Alternatively titled: Organizing Thoughts for the Year

The List:
10. Think of 10 new ideas a month (professional/personal)
09. Out of those 120 ideas, put in the time/effort to execute at least 9 of them
08. Visit 8 new places (cities/states/countries)
07. Create 7 new pieces worth displaying (photos, vectors, paintings, multimedia)
06. Carve out 6x a month for one-on-ones with friends & family
05. Exercise at least 5x a week (for the sake of my sanity/body try & make 1 yoga!)
04. Eat something I made at home 4x a week (breakfast/lunch/dinner)
03. Try something 3x, if it’s still not right/working, it’s ok to let it go
02. Get up from my desk 2x a day to just reset my brain
01. Take 1 day a month to do something totally & completely by myself/for myself

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The TLNR; Explanations:
2012 is about pushing myself further, but also being realistic. I see a lot happening this year, but I want to allow myself the room to put in the right amount of effort in all parts of my life: work, family, friends, myself.

10. Think of 10 new ideas a month (professional/personal)
Coming up with 120 new ideas? Cake. Taking the time to write them down and revisit … that’s why we set goals.

09. Out of those 120 ideas, put in the time/effort to execute at least 9 of them
Making it my business to bring (at least) 9 of those ideas to life? Work, but a realistic goal. I put a lot of energy into only two big projects this year. I’d like to spread the love around a little more and see what I can do with a mix of small and large ideas.

08. Visit 8 new places (cities/states/countries)
Coupled with the plans I already have and a few I’m cooking up – I don’t really see this one being hard. I caught the travel bug HARD last year. I want to keep that momentum and keep from being sucked back into the same places. Remember Jenny: see 8 NEW places.

07. Create 7 new pieces worth displaying (photos, vectors, paintings, multimedia)
2009-2011 I pulled away from blogging, from posting my photos, I left a job as a graphic designer, I hit some rough patches. I stopped creating – anything. I came alive in 2011 in a way I hadn’t been in a long time. I think I’m ready to do this, all of it, again.

06. Carve out 6x a month for one-on-ones with friends & family
Life is precious. I learned this because of “the hard stuff”, but it’s also made me appreciate the great family and friends I have. As I get older I value those real relationships incredibly and want to build on them – not always in a group setting which is an easy place to settle into.

05. Exercise at least 5x a week (for the sake of my sanity/body try & make 1 yoga!)
I went into 2011 feeling awful. I felt awful, I wasn’t myself, I didn’t look like myself. It was just an all around rough time. When I finally realized what was going on, I let myself have about 2 months worth of pity party and then I hit the ground running. Literally. I got a trainer (who I still train with multiple times a week), I signed up for and kicked ass at Bootcamp (outdoors, in the snow and sleet and rain, doing push ups in goose shit … I never gave up), I traded in my commuter bike for a racing bike and hit the street, I signed up for a number of road races. The time I spent sweating is where I found myself again. I adore that time with/for myself, but also people I’ve met through participating in those activities. Sometimes, especially when it’s cold and dark before I go to work and equally cold and dark when I finally leave, it’s hard to push myself to do it all. But I know deep down how much it means to me physically and emotionally.

04. Eat something I made at home 4x a week (breakfast/lunch/dinner)
This one is just purely to teach me a few things and possibly (hopefully?) save me a little cash. I live in an amazing neighborhood full of amazing restaurants. I tend to eat fairly healthy (with my occasional cheats, but everything in moderation after all), but I’d like to fall in love with a new activity this year. I feel like cooking could be it – after all it’s a little science-y and little artsy. I think it will be perfect.

03. Try something 3x, if it’s still not right/working, it’s ok to let it go
I used to have a problem letting go. Of everything. I would hold on to friendships and relationships of all kinds too long because I never knew when to say when. I stayed in jobs longer than I should have after being disappointed too many times. I continued to eat foods I absolutely detested because I was convinced I would eventually learn to love them. Part of it was being young and foolish and part of it is just my stubbornness. I won’t stop trying all together, but I have to set some boundaries. I will give people, places, things 3 chances – if it’s still not working for me then enough is enough. (For that point in time at least.)

02. Get up from my desk 2x a day to just reset my brain
Once I get in the zone, I tend to stay there. Allllllll day. If I leave, I grab lunch and bring it back and eat it at my desk. Not ok. By the end of the day I feel like the life has been sucked right out of me. I need to get up, walk around the office and say hello to coworkers, get out of the office and breathe in the fresh air, just get up and MOVE.

01. Take 1 day a month to do something totally & completely by myself/for myself
And my last one, enough said. You can run around and throw yourself into only so many things before you completely lose yourself in it all. Between work, family, friends it’s tough to carve out time just for me. Which is why I want one day (or night) to do exactly what I want, when I want, alone and for myself. I crave alone time. Even if that alone time is sitting at a restaurant ordering up a 3 course meal and chatting with the waitstaff. Or taking a personal day to get a sports therapy massage and be a lady who lunches herself. Or climbing into bed at 8 pm with a FlavoIce and watching crappy reality tv on Hulu. But that’s the beauty of a ME day – no one else has to like it.

Alright 2012. I’ve got my list. I’m ready.