The Big 45

Many people use January 1st to create New Year's resolutions with many of them forgotten by January 31st. No judgement. I'm guilty as well. One time, my friend LadyLee shared with me her thoughts about resolutions versus setting goals in January. Resolutions are created but few really make a commitment to seeing them come to fruition. They make us feel good about making them because we get caught up with the hope and newness of a new year. However, when you set a goal, you set your mind to accomplish it. It made total sense to me. Ever since that conversation, I have set at least one goal every January for the calendar year. I would evaluate and make adjustments in June which is my birthday month (new year of my life).

I am turning 45 this year. People remember my celebrating 40 years in 40 days. That had them waiting for what I was planning for 45. Instead of having 45 days of activities, I created 45 goals to complete before I turn 46. My goals came in spurts; I worked on them for about a month. The goals range from taking a day to complete to taking almost the year. I solicited some of my friends to give me some ideas. Some I utilized, others I tweaked, and a few was not happening! I do appreciate all of their help to make this task become a reality.

It was a great process. Initially, I was planning to just write 45 goals on a piece of paper or in a notebook. But if you know my friends, they were not going to let it be that basic. One of my friends suggested I write them on index cards and stick them on my wall. As I completed them, take them down. That got the creative juices flowing. Instead of just putting them up randomly and taking them down, we came up with writing each goal on a colored index card. The cards are arranged into the number 45. As each goal is completed, I will cover it with a plain white index card. I will take a picture monthly, preferably on the 20th, to have a pictorial progression of achieving my goals.

Here is some pictures of me getting it together. I actually put my wall up at the end of May. I keep saying instead of having a vision board, I have a vision wall!

Getting the 45 just right

The Vision Wall is right outside of my bedroom

My nephew assisted me with putting it on the wall. It was great opportunity for us to talk about setting goals and having accountability partners. We read each goal with him wanting to have some of the same goals. For instance, he has decided we are going to learn how to swim together. He even wrote his name on that card to accept the role as my accountability partner.

Speaking of accountability partners, I have asked my friends to select at least one of my goals to hold my feet to the fire. I have added an explanation point to the 45 to track my goals with repeated actions. For instance, I want to read 8 books for pleasure. I will list the title and date of completion of each book. If you see a goal you want to assist me, please let me know!

The amazing thing is Habakkuk 2:2 is already in full swing. One of the goals I wrote was a girls getaway. Literally within minutes of me placing it on the wall, a group of us was reminiscing about a trip we took 3 years ago. Someone said we were overdue. And just like that, the next one was planned for this summer.

With it being June 20th, I have started attacking my goals. This is blog #1 of 45 for the next 365 days. I plan to blog about this experience throughout the year. Feel free to come back to check on my progress. Better yet, grab a goal and work it out with me! Let's enjoy this ride together.