2009 Predictions from NostraMonica

Check it: I looked into my crystal ball, and I saw that 2009 is going to be awesome (for all of us, but for me especially).

Last year, when I was myspace blogging, I made a big deal about the New Year and setting goals, not resolutions, and blah blah blah. Even this past fall, when the semester started, I took some time to set some goals. (Some of which I have done NOTHING about)

As I’m looking down the barrel to 2009, my brain starts ticking off stuff for the upcoming semester and the year. (Get a job, get my portfolio together, finish my thesis, prepare for a change, spend time with my friends and classmates, start my business, learn to swim, self-host this blog).

But my heart says, Oh, f*ck it. Can’t I just chill out and see what happens?

I’m not saying that goals suck and we shouldn’t make them (maybe I am???) What I mean is – If we really look deep within ourselves we know what the hell we need to do. Do we need to take the next step in our career? Step out on our own? Lose weight? Exercise? Eat healthily? Finally get our teeth cleaned?  Do we need to slow down? Spend more time with our loved ones? Concentrate on self-care? Get a life?

Whatever it is I (and you) need to do, WE ALREADY KNOW WHAT IT IS!!!!!!!!! Duh, it’s probably staring us in the face.

My problem, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, isn’t knowing WHAT I need to do. It’s the doing of it that trips me up.  I get scared or anxious or doubtful or LAZY and I cop out.

And that is unacceptable.

So I’m not going to make a never ending list of new goals or resolutions or whatever you want to call them.

I’m just going to make one.

Do the things I know in my heart I need to do.

No matter how scared I get or how crazy it seems or what other people think.  Some things I just KNOW I’m supposed to do.

So this year, I’m just going to f*cking do what my scattered little brain wants and I’m not going to over think it.

And as I write these words my brain says, but wait, you need to plan, you need to think, you NEED to worry…. and I feel the old self-doubt and anxiety pitter pattering through my chest.

SO I take a deep breath and acknowledge that this sh!t ain’t gonna be easy. But it is necessary. Didn’t Tupac say, “I don’t want it if it’s that easy”?

Otherwise, what would be the point? I believe that is would almost be stupid to add “Complete MPA school” or “Get a job” to my 2009 goals.

Why?

Because those things are not OPTIONAL. They are GOING to happen. It’s a wrap.

But I haven’t always followed my heart (or exercised, for that matter). So I’m going to concentrate to those things that I have let fall by the way side. (ahem, me!!!)

(Aside: I heard somewhere that it takes a month to form a habit. So if I resolve to do the things I know I should, by February I should be good. )

So yeah, the crystal ball said it was going to be a super awesome year.  Can’t you feel it!!!?!?!?!?

Hello! Obama is going to be inaugurated, and W is headed back to Texas. That alone is a major achievement.

And

Recessions are hotbeds for innovation, so even though the economy is sh!t we need this time renew ourselves (like when the forest burns down, then it regrows as a more diverse ecosystem)

And

We get another year to grow and live up to our full potential; proving that we can be better than our former selves.

Yay for us!

Happy New Year, party people!

Tell me what your 2009 goals/resolutions are AND what are you most looking forward to in the OH NINE.

 

Goal Setting Fall 2008

I’ve been reading The Secret (very, very slowly) and my girl at WorkLifeLove wrote a super post about accountability that motivated me to think about some goals that I want to accomplish.

A funny thing about being in school is that I think about things in terms of semesters. SO, I’m setting my Fall 08 goals. I’m sure I’ll have different ones for Spring 09 that I’ll have to talk about later.

Professional Goals

-Network like a fiend- I want to move away, to Denver, and everyone that I meet for the next few months will know it. I hate moving to new places without already having friends/colleagues/a job in the new location. So I am on a mission to meet and talk to as many people as I can set up my network; share my goals, see what happens.

-Work on my writing- I really want to publish (academically) so this semester I want to concentrate on academic research, improving my writing, sticking my samples in the faces of everyone I meet.

