We have talked about setting our life priorities here -

Setting Life Priorities

you always want to set up your priorities BEFORE you start setting goals or doing "Secret"-like request activities! You always want to make sure your priorities are laid down so your goals align with them.

So let's start with five year goals first - and we'll do one year goals in a separate thread. You start with the long term goals first so that your short term goals move towards the long term ones!!

What are your long term goals, your precise aims, for your life?

OK I'll start! This is actually a very intriguing exercise for me because I feel really happy "where I am". It took me a *long* time to get to this place and I'm now very content with it. So I really haven't thought about long term goals in a while.

I want BellaOnline to be stable, to continue to grow, to maintain its reputation, to continue allowing editors to learn, grow and reach their goals.

I have three Weddings & Courtship books published. I'd like to get three more out.

I have five romance novels written. I'd be happy to get just one of them really published.

My son just finished his freshman year in college, so one goal is to help him get through the next three years and graduate.

I'd like to get the house organized into a state where it sort of self maintains. Right now we have too much stuff and not enough storage system. If I can get everything organized - and get rid of a lot of stuff - it should be so much easier to maintain going forward.

In the past travel has been a goal - but I'm almost feeling burnt out on travel now. Probably because I turn every trip into a research task and spend hours taking notes and writing things up.

Five years is a long time. I want to get better at yoga. I want to play the piano more.

I'd like to reach 125lb and maintain there.

Five years is a long timeline...i never know where i am going to be living or what I will be doing.Hopefully I am more stable now and can actually make projections that far our now, and have them actually follow through.

I missed the chat -- DH's back went out yesterday, and I had to do all the "farm" chores and take care of his aged mom.

I never posted my priorities, but I know now that the big one is living in peace, meaning no more people living with us, and basically doing what I want to do.

My 5-year goals:

1. Build a small, 4-room cabin here on the farm.
2. Rent this big house along with the other one up the road, which will provide enough income for us.
3. Have enough money to go to writers conferences and scrapbooking retreats and give some to people less fortunate.
4. Visit Israel (lifelong goal)
5. Publish two books.
6. See my children and grandchildren succeed in life (also lifelong goal).

Five Year Goals
1. Write a Book about Parental Alienation Syndrome
2. Pay off all debt (actually should be done in 2 years)
3. Live each day in happiness and in thankfulness
4. Lose more weight, get healthier
5. Love a lot

Jill - you did awesome in the chat! The key is not to worry about exact things like "have a 17.2" monitor". Think more general about "still living in my current home". They are to give you a general direction to head in, that lines up with your priorities. They are a tool to help you set your one year goals, more than an actual firm destination

Bettyann -

Peace is an awesome priority It is so important to our health and happiness!

Those are *great* long term goals!! What would you like the books to be about, or does that matter at all to you?

Stephanie -

Those goals look REALLY doable!! We can definitely help you with those, when we see the short term version and figure out what we can do to assist! That is so awesome that debt control is so close at hand! Good for you

Where do I write the short term version. I've missed some stuff

Oh sorry!! Once you have the five year / long term goals set out, go here to work on your short term / one year goals!

Short Term Goals

Okay, I'm going to transfer my priorities from the other thread and turn them into specific - year goals here.

1. Be self-sufficientish (including more financial stability): Have some solar panels on the house. Be well into growing many of our own vegetables and herbs and doing a lot of canning, drying, of veggies, etc. Be somewhat proficient at hunting and fishing.

2. Get healthier: I want to be 150 pounds. I would be on the high end of a healthy BMI for me at that point. When we are all done with the move I plan on walking much more and getting a bike. I'm 225 now, so I feel confident I can reach this goal within 5 years.

3. Go back to school: This sort of falls under the financial stability priority. I want to have completed at least a 2-year degree within 5 years time.

4. Keep writing/arts/crafts: How many of us have said this? I want to get a novel or a book of short stories published.


I really believe these things are doable within 5 years time. Thanks for starting these threads Lisa. It's always good to really think these things through but also brainstorming like this helps.

Lisa, thanks for your kind words as always. Here are my breakdowns for the five years-ish span, based on the priorities I mentioned in the other thread:

To add more creativity and financial stability - create an income from artwork. Have large art portfolio. Google will rank my various writing areas of interest in the top results.

Financial stability - will be earning $2000+ a month on my various projects. All debts (sans student loans) will be paid. PolyGeek will have sold a few applications by this time.

To move forward on projects - break 100,000 on amazon reviewer rank. Have a handful of nicely-selling ebooks on bella and my blogs.

To be stable - still living in crestline. Maybe own a house or build a house on our land by then.

Health and fitness - Will have had the courage to have a blood test or other needed tests by then.

Serenity - Up to advanced yoga poses and able to actually meditate for a reasonable period of time. Anxious days are a thing of rarity.

Adventure - see one year goals.

Trish - those are awesome goals, I love them! These will all not only be great projects to complete but will really add some long term health and serenity into your world. I love to garden

We can definitely help out with all of these goals, and you're right, they are all quite achievable!

Jilly - I love your goals! I think those are awesome goals to have, and really quite within the realm of possibility! I feel very strongly that you can reach these

Advanced yoga poses - I should have thought of that one! See, now I'm going to use a few of your goals to add onto my goal list

I figure I should be able to do some of those interesting strength-based poses by then. You too.

Yes you are SO right! Think of the amazingly cool things we will be able to do after 5 years of practice! That is a neat thing to look forward to

I also hope by then that dan and i have a nice space to do yoga in. It's a fantasy of ours to have a better setting for this kind of thing. Something clean, neat, sacred and zen.

Get a house in the UK for me and hubby. I want to rent it out, he wants us to live in it but rent it out if we want to move on but we are open to each other's ideas here. This is a three to five year goal.

Get out of debt. Travel is a priority so to me there is no rush to get out of debt our cards are going down, loan is paid off, we have savings now, we pay more than the minimum payment to be increased soon. A three to five year goal and of course before the house!

Hmm travel-wise hard to choose which places to go to there are so many! Maybe: Iceland, Barcelona, Turkey, Greece, Japan, Galapagos Islands, Macchu Picchu, Thailand, New York & Virginia, Dubai, (and if I want to REALLY go for gold I will add five more! cruise down the Nile to Aswan, Nubia etc. in Egypt, Jordan, China, India and either the Seychelles or Marauchitas (can't remember how to spell it!) And return to Walt Disney World which we LOVED but this time also go to the clubs and see MORE shows!

I want to continue to be happy in my marriage.

I would LOVE to have some close friends who are positive and uplifting who I see at least once a month for theatre, concerts or just coffee and a chat!

Career-wise do I want to learn something new? Not sure how I will feel in five years! Hubby wants to be an architect or run a business so I want to help support him while continuing to do well in my own career. I know! I'd like to learn at least ONE language - probably Arabic, hubby's language. I'd love to learn Italian, French and Japanese too but it's 5 years not 20. One step at a time!!

That's all for now, that's a lot! Oh it'd be nice to lose another 20 pounds (lost about 16 already!) within five years.

ooo Jill I have always *dreamed* of a Zen like room for quiet meditation and relaxation and that sort of thing. I even have a Japanese screen in the basement on one wall of my dance-dance area, and a string of Tibetan flags across the top. So it's a tiny reminder of what I'm working towards

Those really sound like great long term goals! Again I definitely agree that having a small group of positive friends is SO helpful! I deliberate went out and gathered such a group a few years ago for a monthly dinner and it is just amazing how nice that is. We all support each other, help each other and cheer each other on.

I have always wanted to learn Ukrainian and even have tapes and books, but it's challenging. I should just aim for a word a day ...

Lisa, how did you go out and gather these people? What if we wanted to try this?

I was feeling a lost when BellaOnline first began with all the trillions of things I had to do - managing servers, recruiting editors, writing the code etc. and had nobody to talk with about any of it. So I grabbed my local chamber of commerce directory and literally went through it looking for women contacts at tech companies. I went to their webpages and figured out which ones were actually the sole owners of their own tech business. Then I emailed them to ask if they'd like to get together for drinks or dinner and chat.

I met up with one woman, then two, then we three met, and then we began to add in others. We have about 10 of us which is really too much for one dinner - but usually a few can't make it so it's about 6 at a time which is perfect. It means we all get to talk, we all share our challenges and we all get solutions from each other. It's incredibly supportive.

