Have you ever thought of yourself as a product that you are developing to present to the marketplace? With the coming New Year, I started thinking about myself in those terms.

I wondered about my development costs, my shelf life and my added value. I considered my competitive advantage, my packaging and my brand presence. I contemplated return on investment, marketing advantage and finally, replacement costs. What about planned obsolescence, spoilage, damage in shipping, markdowns and damaged-goods return policies? And as time goes on, I'm sure I'll start to wonder about lifetime warranties.

Let's consider what we might do to increase our value in the marketplace in 2005.

. Development costs. Are you continuing to develop yourself, or did learning end when you left school? I once knew a fellow who claimed he could tell when a man died by looking at the books in his library. "If the newest books in his library were printed when he left college, that's when he died intellectually," he told me. If you feel you know all you need to know, I suggest you don't know what you don't know. You know?

. Packaging. If you are like the average North American, you could use a redo. Statistically men over 40 average a weight gain of 5 pounds a year. If we keep that rate up, we could be in big trouble by the time we hit 60. If our packaging looks shop-worn and beat up, we'd better start doing some repackaging, before it's too late. I like the slogan, "Exercise for life."

. Competitive advantage. Do you have any left? In the game of life, we need to remain competitive. I believe our most meaningful competition in life is with ourselves. Keeping lists of ways to improve the "product" is awfully important, I believe. Why not keep working on your competitive advantage your entire life?

. Return on investment. We should constantly be making investments in ourselves. It is part of the packaging. But are we getting a return on our investment in our education, our family and our faith? If not, we are wasting our investment. The best way to get a ROI is by continuing to invest and work on product enhancements.

. Damaged goods. Most damage to the goods is self-inflicted, or made worse by neglect of planned maintenance. Studies show that most bad health, whether physical, mental or spiritual, is caused from neglect, not external influences. What we put into this product of ours seems to do more damage than anything else.

. Shelf life. I believe attitude affects shelf life even more than the physical packaging or development costs. Zig Ziglar often speaks of having a checkup from the neck up. I love people with a great attitude. They have great shelf life in any organization. Those with a bad attitude are their own worst enemies. Nothing affects your altitude more than your attitude.

What about spoilage, damaged goods and return product policies? Do you offer a lifetime warranty? Would you take yourself back? You should add value the older you get. Unfortunately, some of us overpromise and underdeliver - especially at home.

How would you feel about offering a lifetime warranty on yourself? It could read: "If I fail to meet your expectations, you can a get a new one." If you are like me, it is good that we didn't give that guarantee to our spouses or most of us would have been traded in years ago.

As you think of adding value, try to upgrade yourself so you speed up delivery, increase reliability and maintain customer satisfaction.

As a New Year's resolution for 2005, try practicing some of the business terms we talk about in marketing on you. If you do, you will be a product that delights the customer (your family and friends) and exceeds even your own high expectations.