I'm hoping this will be the last time I have to say that. I'm going to try and actually accomplish some goals for myself this year. One at a time. Not all at once, I think that's how you end up saying "Next year." In my head, its called "One Woman's Quest to Self-Improvement". That's probably a bit overly ambitious than what will actually happen, but one step at a time. There are several different departments I'm going to work on over the next year.
- Career Development
- Financial Stability
- Health and Wellness
- Education
- Minimalization/Organization
Gosh. That seems like a lot when I write it down. But, some of it is not nearly as complicated as it sounds. Some of it is going to coincide when other areas actually improve some and some future changes actually come through. In the mean time though...
-Career Development
I simply refuse to settle for crappy ass jobs that are way below what I'm worth and what I can actually accomplish. I also need to figure out what exactly I want to do with the rest of my life. I think Radio is over for me for the most part. I've spent the last year mourning it in one way shape or form and accepting the fact that the way it used to be is gone and will probably never be again. I'm OK with that. I just am not entirely sure what I want to do for the rest of my life, or at least the next 10-20 years, until I get bored with it, sell all my possessions, move to Tahiti and spend the rest of my life living on an island as a bartender/ vacation photographer. Yes, I'm still planning to move to Tahiti. No, I'm really not kidding. I just have bills to pay first before I can leave.
-Financial Stability
This is in part going to come with finding a better job, but I still am starting now. I'm working on better handling my money, so that I not only can pay my bills, but have a little bit left over to contribute to gas and food for two weeks. Its hard and complicated and required a serious breakdown of taking a look at my bank statements (bletch) and really looking at what I spend money on and then deciding what I can afford to cut from my spending, so that I can live more within my means. Once I can get in the swing of doing that consistently, then I'm hoping I'll have enough money to start saving money for things I need (items for place, car parts etc) and contributing more to my Roth IRA account I've had since I've had a job at 16, that way, when I'm ready to retire, I have enough money to do it.
-Health and Wellness
No, this does not mean I'm doing Weight Watchers, Atkins or severely changing my lifestyle, though that might come into play eventually. Right now, I'd like to go see my doctor, get a general checkup and make sure that I'm doing at least OK, health wise. I found a gym I'd like to join, but need Financial Stability to improve some before I enact that plan, so for the time being I still go to the Rec Center, along with light cross training at home (Sit-ups, push-ups and things of that nature). I move into my new apartment in a month, so once I do that, I will officially be buying food for myself and the boy, which means I can keep my food for myself and make food for myself and not worry about either (a)people eating it or (b)how much of it I have to buy.
-Education
This is going to be a long one, but one that will hopefully be worth it all in the end. Part of it is working on going back and getting my Masters in Public Administration or some other degree to further my career and it'll be great as soon as I figure out what I'm doing. The other part of it though is self-education on basic things in life. For instance, the other day, my mommy friend and I were standing in front of my car while I tried to tinker with the oil measuring stick thingy when she asked me if I had a manual for my car. The boy's car mechanic uncle had told me months ago to get one if I wanted to learn more about my car, and I really need one for several reasons. One, if something goes wrong with the car and no one is around to help me, I at least want to be able to try to figure out what's wrong with it. Two, I have no intention of getting rid of this car until it falls apart. Definition of "falls apart" - I'm sitting at a red light. Suddenly, the engine falls out from underneath the hood, the tires fall off of the spokes that hold it on, the doors fall off and there has to be absolutely, positively no way that I can fix the car, for me to get rid of this car. So I need to learn about it, so I know how to fix it and what to do with it. There are other things I need to get books for so I can learn how to fix them. As soon as I remember what else I want to learn how to fix, I'll know what else I'm educating myself on.
-Organization/Minimization
I have one month until I move into my new apartment. I look like I have no intentions of moving out of my 22 year old room for another 20 years. I'm moving into the apartment with 3 other boys and I'm sharing a room with one of the boys. Its time to minimize down. Right now, I'm on the Clothes minimization phase of things, going through my closet and taking everything out that I haven't wore since I took it out of storage last summer. Whatever I don't want I'm letting the boy's sister look at first to see if she wants it and then whatever she doesn't want I'm giving to either Plato's Closet or Goodwill depending upon quality. Then I pack what I do keep away for the next two months and pull all my winter clothes out (since it finally go cold about 3 weeks ago) and same thing. I'm bad about minimizing things down, because for me some things hold significant meaning. I've just had it though. I'm tired of tripping over clothes that I no longer want or no longer need and so I'm forcing myself to organize and get rid of stuff. Much easier said than done, but its actually happening, so I feel this is good progress.
We'll see how it all pans out in the end. Right now, I work on the things I can and hope that I can tackle other parts as the year goes on and then update this regularly, so I can see how I've progressed.
Happy 2010! Things can only get better from here.
