It's amazing how fast time goes by, especially as we get older.

Before I give you a few incredible links to help you get your New Year started off on a positive note, please take a moment and read this newsletter.

I'd like you to take a moment and think about the "resolutions" and promises you made to yourself last year.

Maybe you wanted to start working as a traveler~

Maybe you wanted to start your new career as a surgical tech~

Maybe you wanted to start going back to school to become a CFA or an RN or a PA or even an MD~

Maybe you just wanted to be a little more healthy~ (the nations #1 resolution)

Did you stick to your commitments or resolutions?

OR are you like the majority of people out there who have great ideas and plans only to see them through for the very first part of the new year.

If this past year wasn't what you wanted it to be or things were more difficult than you bargained for, take a deep breath, right now - just take a nice slow deep breath and let the "yesterday's" go as you exhale.

You see, nothing you can do will ever change yesterday.

This is an especially important point to think about when you go back to work or class after the new year.

If you are thinking about becoming a surgical tech, take the next step and get some info about this field.

If you are struggling as a student, make some plans to "revamp" your study habits or form a study group, or spend more time with your instructors working on your weak points.

If you are an experienced tech and have been thinking about advancing your career, take the initiative and move forward with your plans. Find out what you need to do to go to that next step.

If you're an educator, you must know that you are the heart of every new surgical tech career. If your students are struggling, take a little time and work with them one on one.

This NEW YEAR is going to pass just as quickly as the last year did.

You'll be amazed how far you can take your surgical career with a little goal setting and action on your part.

I can speak from experience about the "procrastination factor" of accomplishing anything. It took me over 10 years from the time I decided to write a book before I finally sat my butt in front of my word processor to write the Surgical Tech Success Handbook.

It was an amazing feeling when I finsihed and it is an even more amazing feeling to get the wonderful feedback I've received from all of the people who've read it.

Listen, resolutions are great but they tend to apply a little too much pressure after the "warm fuzzy feelings" you got when you made the resolution wear off.

I stopped making resolutions and simply tell myself (which is something very personal) "This year will be even better!"

No matter what happened last year, good or bad, this year will be even better!

You can apply that philosophy on a daily basis. If you have a rough day in the O.R., in class, as a student, educator, or experienced tech, simply let it go and tell yourself the next morning, today will be even better.

Every new year brings with it 12 months composed of 28-31 days. Every single one of those days starts out blank and you wake up filling in the blank based on your outlook and plans.

Why not take the positive approach and move your butt forward. It takes a lot less energy to be happy and work towards your goals than it does to dwell on the "I should have's".

I plan to make SurgicalTechSuccess.com a better and bigger resource in this upcoming year. My site started with an idea and a Surgical Tech Success Handbook. As you know, it is much more than that today.

I'd like to ask you to do me a favor. When you get a free moment, please tell me what you would like to see on www.SurgicalTechSuccess.com.

Whether you'd like to see more resources, specific information, a forum to talk to other surgical techs, or whatever you can think of, please let me know.

I created this site for you. Only you can tell me what you would like to see added over the next year.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank you for all of the incredible feedback and positive comments I've received since the inception of SurgicalTechSuccess.com.

Receiving all of the great emails keeps my drive and motivation in full gear! Thank you!!!

I look forward to providing you with an improved resource and informative site over the next year~

Have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Your friend,

Robert

Now, here are a few links to get your new year off on a good note.

You may or may not know of some of these links, but in any case they will provide you with "food for thought" about advancing your Surgical Tech Career:

Enjoy... :)

(If the links are not "clickable, copy and paste in your browser)

The Liaison Council on Certification for the Surgical Technologist (LCC-ST)

http://www.lcc-st.org

National Center for Competency Testing

www.ncctinc.com

Association of Surgical Assistants

http://www.surgicalassistant.org

American Academy of Physician Assistants

http://www.aapa.org

American College of Surgeons

http://www.facs.org/index.html

Association of periOperative Registered Nurses

http://www.aorn.org

HospitalSoup.com

http://www.hospitalsoup.com

HealthCare Job Bank.com

http://www.healthcarejobbank.com

Top USA Jobs - Enter Surgical Technologist in the “keyword” box

http://surgical.jobs.topusajobs.com

Spine-Health.com

http://www.spine-health.com/

Johnson & Johnson “GATEWAY” - A resource for healthcare professionals

www.jnjgateway.com

Films.com - Videos on various procedures can be purchased here

http://www.films.com

United States National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health

http://www.nlm.nih.gov

Surgical Technologists State Assembly Information

http://www.ast.org/Content/AboutAST/state_assemblies/state_assemblies.htm#Info

MedDevice.com - medical device industry

http://www.meddevicejobs.com

Integrated Surgical Systems - a medical device company that develops robotic applications for surgical procedures

http://www.robodoc.com/eng/careers.html

The Association of Surgical Technologists - information about continuing education can be found here:

http://ast.org/Content/Education/Continuing_Education.htm#ApprovedProviders

Surgical Tech Schools Nationwide

https://www.surgicaltechsuccess.com/surgicaltechschools.html

Surgical Tech Success Handbook

https://www.surgicaltechsuccess.com/surgicaltechhandbook.html

Surgical Tech Success

https://www.surgicaltechsuccess.com/