nine for twenty nine

having goals for my 28th year kept me on track, helped me maintain my focus, and was a nice way to monitor how my year was shaping up.  it makes perfect sense to do it again... here we go with nine for twenty nine.

1 - conquer my anxiety, or at least win a few battles against it.  this is a clear continuation from 28 and i think will likely be a regular dialogue circulating through my head.  but i would like to leave 29 a little less anxious than i found it.

2 - be more thoughtful of others, especially around special events, days, occassions.  i like to be thoughtful, but i think this past year has found me rather wrapped up in my own stuff.  now i am ready to shift my focus back out to my network when i should be thinking of others.  i like to think of others so this isn't really a challenge, just that i need to remember.  bring on the daytimer!

3 - continue making visiting family and friends a priority.  recently, i had a little birthday and was amazed at the number of places from which i had wishes from - canada, the us, the uk, greece, kenya, laos, bermuda, australia, sudan, south africa, new zealand, india, denmark, vietnam, mexico, italy, indonesia, sweden, rwanda, afghanistan, east timor, uganda, and spain.  i managed to get out and about last year and this year i hope to keep it up.

4 - nail down some sort of short-term career goals.  after a few weeks in europe, visiting with old friends, having conversations about development and academics and other mind expanding topics, coming back to work here in calgary has been a little errrr.... boring.  i like my job enough, but i think it is time that i start to look forward and set some goals.  i am not sure what those goals will be, but i do need to give it a think and come up with a direction.  i work best when headed in a direction.

5 - lay a nest egg to accompany my nest.  seeing as i effed the dog on this goal last year (but i DID get those receipts into a accordian folder, yippee!), i am going to keep it up.  i will need to learn a lot on this one, but hopefully this year i will be able to free up some of my time and monies to get it done.

6 - eat more balanced, regular meals.  i often forget to eat.  sometimes i eat a croissant for dinner.  most days, i have a latte for breakfast.  i typically eat when i am hungry, don't have any issues with the amount that i eat, and i used to be very responsible and cook healthy meals regularly.  but not lately and i am not sure why exactly.  i know i could do better and i will have to work this into my schedule.

7 - sleep an appropriate amount.  not necessarily more, but appropriate.  sometimes i can sleep and sleep and sleep and this past year, i made sure that i got enough sleep because after years of deprivation, i was amazed to see how much better i felt once i had enough sleep.  but now, i need to suck it up and find a way to get by for a day on only 6 hours of sleep because otherwise, i end up heading into work late and considering i want to have a little nest egg by the end of 29, i need to make sure i am billing as many hours as i can.  but napping, oh i could never give up napping.

8 - maintain my priorities.  this became a challenge immediately before christmas when i felt that i was being pulled in a number of different directions.  oil and gas work.  counter trafficking work.  commitments with friends.  dates and more dates.  i am going to do my best to keep my priorities in check throughout the year and make sure that as they change, my schedule changes with them.  i have started running regularly again, i have a new volunteer commitment, my trafficking work is only getting busier, and all of this stuff is good and makes me who i am so it makes sense that these would be my current priorities.  but sometimes, other commitments and aspects of life seem to take over, so i will do my best to remember what my priorities are and allow them to change and shift throughout the year.  being mindful, really.

9 - keep laughing.  when i get to spend time with my family, the next day my stomach invariably hurts from laughing so hard.  i think this is fantastic and my goal for 29 is to keep this up and to find more opportunities to laugh that hard.  (this goal was a toss up between 'keep laughing' and 'keep asking for what i want.'  i am going to see what happens with this as the year progresses, but it might shift to the other if need be.)

wish me luck!  1 week in and i gotta say that i was slightly drowning under various priorities, but after hosting a birthday/fundraising party (spread the net, people!), i am ready to start this year off right.  bring it on, 29!