So it's something you grow one by one. Think about what your goal is with this group. In depth conversations about life? People to hike with? Then figure out how to reach that target group and start with just one-on-one little meetings so you build the core group.

Especially with your website, you could think up pretty much ANY niche, ask if someone wants to meet for dinner to talk about X and see who responds

Lisa. As you can see because of my delay in reading the posts, I'm stayng busy but PEACEFUL! Part of being at peace involves taking things slow sometimes.

The books I want to write/finish writing:

a) Nonfiction The Life Message Scrapbook which is actually written and I'm doing the first edit now. I would like this to be the Ebook I put online. I also want to do some springboard articles for magazines from the book.

b)I'm 30,000 words into a novel and shelved it because my protag went off my outline, and now I have to rewrite the outline because that's how I write. In the meantime, I'm working on a fictional family history book.

c)A nonfiction book on teaching special needs. I homeschooled my SN son for 3 years and learned a ton. Currently working on my "SimplySpecial" website as a place to collect everything.

It's a lot to concentrate on, but the Life Message ebook is the priority for now.

Thanks for helping me zone in on what I'm really doing.

Lisa, are you talking about the Crestline Living website or one of my others?

Hmmm, i would have to think about my goal with a group of this sort would be. I am really intrigued by this idea!

BettyAnn, you have some amazing sounding projects in the pipeline! It also sounds like you are making forward progress on them, for the most part. And you are so right, staying peaceful is an important part of it all.

If you get a moment to post of picture of your Zen dance dance area, I'd love to see it Lisa!

I would love a room with huge windows looking into a view and forest, with a bamboo floor, a buddha statue, an altar and low bench for relaxing, and enough room for two people to do yoga together. Maybe with some orchids. I also have this fantasy that there will be large rocks in the room - boulder sized, even. To sort of have a zen garden without the sand.

very wabi-sabi style.

Athena, those are good goals. Getting a house is exciting - a lot of research and work, but all fun (if you enjoy house hunting, which I do).

It sounds like your credit situation is well in hand. Good for you! Also congrats on the weight loss!

It sounds like your next step with the travel goals is to look at some travel books and travel sites and narrow down where you really want to go in this 5 year time span, and of course to set aside an account to add money to for funding the trips. Do you want to do a trip where you see a lot of places at once, or a trip where you pick one country and get to know it?

Bettyann - those sound like awesome books! It sounds like you have a good collection of things to work on so when one gets stalled you can just move along to one of the other ones. Do you have any challenges in the writing process, or is it pretty smooth?

Jill in terms of gathering a local group I was thinking about your local website! It is the ideal place to talk about that sort of goal. Take it one person at a time, and it'll grow from there

That makes sense, so yes that's my Crestline Living site. I actually have someone I invited to and went to dinner with - my realtor, who is my first official friend in the area. [Yay! I have a friend! ]

Once I have my site the number one hit for Crestline searches, then I want to gather some more people, make some business cards to leave at various places (i guess I could order the cards now, to have them in hand when i am ready) and think about a good group of local women to meet up with.

Jilly- Can I see your local site?

yeah, of course:

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Yes I would order the cards now! Take them with you to the yoga sessions as a start and offer them to the instructor with your thanks, tell them you are linking to them and providing them free publicity. They will *love* that.

Before that, put a note on your site saying you're looking for someone who knows yoga to have lunch or dinner with, to learn some more about its background. Then when the instructor goes to your site they'll see it and perhaps send you a message

Okay, i am ordering the cards right now.

I talked about them with Dan and have been asking Debbie on the SOHO forum about what the tag should say.

I figure I will go with the free ones from vista print to start with. There are not a lot of good ones for my needs from the free list, but i picked one i think will serve. it's the one with clouds if anyone is looking. I figure, high in the mountains, up in the clouds.

that is also a good idea about the message, i will do that once i get my cards in.

Yup free ones are a great way to start! That way you can see how they work, think about the wording and eventually if you want to you can order new ones that are more customized.

Great job!!

Okay, here are my five-year goals, written to match my priorities. I didn't put things I am already "there" on--like my relationship with my family is great, so that's a maintaining/growing kind of thing, not a "reaching". Does that make sense?


