INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If you work in journalism, you might be asked to compile a dossier on a person of interest in an ongoing investigation. The first step to the process is identifying the individual. Make sure you have the correct spelling of the person's first, middle, and last time. Small spelling errors can make a big difference when seeking out information. Try to find a date of birth, or at least a range of time in which the person was likely born. This makes finding certain documents easier down the road. If you're writing an article about an individual, you do not want to rehash information that's already out there. Search online and through newspapers, magazines, and tabloids for existing stories about the individual. Not only does this prevent you from publishing a redundant piece, it adds to the array of information you have on the individual. Use public records to your advantage to build your profile. Using a variety of outlets, scan public records for important information. Local records are a good start, even if the individual isn't originally from your location. Go to city hall, the county clerk's office, and any local branch of state and federal offices. Look through permits, power of attorney, liens, building permits, deeds, licenses, driving records, and anything else that turns up. Look through court records. Any history of court appearances can be found online, but you might have to go to the court house to actually view the records. Check with local police and sheriff's offices for any past criminal activity. Also check local, state, and county jail records. Some information may be hard to find, depending on your state's open record laws. You should look into the individual's employment history to check for any surprises or inconsistencies. Make direct phone calls to past and current employers. Ask for employment verification and if they ask why you're calling, simply tell them the truth. Usually, whoever you're speaking to will comply. You can see if you can get a copy of the individual's resume through past and current employers. Oftentimes, the person you're investigating will be in a professional field that requires a license. He might be a dentist or a psychiatrist, for example. Try to verify that license to check for fraud. Also, investigate every claim on his resume, such as where he went to school, grants and awards he claims to have received, and any certificates he lists. Compile a list of friends, enemies, neighbors, spouses, family members, former lovers, and other people who've had contact with the individual. Contact them and ask questions relevant to your investigation.

SUMMARY: Identify the person being investigated. See what's been written about the person. Gather information through public records. Look up the individual's employment history. Verify any licenses. Reach out to people associated with the individual.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Motivation requires a target. It's hard to get motivated when your goals are vague, undefined, and as a result, impossible to achieve. You will be more motivated if you define your goals and break them down into smaller goals that you can take bites out of accomplishing on a regular basis. Make sure your smaller goals are still meaningful to you and be sure to break them down into things you can actually accomplish otherwise your motivation will tank. For example, if you are struggling with motivation to get into law school, remember that this goal is the overall goal. However, to keep motivated, you will benefit by further breaking this large goal down into objectives (actions you can take) and tasks (specific, small things to do) to accomplish it. So, if your goal is to apply and get into law school, objectives could be taking the LSAT and selecting a list of schools to apply to. Breaking down "taking the LSAT" further could include tasks such as researching LSAT prep-books, looking up the costs of taking the LSAT, and locations to take the LSAT. An example of a task you might set to select a list of schools to apply to would be figuring out the best criteria to use to select schools (e.g., is location an important factor for you? Prestige of the school?). Hang a paper consisting of all the goals of your life. Before going to bed and in early morning read that paper and be motivated by your goals. Figure out which goals are most important to you. Which goals would you be the most motivated to accomplish first? Think realistically about whether each goal is attainable based on your current time, financial, and other resources. Sometimes one goal needs to be accomplished before it makes sense to begin another goal (i.e., goals sometimes build on each other). Focusing on improving one or two areas will help prevent you from feeling overwhelmed being overwhelmed can kill your motivation. When you feel overwhelmed, you may be tempted to abandon pursuing your goals because you think they can't be achieved. In some cases, some goals are necessary to learn before you can tackle the others. Since the LSAT is required to attend law school, you need to study for and take it before you can apply. Begin with a goal that is easily attainable so you can have an early success that will keep you motivated as you go forward. Once you have organized your goals by importance, choose the first two or three most important goals and create a to-do list of daily tasks or objectives that will help you to accomplish, over time, these broader goals. An example of an objective would be to study 1 chapter of an LSAT prep book. Make sure that you don't pursue too many objectives at once, or your goals will come into conflict as they compete for your time, and you may end up being less motivated and less productive. Break your objectives down into smaller tasks. A task is a small, specific thing that you can do to achieve your objective. For example, a task could be to study your LSAT book for 1 hour a day, or to study 10 pages a day of 1 chapter of your LSAT prep book. To stay motivated, keep a written list of your daily tasks and cross them off each day that you finish. This will remind you that you are being productive; it feels good, too. Repeat this process until you feel that you have mastered the objective, and replace it with another. For example, each time you study your LSAT book for the day, cross it off your list of daily tasks. When you've finished the chapter, move on to the next one.

SUMMARY:
Create a list of goals. Organize your goals. Make a list of actionable objectives. Accomplish your objectives.