New Years Make Me Excited!

I cannot explain how excited I am for 2011.  For the past couple weeks, I have been composing a "2010 in Review" and an action plan for 2011.  Both these exercises have helped me tremendously to see where I was last year and where I want to be in the new year.  I went through different lists of what went well and what did not go well in 2010.  I was pretty surprised that I had so many good things happen last year for myself personally and professionally.  For anyone who knows me well knows I am my own worst enemy and hardest critic.  I have the highest expectations for myself and when I do not achieve my goals, I get down on myself more than I really should.  After seeing that list and seeing how much I had done last year, it gave me hope for the new year.  It helped me to realize that I have done some great things and I should be proud of the things I was able to accomplish.

From those two lists, I started brain storming about my 2011 purpose, outcome and theme followed by 8 categories of goals with action statements for each one followed by a deadline for each goal.  My categories are:
1.Health
2.Service
3. Travel
4.Photography
5.Learning
6.Financial- Earning
7.Financial-Saving
8.Other

Each one of these categories ended up having at least 4 goals so right now it's looking like I have 34 goals to accomplish.  Seems a little overwhelming but each goal has certain steps I need to follow so I'm actually really excited to get started.

My top goals include:

-Run my 3rd half marathon in March and my first full marathon in October. (Training is slowly happening now, gotta get back on the grind!)
-Do my photography business branding. (I am creative but I do not have the time to be creative for my own brand.  I'm looking for a fresh perspective on my business.)
-Start a 401K. (Yah yah, probably should have started right out of college or before... )
-Travel more! (I make too many excuses i.e. money, time off work etc.  No excuses this year, just proper planning!)
-Read one new book at month. (I am really excited about this one because this gives me a reason to linger in Barnes and Noble for hours while searching out the perfect book that peak my interest.)
-Start saving! (I have not been the best at future planning in the savings category. Having a financial plan for the future is very important and I'm ready to make that commitment to myself.)

I realize now that making this outward statement of my plans makes me accountable but that's O.K.  I want that pressure so that when I am tired and exhausted from life, I can look back and say look, I put it out there so I have to make it happen.  We all strive to make changes in our lives but living inside our heads and saying "I wanna do this one day.." but not making the effort to do it...it's sad.  I decided to stop saying "I wanna" or "I'm gunna" (those phrases are lovingly called Iwannaland and Imgunnaland, thanks Jim. Those are islands you wanna get off of.)  This is a year of action and determination. I will be the driving force for the events that take place in my life.  Life doesn't happen to you, you happen to life.

To finish this super long entry (and thank you for anyone who is still reading), I want to thank the people who have influenced my life in the past 6 months.  Whether directly or indirectly, many people have touched me and helped me to re-focus my energy and pursue my goals.  From my real job of selling telecom to the amazing photographers who are great bloggers. They may not ever know how they have touched my life and inspired me but I'm am thankful nonetheless.  I hope that one day I too can be an inspiration for others looking to change their lives.

It's gonna be a great year, I can feel it! :)

And what's a post without a picture? And of my little piggy: