2008 Is Almost Over! What Are You Going to Do About It?

There are only two months left until 2009!

On January 1st you’re going to be making resolutions to make more money, lose more weight, learn new things, and knock your goals out of the park.

Just like you did last year.

And the year before.

Give yourself the gift of a head-start on your 2009 resolutions (or finish your 2008 resolutions - it’s not too late!) by committing to kick ass for 30 days starting November 1.

Why You Should Set Audacious November Goals

Most goal-setting advice tells you to “start small.” Well, that’s for lazy people.

Consider two scenarios for someone who wants to get healthier over the next month:

Scenario A:

What You Plan to Do: Walk three times a week for 20 minutes and make no changes to your eating habits.

What You Actually Do: Walk three times a week for 20 minutes and make no changes to your eating habits.

Result: Four hours of walking and zero days of healthy eating in 30 days.

Scenario B:

What You Plan to Do: Complete the Couch to 5K Running Plan in half the time (jogging six times a week instead of three) and stick to a pre-planned meal plan of 1,400 calories a day.

What You Actually Do: You only end up running four times a week, and three days a week you exceed your calorie allowance by going out to eat.

Result: Eight hours of jogging and 16 days of healthy eating in 30 days.

Technically, the person in Scenario A “succeeded” and the person in Scenario B “failed” - but which result would you rather have?

Suggested Audacious Goals for November

(Definitely choose more than one!)

• Complete NaNoWriMo
• Complete the Couch to 5K Running Program in half the time
• Complete the first 2/3 of the One Hundred Pushups Challenge (which is technically six weeks long)
• Earn $5,000 extra dollars
• Build or redo an entire website
• Start a new blog and populate it with posts through January 31, 2009
• Launch a new business
• Read “Atlas Shrugged” or “Wealth of Nations”

How to Plan for Success

The focus of this blog (and my entire professional career) is to show people how being more organized leads to more freedom. And what could be more freeing than improving your life?

Here’s a very simple way to dip your toe in the waters of organizational freedom:

(NOTE: Read through these instructions once first before starting. You can save time by typing some of this information first, and then hand-writing on the resulting cards. Yes, there are a thousand different ways to approach making these cards, but we’re going for drop-dead simplicity here.)

1. Get 30 blank index cards (ideally 4×6) - in a pinch, you can use 15 sheets of blank printer paper (cut in half to make 30 pieces).
2. Each card will be used for one day in November. Write the date at the top of each card (November 1 - November 30).
3. On each card, write a keyword for each of your goals with a blank space next to it.
4. Now, working backwards from November 30, break each of your goals down into 30 days of action steps, and fill in as much of your 30 cards as you can.

• If your goal is to complete NaNoWriMo (and write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days), you’d need to write 1,667 words each day - so on each card, you’d have a task to “Write 1,667 words of my novel.”
• If your goal is to complete the 100 Pushups Challenge, you’d put “Try fatigue test” on November 1. In this case, it’s all you can fill in for certain until you know which category you fall under. HINT: Add an additional task on November 1, 7, 14, and 21 to “fill in following week’s pushups” - even though you don’t know the exact numbers this far in advance, you’ll be sure to remember to add them once you do.
• If your goal is to complete the Couch to 5K Running Program, you’d use their chart and fill in your running requirements on each day. It’s part of the program to take rest days, so you can cross it off on those cards.

5. Now the ONLY thing you have to remember each day is to look at, and complete, your card. I suggest leaving them on your nightstand and carrying the day’s card in your pocket so it’s always on your mind.

Here’s a sample card:

I’m in! How Do I Signup?

There’s not much of a signup process at the moment (although if there’s enough interest, I’ll see about making something more formal for December!).

For now, leave your goals in the comments (or write a blog post and send me the link), and I will hound you on Twitter and/or via email to check on your progress!

I’m Not Sure I Can Do It Alone - I Need More Help to Get Organized

That’s my specialty! You can hire me for a flat rate of $150 to help you customize a system that’s a lot more specific than what’s above. (For example, there are better ways to keep track of a healthy mealplan than this!) Shoot me an email at marina (at) typeas (dot) com with your list of goals, and we’ll kick some ass together!

What Happens December 1st?

First, we celebrate our November accomplishments!

Then, we’ll start a new challenge - building on your progress from November, or tackling entirely different goals.