2011 Goals

It's time I verbalized my goals for this year. As I said a couple weeks ago - I needed to think a bit more about what things I wanted to accomplish in the coming months. Giving it some thought allowed me to come up with realistic goals for the year rather than rushing to set goals before January 1st and pick the wrong things to focus on. Mid-January seems like the perfect time to set goals, right?

The past couple years I've set some pretty lofty goals for myself. I've done a very good job of accomplishing them too. Here's a look at the past:

8 Goals for 2008
9 Goals for 2009
My word for 2010

So this year I want to scale back a bit. I've got a lot going on with goals already, so rather than make a big long list of new ones, I want restate the ones I'm working on and give a progress report of sorts. Plus, I've got a couple new ones to throw into the mix, of course.

1. Finish my Associates Degree - I love that I can look back to my list of goals in 2008 and see that going back to school was on the list. And here I am a couple years later about to achieve this goal. If all goes as planned, I should be finished in August. Then I'll figure out what I'm going to do about a Bachelor's Degree.
2. Advance my Career - This goes hand-in-hand with the completion of my degree. The whole purpose of training as a graphic designer is to apply for the job about to be vacated by the current graphic artist at work who will be retiring in October. I want his job, but to compete for it, I need that degree. Even if I don't get that job, I want to be a graphic artist somewhere and that will be a huge move for me this year. 
3. Become an Author - The first book is nearing publication and should be ready for purchase before the snow melts in Michigan this winter. It's running later than I wanted, but I'm still proud of actually seeing it through to the end. My second book (surprise!) is underway and I'm excited to see that finished and published this year too. 
4. Declutter - This one is an ongoing venture. But I've already taken 9 bags of stuff to Goodwill and have another 3 in the trunk of my car. I've loaded several bags and boxes of crap out to the dumpster and gotten rid of stuff that wasn't even worth donating to charity. I got a new toolbox for Christmas and I'm determined to carve out a place for it in my storage room and actually use it. The goal is to load up at least two boxes or bags of stuff per week -- one for charity, one for trash.
5. Downsize to a smaller purse - This one is going to be tough. Every time I go to a smaller purse, I always go back to a bigger one. I'm tired of hauling around all this stuff I don't even use, so I'm going to downsize this year and make it a goal that's written down and real. LOL! I think my annual tax return splurge this year will be a Miche Bag with some fun shells. 
6. Slow Down - It's hard to slow down when you have a schedule as jam packed as mine. But it's absolutely necessary. I know I talk about setting goals with a clear and measurable outcome and this one doesn't have that type of principle applied. So in an effort to not wear myself out this year, I will take every Friday night "off" - no homework, no obligations, no working. My favorite coffeehouse often has live music on Fridays, so that type of activity will be the weekly goal.

So six goals for the year. Three are already underway and a plan is in motion, two that just need to be worked on little by little and the purse one has a clear target of completion with the planned purchase. It's manageable, right? 

Pam