To have an established daily yoga practice that I enjoy.
To be maintaining my perfect for me weight. I think that's 150 now.
To be able to walk/run at least 10k (6 miles) comfortably and at a good pace.
To have no debt and have at least $15,000 in savings.
To be happily married.
To have a women's masterminds group I meet with monthly. Not sure yet if this is business focused or health focused.
To have five ebooks and one "real" book published.
To triple my yearly revenues/earnings/profits.

-Move closer to our parents. (We live 3 hours away right now, and we both agree that a move would be great.)
-Pay off school loans and credit card debt.
-Go to Paris, France.
-Renew our wedding vows.
-Learn about/start a stock portfolio.
-Establish a weekly date night with my husband.
-Weigh less than 200 lbs.

I've been thinking and I'm not sure if this is it, but they are the first that pop into mind:

• to be financially secure-- this includes:
  ~be able to take a "real" family vacation, not just the house maintenance trips to MIL's beach rental (Disney World or Great Wolf Lodge)
  ~have a months worth of expenses in savings
• to be a healthy weight, eating healthy and exercising regularly (already down 21 pounds!)
• to have at least one more fantasy novel complete and polished (hopefully two)
• to have built a nice sized photography portfolio
• To have a relatively clean house-- minimal useless clutter (yes this could take 5 years!)

I just looked into Great wolf lodge and it's be at least $600 for 2 nights ( for 4 of us). I don't think that includes food either. Lots of saving to do. *sigh*

It's good to have dreams, and I am sure you can achieve that in five years! Set that up as your long term goal, and then we can break it down into smaller steps

I went back to revisit my long term goals. They still seem quite sound!

* BellaOnline Stability, Editors Learning and Growing
* 3 more Weddings & Courtships books
* get 1 romance novel written
* help my son graduate
* get home organized
* improve at yoga
* play piano more
* maintain 125 pounds

Reminder - the next step once you have your five year goals sorted out is to start thinking shorter term - what should you work on in the next year, to reach those long term goals!

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My five year goals are:-

To be earning 500-1000 dollars online per month on top of my full time work salary and saving this money for my retirement (I'm 45 now so need to be thinking about that one). I also want to be saving into an ISA regularly.

To have my apartment sorted out - at the moment there are still boxes everywhere from when I moved out last winter to have damp works done. I have so much sorting out to do that it could easily take 5 years! The garden also needs regular maintenance and has been sadly neglected.

To lose weight so that I am within my BMI, maintaining this weight loss and able to walk regularly.

To have my e-books back online with matching content, and to write further e-books and maybe a textbook on Mozart.

To write up all the tatting patterns I haven't yet shared and post them on The Tatter's Paradise web site.

To learn to speak French and Italian to a reasonable standard.

Those are all awesome long term goals Gillian! They seem quite doable too!

I took a look back at my goals and I am making progress! I do seem to have a publisher interested in one of my novels!

Oh congratulations Lisa on the possible publisher! And congratulations on reaching No. 7 at Amazon reviewers too.

Thanks Gillian, we'll see how it works out. I am worried that they are a medium sized publisher and won't really market the book at all, but I'll cross that hurdle when I get to it.

The Amazon thing is a mixed bag - I really don't like their new ranking system. I think it's very unfair even though I am at #7 on the new one and #39 on the old system. I am much more proud of the #39 that I worked hard for. The new system has me leap from #9 to #7 with no work at all which doesn't seem right.

Sounds like every one is moving along with their goals. I've found that self-publishing (and this column) and all of my social networking and free-lancing etc has been very satisfying. Those were my last long term goals. At some point I'd like to make some new ones that have nothing to do with writing as that has been my focus for the last 15 years or so.

It definitely is good to have goals in different areas so that you can stretch all your horizons! I like to write, but I am also trying to draw even though I'm not very good at it. I figure the only way I can get better is to at least try What other areas would you like to create new goals in?

I'm actually thinking about doing more with social networking. I'm joining social networks like water these days LOL--a new Ning every other day. LOL.

And I'm learning about RSS feeds etc. I find it all very interesting. But I should probably keep it as a fun hobby....but one that is productive and that I'm serious about.

OK I'm going to reset my goals for 2009! Make sure you've worked on your priorities before then taking on the five year goal part!

* BellaOnline Growth
Yes definitely, this is still a long term goal for me. I want this site to grow so all editors can grow, learn and benefit.

