What can I do today to achieve my goals?

Past Achievements and Fumbles

In 1997, I didn’t like where I was in terms of goals and life achievements, so I returned to college part-time to finish my BA (which I finally completed in 2000), and I started keeping a journal to track my dreams and goals. Every August I have the annual review when I re-read the journals of the past year because August is my birth month and the month in which I started keeping a journal. Every five years I re-read all the journals since the beginning. Obviously this quinquennial won’t occur again until next year (2017).

 

2012 was a banner year for me because it was the 25 year anniversary since I graduated high school, and fifteen years since I started keeping a journal. Of course, the latter is far more important to me than the former. I said my goodbyes to my hideous high school classmates at graduation and haven’t been back since. The funny thing was no one stepped up to plan our 25th reunion, so I’m not the only one who feels that way about my high school. The weekend of my 20th high school reunion, I wrote down the list of three conditions that must be met if I were to consider attending a high school reunion:

1. I weigh 150#, or at least less than 185#.
2. Delazan Enterprises is so successful that I can quit my day job.
3. I have at least one bestselling novel published.

Present Reality

None of these conditions were achieved by 2012, and as I mentioned in the prior paragraph, it didn’t matter due to no reunion. However, as I wrote in my previous blog entry, I still have these same goals, even if they need to be updated for reality’s sake. I was hoping to have this List of Three Priorities completed by my Silver Anniversary, which occurs in this summer:

1. Hirapis
2. DE, crafts especially
3. Weight loss (permanent) – Eating for Life plan (Not a temporary “diet”)

Again, I doubt that these will be achieved between now and our party planned for July 9 (anniversary proper is July 13, but that’s a Wednesday), so I need to do a different take on and have a different attitude about my New Year’s Resolutions/Goals. I already listed my priorities in the previous blog entry; now I have to chop them up into little manageable parts with reasonable deadlines and realistic ideas of outcomes. So here are the short-term goals for my priorities:

Before our Mithril Party (July 9, 2016)

1. Have shared guardianship of Prince Mekhi figured out
2. Lose enough weight that I can wear my Tatooine Sunset dress at the party
3. The current draft of Hirapis completed and under review by my friend in publishing
4. Obviously all the planning and prep work for the party should be done
5. At least the main floor of the house organized

If I don’t have the Hirapis draft done by the party, then I want to have it done by my birthday on August 28, 2016, (yes, I have to be specific about the year). If I do have the draft done, then I want to complete some crafts (especially candles and Christmas crafts) and/or update my personal websites before my birthday. My deadline for having the whole house organized is December 31, 2016.

 

Before I Earn my Red Hat

The next hallmark in my life will be my fiftieth birthday on August 28, 2019. Brian, the World’s Greatest Husband, gets a pass on my birthday (and most holidays, except the Mithril this summer) until I turn fifty because I don’t feel the need for something special every year. That would be exhausting. Unless there’s a Packer preseason game (unlikely on a Wednesday), I want a big party with fondue, flambé, apples, and the local chapter of the Red Hat Society. I’ve met them already, and they’re a hoot!

 

However, before Jack Black and I hit the big 5-0, I want to come close to achieving that list of three in case someone does finally plan a high school reunion (it won’t be me):

1. Weight: I’d like the first number on the scale to be a 1, even if the other two numbers are 99. Or, if the first number is a two, much closer to 200 than 300. At the very least, I don’t want the first number to be a 3.
2. I do not know whether or not my Hirapis series will be bestselling (while it would be nice to have the success of Jo Rowling, I’ll settle for the success of Meg Cabot), I do know that the books won’t be selling at all if I don’t get them written and published. Therefore, I change this goal to be a published author.
3. Delazan Enterprises: with the advent of sites that sell homemade crafts, I don’t have to worry about lugging and selling my wares at craft fairs. No, what I need to do is finally make something to sell. I have a lot of craft supplies at home, and before I buy any more supplies, I need to finish the crafts on my to do list first.

Pog ma thoin!

-Lori

“Creative spirits are truly ageless.” – SARK