My Accountability- Goals made public September 1, 2009

Well….

Said that i would blog on my goals later. So here goes…

I’ve always felt that when you had a goal. You should shout it to the world. It makes you more accountable, you send ripples of potentiality out into the cosmos, and generally makes you work a little harder toward it.

For this post, I’m going to state my current goals/projects/etc and what steps I’m taking toward them. Including any side information I’ve learned during my Growing Curve (as opposed to Learning Curve.)

My Overall Self Improvement & Reassessment- A very general goal for a very general and overall encompassing process of self discovery and evaluation. I’m not even sure this could be defined as a goal. As I have stated in earlier posts (see Overcoming the Stagnant State), I believe a person should continually change to become a better person and to adapt to the changing world around them.

How I’m progressing…

I’m opening myself up to new experiences. I’m trying to try new things, new ways of doing things, new flavors, and learning to let go (confessed control freak.)

I’m avoiding old patterns of behavior. I love to try new things, but I have a bad habit of sticking to something once I find something I like. For example- I adore Chinese food, but I love three specific dishes. So, I usually order the same thing every time. Now, I’m trying something new at least every other time I order. That way, I get the dishes I love, but also have the chance to try a new one!

I’m setting NEW goals. I’ve probably set more goals this year than I have since I was a teenager. I used to be really good at setting a goal, putting my all into it, and enjoy the rewards and good feelings that came when I reached it. Ok, I got lazy, but there’s nothing to say that can’t change. Watch out world, here I come!

Go back to school. Yep, mark this one off. I registered for classes last week, signed all the paperwork and my first class starts tomorrow, Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009! I’m now on my way to my Bachelors Degree. Going to revamp this goal to Make straight A’s & Finish my Bachelors Degree!.

Be Healthier. Like most enablers, I have a problem taking care of everyone else but myself. In recent years, I’ve gained weight, stopped wearing makeup, etc… ICK! So now I’m making it a point of trying to reduce portion sizes, excersize more, and applying makeup on an (almost) daily basis. While the makeup thing isn’t something I’m keen on, I will admit I feel better facing the world knowing that I’ve taking time to take care of myself and present my best appearance. I’ve even (gasp) been going to bed earlier!

Be Positive. From age, oh say… 15, I’ve been generally known as sarcastic, cynical, and pretty much any other negative term you can think of. It really bothered my Mother! She’s a real fan of the “positive” thinking.

Took it about 13 years, but it’s finally sunk in. Cheers to Mom! I started noticing that everytime I thought positively about a situation, the result was also positive. Hmmmm… (You can almost hear the rusty gears a-turnin’!)

Ok, so here goes… I added twitter users that tweet positive quotes, affirmations, and outlooks, etc. I began to write down what I wanted in life, love, career, etc. While I still have my negative moments, they are faaaaaaaaaaaar less than they used to be. I’m almost chipper in the morning, lol. I get a secret giggle out of the people I annoy with it, as I used to BE the one annoyed by it.

Whenever I feel myself getting down, I try to do something nice for someone else, find something to laugh at (in a nice way), appreciate a beautiful picture, compliment someone, etc.  If nothing else, I’ll put a smile on my face, sometimes that alone is enough. It reminds me that no matter what, everything will be O.K.

Concentrate on what’s important. We all pick up bad habits and loose our focus from time to time. I’m no different. I have a weakness for technology. I can get absolutely lost in the internet for hours (not chatting mind you, but just generally looking up information, reading news, etc) and then wonder where all that time has gone.

I also have a bad habit of hoarding. I come from a very materialistic society and family. My great grandmother was in perfect health when she died, but tripped on some newspapers she “hadn’t gotten around to throwing away or reading.” (Read my post on the 100 Things Challenge.)

Finally, making a concerted effort to make the weekends entirely for my son. Even if that just means doing housecleaning together. I feel its important to set aside time specifically for him! I want him to look back and say, “Mom and I did things together.” He won’t be a child forever and I don’t want to miss a thing!

Say how you feel! I’m gathering resources, recruiting helpers and planning my little heart out for a surprise for my Grandmother. She’ll be 80 this December and I want to show her what a wonderful contribution she’s made to this world and more specifically to this family. I’m inviting everyone I can, family from across the country, old friends, new friends, etc. We will be gathering next Mother’s Day for a tribute dinner in her honor. Hosted by moi, but with the contributions of the entire family (My grandmother had six children, so that’s quite a lot of family.) Best of all, its going to be entirely a surprise! The idea was sparked by another project, see my post on Letter of Love.

That only leaves me with one problem. Am I taking on too many goals? LOL It all seems overwhelming at times, but its mostly a bunch of small steps. I don’t plan on perfection. I have no delusions of that, but I feel great just knowing that I’m doing something to make myself and maybe even a bit of the world slightly better!