* Wedding & Courtships book
I still have not finished the Native Americans books. The problem is I adore Native American cultures and want to keep researching it. I don't want it to "end". I have to just stick a fork in it and call it done.

* Romance Novels
I have eight of them pretty much done at this point and have all of them out looking for homes. Now to see if a publisher bites.

* Son in College
He is now halfway through his sophomore year and doing well. So far, so good!

* House Cleanliness
I have been making huge efforts to get rid of stuff, to organize remaining stuff. It's still messy but it is getting there. I will keep at it.

* Travel
We were very low key in 2008. I want to slowly ramp up in 2008 to travel occasionally.

* Artistic Stuff
I am very pleased that I've been playing piano, playing the guitar, drawing, and doing my sword class. I want to do yoga more. That will get worked into my routine. I have been journaling daily which I enjoy a lot!

* Weight 125
I hover around 130 which really isn't bad at all. I need to exercise more to get down to 125. At this point it's not really about eating, it's about being active. I am really bad about being active because I work all day long. I will again focus on scheduling in even short activities. Short action is better than zero action.

What are your long term goals?

Hi Lisa:

I see that some of your one year goals are subsets of your five year goals. I just read about that technique in Manage Your Life with Outlook for Dummies by Greg Harvey. I'm still learning! LOL

My long range goals are

1)Learning a Second Language. I didn't pay any attention during my Spanish classes (like five years of it!!!) in college and high school. This time I think I might learn Italian.

2)Continuing raising and pouring lots of time and attention into my two children who are 8 and 10 years old.

3)Figuring out what to do regarding my masters degree. Either working on getting it OR continuing on my journalist's path were the undergraduate degree is okay. One way or the other I'd like to put this issue to bed as I've been thinking about it for about 15 years.

I have other goals that will be achieved via the natural consequences of actions ie if I write for 4 hours a day (goal for 2009) I'm GOING to produce the short stories I want to send out this year and the romance novels I want to complete in 2009.

Also I want to learn more about web 2.0 which I will as I join and participate in more social networking groups and do more reading, etc.

Good Luck in 2009 everyone!!!

Five year goals put the end at 2014. I am sure a lot can be accomplished during that time period. Staying within my priorities of "physically fit and financially sound" and "making a difference in the world", I would like to:

"Physically fit"
Feel strong in my body. Be down to a healthy weight and like how I look. Be able to run 10 miles.

"Financially sound"
Have all my car and credit card debt gone and a good plan to eliminate the remainder of my school and housing debt.

Have significant savings toward my daughter's college, my retirement, house improvements, travel and anything else that I need so I can remain debt free. Be saving at least 10 percent of my income per month - working toward 25%.

Have tripled my income from this year's income.

"Making a difference"
Continue teaching, applying at Social Work schools locally in addition to community colleges.

Be enrolled and halfway toward my Doctorate in Psychological counseling

Have my independent license and my own counseling practice established.

Have a business plan for and made steps toward opening my Holistic Wellness center.

Established a firm plan on how to run for additional political offices.

Completed and published my first fiction book. Halfway through the second book.

Continue to write nonfiction articles and become established as an authority on the topics I have chosen.

Continue to work to get "off the grid" by buying locally, working toward a more "green" mode of transportation, installing solar panels and geo-thermal heat, gardening, composting, and recycling.

*phew*. That takes a load off my mind!

Melissa:

I agree, it feels good to write things down. I tend to obsess mentally and go in circles. It is not until I write things down, get it out of my head and onto paper do I make any progress.

take care and good luck!

Leah - yes definitely if you set your five year goals up then your one year goals are small steps towards those. That way your life is all going in a direction you are happy with!

Learning a second language is an AWESOME goal and definitely doable in five years!! I know many people who have learned Italian as adults and who love it. You should definitely go for that!

What type of a master's degree would you want to get?

I am a firm believer in "just write every day". I have 8 romance novels done now (none are published) and all of them were done just by random writing in spare moments of the days. You can do it!

Melissa - those are awesome goals!! They all sound quite achievable too! What type of a Holistic Wellness center do you want to create? That sounds like a lovely way to spend your day!

What type of a book are you writing?

Once you have your five year goals, move on to the One Year Goals !

Alrighty, so my Five Year Goals are these. I'll be 37. Wow, that's kind of scary for me but I'm embracing it:).

