Even at such a young age, my sister Lizzie was a true business woman and had an amazing ability to save up all her pocket money so to us, she always seemed to be absolutely loaded. Using her best persuasive skills, she always managed to convince our youngest sister, Alice, to clean their shared bedroom in exchange for a shiny gold coin... I was not so good at saving, or so business minded, and usually ended up stuffing most of my mess under the bed at the last minute; needless to say, Lizzie & Alice consistently took home the troll.
You're probably wondering if there's a point to this charming little story of days gone by... and I assure you, there is. Grandpa would regularly tease me about my ability to hide so much crap underneath my bed and Mum, as all good mum's are, was full of useful advice. While I groaned and complained about having to clean my room, Mum would say, "Just start with the smallest mess and go from there, you'll be done in no time!" or "Sal, just start at the beginning!" So in the same way, I'm going to use that advice to apply to this blog; the smallest 'mess,' or challenge in this case, that I want to address is goal setting. Goal setting is a great way to identify the kinds of things you want and get an idea of how you can achieve them. There's a fitting little quote by Lawrence J. Peter that goes, "If you don't know where you are going, you'll probably end up somewhere else."
So why set goals? Goal setting is an excellent way to establish what you want to achieve and when you want to achieve it. We've all heard that little acronym S.M.A.R.T; goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely... this is a great way to approach goal setting. Goals also help to spur you on and keep you on track. For example, if you set goals you want to achieve over a varied time line, say 1, 2 & 5 years, you will be even more motivated to continue as you start crossing some of those small guys off your list! Keeping yourself on track is also a big one! Discussing your goals with close friends who will support you and encourage you is a great way to keep yourself accountable. Another way you can do this is by committing yourself to something you wont want to walk away from, like a membership with a cancellation fee or a daily morning walk with a girlfriend who will knock on your door every morning without fail to collect you.
So, how do you know what you want to achieve? If you're anything like me, you might have come into this with little more than vague ideas of how you would like to see your life change. Lucky for us, there are programs out there that can help stimulate ideas of things you might like to try or start working on. One of these fantastic resources, that one I highly recommend, is Day Zero Project which you can join at http://dayzeroproject.com/. Day Zero is a nifty little site that allows you to join thousands of other participants in creating a personalised goal list of 101 things you would like to achieve in the next 1001 days (or 2.75 years). If you're hard up for ideas, you can visit the "Idea Finder" tab and see what other people out there are working to achieve. Whether you want to totally change your lifestyle, try new things, travel to anywhere and everywhere or just go to a movie alone, Day Zero Project has an inspiration for you!
Personally, my Day Zero list contains a wide selection of things from as small as going without TV for a week to as large as writing and illustrating a children's book. One of the things I'll be blogging about on this site is some of the goals I have set and my adventures during the process of completing them! I'll also be including a "Challenge" section in each blog with an activity or idea I'll be road testing for the week so you can participate in this journey... after all, isn't that why you're here? If you are one of the readers who is brave enough to actively participate, I highly encourage you to comment with your own personal experiences during the week so we can all help each other stay on track! Likewise, if you've already completed a similar challenge in the past or the challenge is already part of your regular schedule, please feel free to comment with any advice or tips for other readers; we'd all love your input!
"If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you." Fred Devito
Much love,
A Single Gal x
Week One:
Create a list of goals & things you would like to achieve.
Recommended source: http://dayzeroproject.com
"It's Challenge Time"photo sourced from: http://budgetofyourlife.com
