaps
  • I started improvements on my property in Arizona with an eye toward hay production in the future
  • I finished outfitting and preparations for the Mexico-to-Canada horse pack trip for Dad and me
  • Dad and I made the first leg of our M-T-C trip, from the US/Mexico border to Eagar, AZ – 355 miles in 28 days.
  • The most important thing of all, is that my wife and I saw our youngest daughter off to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). She’ll be serving for 18 months in the Argentina-Mendoza mission.

Suffice it to say, I have been very busy this year. I expect to be even busier this coming year. I have always been very goal-oriented. Keeping a journal has helped me in accomplishing my goals and fulfilling my dreams and desires. Documenting my goals and writing about my victories and failures helps me keep track of my progress…or lack thereof, during the year. Just like everyone else, I make a lot of goals and have a lot of dreams, most of which fall by the wayside each year. Not that they go away, but that either the opportunity did not materialize or I failed to put forth the necessary effort to realize them. As I have aged, I have seen a lot of my dreams come to naught and many of my former desires I no longer wish for. And, surprisingly, a few new desires crop up here and there. Still, looking back through my journals it is plain to see that I have a few interests, dreams, and desires that have persisted throughout my life. These are the ones I have begun to focus on since I retired from government service several years ago. One of these is my love for horses and horse packing. Another is my desire to have a small farm or ranch.

The most important things in my life have always been God and family, yet I often find myself selfishly putting other things before them. As the scriptures tell us, one cannot serve God and Mammon (or worldliness) at the same time. Over the past several years, this has been on my mind a lot. How can I serve God and also support my family and myself? Are my desires and dreams incompatible with service to God? I don’t think so.

I have come to the conclusion that God intends for us to be happy in this life. That doesn’t mean life is intended to be easy, but that we are intended to have joy in this life by making the most of what the Lord gives us to work with. I believe God loves us. I believe He knows “the end from the beginning” – that He knows all things past, present, and future. I believe all things are under His control and in His power. I believe also, that God gave us our Free Will, and that he does not dictate our actions. We have the ability to choose our way and make our own decisions. It follows, then, that whatever opportunities and challenges come to me, ruling out problems I bring upon myself through my own mistakes and unwise choices, are, in fact, given me of God. Which opportunities I choose to follow and how I choose to respond to challenges is my God-given prerogative. My improvement of those opportunities and challenges, therefore, is my service to God. Giving my best effort in all things good pleases God. This is what I believe.

I also believe that as I please God by giving my best effort to improve what he has given me, He will increase my opportunities as my ability to improve them increases. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think God cares much about whether I make a lot of money in this life. I do believe, however, that improving the opportunities He provides me can result in monetary success as well as spiritual growth. My desire and efforts should be in good service, and let the chips fall where they may.

God has been good to me.

I have but one New Year’s resolution this year and that is to put forth a better effort in everything I do. I want to be more efficient and effective in the use of my time in all aspects of my life. That means I will put forth better effort in my employment, in developing my business prospects, in keeping up my website and blogs, in keeping up my family and church responsibilities, and in improving my own health and personal conditioning. By doing this, I expect that the opportunities I have been blessed with in the past several years will begin to bear fruit in the coming year and going forward. I believe this will be pleasing to my Lord.

Some things I hope to accomplish during 2016 are:

  • First and foremost, to see that my daughter is supported to the best of my ability on her mission
  • Secondly, to see that Dad and I make the second leg of our Mexico-to-Canada horse pack trip

After those two:

  • Put in10 acres alfalfa on the place in Eagar
    • Get the well repaired and functional
    • Get irrigation established
    • Improve fencing
    • Get a barn put up for hay and tack storage
    • Buy 4 calves to start on the place
  • Get regular firearms training classes scheduled and working in Utah and Arizona
    • Get more NRA Instructor certifications (work toward becoming an NRA Instructor Counselor)
    • Design and offer advanced defensive firearms courses
  • Improve the Western Trail Rider website
    • Take and document at least 3 horse pack trips during the year, other than the M-T-C ride
    • Completely document the M-T-C ride and all preparations with my blogs, video, and photographs, product reviews, etc
    • Recruit/approve at least 6 individuals to keep blogs under Western Trail Rider
    • Increase follower and subscribership on Western Trail Rider to 1,000 and views/clicks to 300 per day
    • Create a way that outfitters and suppliers can advertise their services and products on the website that will improve their exposure and help the website

So, there it is. That’s my list of things I wish to accomplish over the coming year. There are a few other personal and employment goals, but I’ll keep those in my personal journal.

Good luck with your goals and planning for the coming year and have a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Welcome 2016!