Ok so

1. I want to have completed at least one master's degree - definitely my Master's of Natural Health at Clayton College, possibly another if I decide to go back to traditional school.

2. I want to either have completed a master's program in public health or nutrition or completed a meaningful project with the peace corp or possibly just be finishing up both.

3. I want to successfully be running a craft-based side income business where I get to make things - be that makeup, soap, perfumes, crochet things, jewelry, bags and purses, etc. - and have them be bought and appreciated by people on a very regular basis.

4. I want to have written the two ebooks that I've been wanting to write for a few years now.

5. I want to be debt-free and making a comfortable stable income.

6. I want to be working on some project that involves me working with people one on one to create community gardens for nutritional and medicinal values.

7. I want to have totally come to terms with and made peace with the fact that I didn't accomplish these things earlier in my life.


I think this covers the whole of it:). Now to write my one year goals in my next post.

My One Year Goals

1. Apply to the Peace Corp and three graduate programs
2. Start actively selling on my Etsy shop and make it successful
3. Work consistently on my Clayton College Degree
4. Finish the bulk of if not all of my 101 things in 1001 days challenge that is complete in Nov. 2009
5. Wittle down my debt and increase my credit score
6. Plant a balcony garden
7. At least double my 2008 income
8. Maintain my healthy body and continue to tone and exercise
9. Create a beautiful, comfortable oasis of a home in my next apartment

...this all makes me smile to think of it all happening:)!

Thanks!

What an inspirational topic. My goals are:

1. To have a successful Zoe Business helping others reach their health, nutritional, and financial goals.

2. To relocate to the moutains, and fulfill my dreams of having a mountain side ranch.

3. To reach my own health goals, and even take it to the next level.

4. To have a book published that I have been drafting for some time.

5. To begin my travels to some destinations I have always wanted to visit.

I think thats it for now!

Leah - those look like wonderful five year goals and all seem quite achievable! I see you posted your one year goals over in the one-year thread which is great!

Sandy - it really helps to be as specific as you can in goals so that you have tangible things to aim for. For example, what places would you like to have visited in five years? That helps you then narrow down specific ones for the coming year!

I'm looking back at my five year goals, which I did in June 2008. They were:

* BellaOnline Stable and Growing.
looking good!

* More Weddings Books Published
stalled a bit, I need to set time for this.

* One romance book published
making progress, have a publisher and agent interested!

* Son graduate from college
two years down, two to go

* House organized
busy selling off stuff and working through piles

* Travel
I've had some great trips recently

* Yoga and Piano
I occasionally do yoga and play the piano and guitar. I will focus on giving them more time.

* 125 pounds
I am healthier and exercise more, working towards this goal

So in general I do feel like I'm on the right track and that these are still good goals for the upcoming 5 years.

OK here we are in January 2010.

On one hand it's a little frustrating that I haven't made strong progress in some of these fronts. I still don't have a romance book published. I still haven't finished my wedding book. The house is still pretty much a mess. I'm still not 125 pounds

But on the other hand, BellaOnline remains stable and growing. So that is a HUGE important thing for me, the most important thing, and I'm very proud of that.

James is steadfastly finishing his college degree. So this is also extremely important to me, that nothing stands in the way of him achieving that, and then moving on to whatever next step he chooses to take.

Travel is sort of a nebulous goal. I do enjoy traveling, and I do continue to travel. So I suppose I am achieving that.

I am making continual but slow progress on clearing out the house of junk. I don't bring in any new items really. So that is good.

Here are my five year goals:

1) See my publishing company on solid ground with good growth potential.

2) Have established myself as a consultant, combining fitness & beauty together.

3) Have fundraisers in place for our organization, Teaching The Autistic Through Living and Learning. (annual events, etc.)

4) Begin competing in fitness competitions, which is something I'd like to do for life.

5) Buy a local cottage and renovate it as office space for my business.

I had not actually written down my goals, to tell it truthfully. It was much easier than I thought it would be!

Nancy Welker
BellaOnline Yoga Editor

Bravo Nancy!

I especially love the cottage-turned-office goal. That sounds delightful! Environment is so important as we work toward our goals/dreams.

And I agree writing goals down is not as difficult as it may seem, also goals seem more doable when you get them out of your head and onto paper.