I am also constantly tweaking my subjects to that I’m writing about subjects that are relevant to practitioners, because I prefer to be published in a government magazine that administrators actually subscribe to and read, than an academic journal that no one has heard of. I bet I could get into a PhD program with published magazine articles.

-Find a job by December- I wrote about this yesterday, and I and the Universe had a few conversations about it but she (the Universe) is a forgetful lady so I’m going to continue to remind her about it a lot.

Health Goals

-Get on Mirena- I’m sick to death of my ovaries.

-Exercise everyday- Luckily I can take classes for free at Student Recreation. If I take a group fitness class (my favorite way to exercise) every day that I’m on campus, and walk/run at a local track on the days that I’m not on campus, I think I’ll get my cardio in. Also, I want to take at least one Pilates, Yoga, and Strength training class a week, to boost my metabolism, harden my bones, and all that good stuff.

-Learn to Swim- this probably won’t happen this Fall, but it will happen. I just have to find someone that I trust not to let me drown.

-Start seeing Doc Barnes- I missed my therapist this summer. I have to get back on my monthly schedule.

Money Goals

-Save money- However, I don’t want to arbitrarily save money. I love to travel, and I have a list of places I want to visit in the next few months, so I need to have the funds available to move and shake like I want to.

Personal Goals

-Be authentically me- I think I’m still figuring out what this means, but I’m working on it. Basically, there are some folks who really see me as I am and love me regardless, I should probably just join them.

-Stop caring about what others think- I live in fear of offending people. However, I’m beginning to revert to my natural state of saying what the hell ever I want. Doctor Suess said it best:

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

-Dream big- I will not limit myself. I can do whatever I want. Because my mom and Jesus said I can, and I trust them.

-Follow-through- I have the horrible habit of not following through. I have to remember to and make a habit of keeping up with my contacts, responding to emails, calling people back, etc. Otherwise, I’ll be that chick that could have been great. And that would suck.

That’s all for now, folks. Updates to follow.

 

Second Day of the Second Year-MPA School

This week I am officially a 2^nd year MPA student and I have already made one important decision:

I AM GOING TO HAVE A FABULOUS JOB BY DECEMBER.

I made that decision a couple of weeks ago because I do not want to go gray (and I would) with worry if it’s February, April or God forbid, June(!!!!) and I’m still job-less. I want to have someone waiting on me. The Monday after I graduate on Mother’s Day 2009, I will finish packing my sh*t and will be shortly, getting the hell out of dodge. I gotta keep it moving.

Secondly, I have decided that I am not going to overwork myself this year. I am taking an overload of credits (16.5) and a crazy person would be thinking that each class would require its own separate term paper. Not so, sez your girl I haven’t even been to all my classes yet and I already think I have finagled some overlap. Not only with class term papers…. I’ve just about got all these d*mn term papers wrapped into my Master’s Thesis (capstone) which I am planning to have completely finished by January. I will be writing one paper and adding and deleting sections depending on which class it is for and what I am choosing to focus on.

Next semester, I will be taking fun electives like Family Policy, Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Enterprises, and this really cool class about the Creative Class and only one serious class (if I have anything to do with it) Capital Budgeting. And I’m just going to be chilling because I’M GOING TO HAVE A SUPER AWESOME JOB ALREADY LINED UP.

I am really excited about my classes so far. Today I had Economics, Housing Policy and Urban Revitalization. I was more engaged in class today (bouncing in my seat) than I was for the majority of my first year. These are the classes that I came back to school to take. These are the classes that will give me the skillset to be taken seriously as a twenty-something decision maker. At my fabu job that I mentioned earlier, I will be running sh*t. Please believe.

There was a little hiccup up on Monday when during 2^nd year orientation, the program director overloaded me with all the stuff that I have to complete before I am eligible to graduate (and I didn’t have a calendar!!!!) and I thought I was going to throw up. But that potential panic attack has been averted. I bought a monthly/weekly calendar yesterday (and most of my school supplies) at my neighborhood Office Depot. And I’ve started writing in due dates, and I will add in reminder dates so that I can stay on track.

Now I just have to start working…..and that fun begins on Friday.