SixEight Life

Twenty-Thirteen

I’m a week late, but happy new year! I hope you’ll forgive my tardiness as I spent the first week of the year serving 60,000 students at the Passion Conference in Atlanta. But more on that amazing experience at a later date.

I mentioned in my twenty-twelve post that this blog was a pivotal part of my year last year. I am constantly on a path of self improvement and change, so I have decided to write goals for the new year and will hold myself accountable on this blog. You can feel free to hold me accountable too. I’m going to post my goals on this blog, and do a monthly post of where I stand.

Photo Credit: ky_olson (Creative Commons)

I’ve got 13 goals for the new year. They range from personal to professional to spiritual.

1. Run a half marathon: I ran/walked a 10k and ran a 5k last year. I want to finish a half marathon and run for more than half of it. The goal to have this complete is late spring. If it goes well maybe I’ll try for two.

2. Read 24 books: I love to read, but it seems to get put on the back-burner when I get busy. I have a physical stack of books that will be read this year. I need a few more, so I’m open for suggestions!

3. Get Biscuit certified as a therapy dog: This is a fun one for me. I love my puppy and think he would make a great therapy dog. So we’re going to complete the process this year, or at least get him to the point where he takes the test. The rest is up to him. 🙂

4. Encourage two people a month with a handwritten note: I had a friend in college who wrote really amazing little cards for people, just because. It meant so much to me when I received one of her notes. I’m going to buy a pretty box of cards and write away.

5. Write 75 blog posts. I wrote 50 posts last year for this blog. I want to expand that to 75. Blogging is therapeutic for me and also helps me spread the word about the causes I’m passionate about. Guest blog posts will count towards this goal, unless they are not original.

6. Get to know people who are different from me. I am really good at advocacy, but sometimes I get stuck in my little bubble of comfort. My commitment is to get involved in an organization where I am interacting and walking alongside people who come from a different background than me. This can be racially, culturally, socioeconomically, or geographically- but I want to be stretched as I learn while serving.

7. Enter into a mentoring relationship. I have realized that there are a ton of women doing amazing things out there, and they have a lot of wisdom to share. I want to discover a mentor or two and really enter into an intentional relationship. I’ve been praying for this and I think God is close to revealing the right fit.

8. Pay the car off: This is the financial goal for this year. It’s the only goal that may not happen as I have learned that God is in control of my finances more than I am. But regardless, I’m going to try.

9. Increase my political activity: I want to be on a first name basis with policy makers and my local elected officials. I need to be a bit more intentional and build good professional relationships with them.

10. Publish a professional article (or at least write one). This goal is already in the works. I have a partner in the project, a topic, and a great action plan, so hopefully it will come to fruition this year.

11. Memorize the book of Philippians. This is my favorite book of the Bible, and it’s not terribly long. I want to really ingrain this book in my heart, so I’m going to try to memorize it. I’ve never done a whole book before, so we’ll see how it goes.

12. Love my husband in a new way every month: It’s easy as a couple to get caught up in the busyness of life. I know I neglect my husbands love languages, so I want to find new ways to show him that I care each month.

13. Become a more innovative instructor and social worker: This is my big professional goal, and its the only goal that is not very qualitative. I don’t know where I’ll be professionally come the summer, so it’s hard to know what goal to set. So innovation is my plan. I want to come up with something innovative to do in my current professional position each month to make a positive change in the lives of the people I work with and for.

So there you have it, my 13 goals for 2013. I’ll update my progress monthly. What are your goals for the new year?