Good luck and please keep us posted!

Lisa,

I hear what you are saying, I also have some things that remain on my to-do list that are frustrating me. Like there�s one particular article that I worked really hard on last year that I�m having a very difficult time trying to place. Then there�s another that I�m stalled on. These outstanding projects bug me.

But I�ve had some successes last year that were not planned at all. I signed up to learn a new software program for FREE through the Department of Labor. Also my daughter had a lead in the school play in 2009 and that was a bit of work helping her to learn her lines, securing the costume etc and it went off without a hitch. The play was perfect. And in 2009, we worked our tails off to get my son into a good middle school.

So I�m trying not to let what I did not get done, outweigh what was accomplished. I�m thinking of it like a report card. When I was in high school, I�d get mostly A�s and B�s and few C�s and the occasional D. So overall, my GPA was fine. And it�s like that with my life too I believe. I may have a few �below average� scores, but overall I�m doing OK.

Those are awesome goals Nancy - I love the cottage idea!!

Leah - you are so right. It is common for people to focus on their failures, and I need to focus on the successes and to plow forward.

So my goals in 2010 are:

* BellaOnline Stable and Growing.
* Next Weddings Books Published
* One romance book published
* Son graduate from college (only a few classes to go)
* House organized (day by day!)
* Travel
* Yoga and Piano
* 125 pounds

I'm going to add onto this:

* Earn a Bachelor's Degree

I have gone hot and cold with this last one for many years now. Sometimes I think there's no need - it won't "help" any and it will cost money and time. But on other hands I worry that it helps me in promoting BellaOnline, and I want to do my utmost to help BellaOnline in every way I can. Also, if I get a degree in management, the classes will directly help me care more for my BellaOnline editors, which is very important to me. So every class will help me be a better mentor.

So I am starting to sway on this one towards investing the time. I don't want to take away from editors by taking classes instead, because I'm already flat out with time. I already work 24 hours a day. But I really think if I take the classes that I might "work more efficiently" so I can help them more smoothly.

Lisa, congrats on your new goal to get a degree! I'm not all that pro-degree myself but I am always pro-learning. You of course are too and are always self-educating (I've always said one of the most important parts of education is that it teaches one HOW to learn and you've got part down.

And, even though I am not sure my degree has ever been "necessary", I have always appreciated that I had it. I do think there is some inherent value in the process on a personal level. So, if you've been thinking about it for awhile, I'm sure you will appreciate doing it.

Yay for you! I'm sure it will be a great adventure.

By five years I fully intend to have my off the grid green home, hopefully a treehouse type deal, with an organic garden, grey water system, compost, a near-zero trash footprint, the home made of largely salvaged materials, etc. Some chickens, goats, geese.

I will have been maintaining my healthy weight levels, be doing advanced yoga and supporting myself financially in my chosen area of earnings. I will have a creative hobby that might also be a sideline.

I will have close friendships in proximity to where i live, and a group of people who like to meet once a week for fun.

I will be planning many hiking and boating trips every month.

I will have this as a home base and will have set down stable roots.

I will be able to donate time to animal charities.

And a big one - I will have a diagnosis for my mental situation and will be getting therapy that is helpful and uplifting.

Jilly, those are great, and if you substitute "I have" for "I will", you have excellent affirmations and visualizations for your future! My reading has (for years) said this and I'm trying to do a better job of it now. For instance, at night, I say "I am in perfect health." I used to say "I hope I don't get sick. I wish I felt better. I hope this cold doesn't turn into a sinus infection" and stuff like that. The Secret (and many other books) talk specifically a lot about this. So, I'm rewriting all my goals & priorities with this in mind--to be affirming and not "anticipatory".

Jilly those are awesome, wonderful goals!

Deb you are so right - we need to focus on the positive and make steps towards that direction!

Deb, that is a neat idea and I agree with you in principle. I used to like affirmations and visualizations, but no longer do. I used to be all about those kind of things but life has beaten them out of me in the decades since I studied them in college.

I do think I wrote things pretty positively with my 'will have been' words. That is about as far as I can go at this point. :-)

Jilly - it's great to take things in little steps! Get yourself settled into your RV, and treat it as your oasis of contentment. Thrill in your beautiful moving home. That sounds like a good focus for now!