Goals for a Fulfilling 2009
Okay, so, now that you know why I am blogging we can dive into what I am blogging about.
Memory
Every year I make at least one 
memory box. They are very simple and tend to just be a shoebox that I keep under my bedside table and toss in movie stubs, theater playbills, letters I receive and articles that are particularly historic. Recently my mother has begun giving the three children (now adults, clearly) back everything in her house that is actually ours. I kept coming across these memory boxes. The boxes help me recall all of the events of that year, as my memory is not my strong suit, and as I sorted through them from the past 10+ years, I began sinking back into those times, feeling emotions, insecurities and amusing memories all over again.
It was a great way to start the year and to be reminded that I needed to shut the boxes. These are wonderful memories and a good reminder of my past, but in starting a new year, I want to be sure I am not dwelling on the past full of adventures across oceans, failed relationships, very successful and continued friendships, lost jobs, missed opportunities and places I love, but where no longer live. It is not that the past is bad, but it has passed.
3 Words as Goals for 2009
So, let’s look forward onto new goals and opportunities for 2009. As Julia wisely put it, we cannot expect to remake ourselves at the beginning of each year, but rather continue forward in who we are, hopefully improving a bit along the way. How do we do this? By making plans and goals. I say goals rather than resolutions taking a page from Chris Brogan. So, as he set the fine example (do read on Chris’ blog the purpose of this approach, as he explains much better than I), here are my 3 words for this year : Expand, Evolve, Expect.
Expand–I want to expand my:
- professional network. helps with the job searching, general knowledge and just feeling like you know what is going on outside of your usual bubble. also, new people are fun. more on this later.
- mind. I want to read about things I know little about like furniture making, starting an organic farm, or new cutting edge business practices that could be expanded to developing countries.
- world. I love to travel and recession or no, I will be going abroad this year. Who’s with me?
Evolve–As I continue to grow as a “young professional” in DC, I want to be sure that I am not growing into a place of comfort where I finally have it all together, but rather, I want to continually evolve and change and collect experiences that move me in that process. New and challenging friends help, for sure.
Expect–There is a lot of expectation this year, but much of it focuses on preparing for the worst (economy, environment, cleaning up our international political standing, etc.). Instead, I will expect good things. That is just who I am and I will continue to expect that as long as good people go around proving to me that people are in fact good. Granted, there are a lot of awful things happening in the world at the moment, but every time I turn around there are people working to reverse, combat, uplift, empower and change those atrocities. So, I will expect good.
What are your 3 words for the year?
Photo by Perfect Stranger®
