Well, another year has come and gone. Wow, where did 2007 go?!? Time flies by ever faster the older I get. A couple years ago, I had an interesting conversation with a friend about this, and she said that time seems to go by quicker because a day, month, year, etc. each become a smaller fraction of your life as time goes by. Hence, a day can seem to go by in a second when you’re 80, but crawls by when you’re a kid waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney. High school is a little more than a fourth of your life when you graduate, but at your ten year reunion, it’s only a seventh. And the percentage decreases as you age, and thus the meaning and your memories of it…

I’ve never really understood why we celebrate a new year (or birthdays for that matter). Why not celebrate a new month while we’re at it? Or the changing of seasons? What’s the significance of a year versus any other marking of time? Somehow, a new year has turned into a big thing, and people rely on it and use it as an excuse to “start fresh.” You know, you can start fresh whenever you want; it doesn’t have to be at the beginning of a new year. Sure, it’s convenient to use a man-made time system such as years as a marker to make resolutions and such that will be broken in a month, but why wait? Nothing says you can’t start those same resolutions on the second Wednesday of August - and break ‘em all by the first of September. But then you can start all over again on September 2nd! There are no official laws or rules about starting fresh or making resolutions or goals, so what are you waiting for! Don’t wait for a new year to make amends with someone you’ve wronged, or to forgive someone who has wronged you. Start fresh right now, before it’s too late!

Now that I’ve said all that, I’ll be contrary to my ramblings and write about my goals for this coming year. (Hey, like I said, it’s convenient to use a new year as a yard stick for measuring progress and starting new things, and if it’s something that can help with achieving goals, why not use it…) I do make a distinction between resolutions and goals. In my mind, resolutions are a recipe for failure, usually involving changing a behavior starting now and giving up on it when it’s first broken. Goals are something you strive for, something that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely (S.M.A.R.T). I picture a resolution as a line graph that starts high and drops off suddenly, bottoming out after a month or two and staying that way for the year. A goal, on the other hand, starts at the bottom and is a steady incline towards the finish.

As always, whether it’s a goal or resolution, they are usually easier said than done.

I looked back at the goals I’ve posted for the past three years (2005, 2006 and 2007). My track record hasn’t been good. Of the approximately 32 goals I set out to accomplish, only 14 of them were achieved. Of the 18 I fell short on, I’m wondering why I even made seven of them goals. The other eleven I have had some degree of completion on, which is better than nothing, but I know I can do better, and should still work on several of them.

As for my seven 2007 goals, three were accomplished and another was mostly achieved. I used the SMART goal formula to help formulate and plan them, but that didn’t help so much. A long distance relationship and starting grad school threw a monkey wrench into several goals, but that’s okay. Goals need to be rigid enough that you have a plan and can be held accountable for achieving them, but not so rigid that they rule your life and don’t leave room for more important priorities or surprise life events that may come along.

My goals for 2008:

• Run three 5ks or one 10k
  I ran two 5Ks in 2007 with much success, so it’s time to step it up a notch. I’m actually looking forward to warmer weather and more hours of daylight so I can get out and enjoy jogs after work and school. I’ll do the Redlegs, Flying Pig and Susan G. Komen 5Ks or the Flying Pig 10K.
• Become and stay debt free, completing baby step 3 of Dave Ramsey’s plan
  I don’t have much debt, and the debt I do have is still leftover from my five months of unemployment when quit my job in 2005 without having another lined up (not a good idea, no matter what the situation might be!). I’m still feeling the effects from that time, so I’m determined to clean up my finances and get my savings back to what they were prior to that bad decision. This coincides with Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps.
• Complete a minimum of 12 credit hours of classes without incurring any debt
  I have 55 credit hours to complete to earn my MBA. Five are out of the way. Over the course of the spring, summer and fall semesters of 2008, I want to complete 12 more hours at minimum. The catch to this, and the reason I won’t be more aggressive, is that I will NOT take out student loans or go in debt to get my degree. Based on my budget, I should be able to afford twelve credit hours this year.
• Finish up some landscaping and outdoor projects
  There are two tasks I wanted to complete this past year, but never got around to for various reasons - clean/treat the deck and create a walkway from garage to the deck, with a landscaping bed.
• Become more knowledgeable about mutual funds and retirement savings
  Since I’ve been listening to Dave Ramsey podcasts and reading his books, I’ve become intent on retiring a multi-millionaire. I’ve been investing in my company’s 401(k) since I started, but I can do better, and the best route at present is mutual funds (and Roth IRAs). Once I complete baby step 3, the next step is to be gazelle intense on retirement. I want to get a head start on that, so I’m going to start reading up and “practicing” with mutual funds now. I’ve already checked out two books from the library and I’m anxious to get into them.
• Maintain weight
  I lost a lot of weight last year, have managed to keep it under control over the holidays, and want to maintain it over the year. My problem would not be gaining weight, but rather not losing more, especially if I run as much as I’m anticipating. I need to make an effort to not skip lunch at work, fit in dinner before classes and make sure I eat healthy, without a bunch of empty calories or too many carbs (I’m a sucker for bread).

There are some other goals that I don’t feel like discussing on here, so while the list may be short, it’s not exhaustive. I’ve noticed I can be a lot of talk, but not much action. about some things (and that includes things I’ve said I’d blog about but never have). I’m going to work on that this year by not “talking” so much and when I do, be more intentional about acting on it.

I have a really good feeling about 2008. I have an uncharacteristic hope that some missing puzzle pieces will fit into place over the coming months and that some incomplete aspects of life will finally become complete. The last quarter of 2007 was really something, and the year as a whole was very much a learning and growing experience, and though much of it was tough, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I feel like many of the changes that were started last year will come to fruition this year, and I’ll become more of the person God wants me to be.

I hope everyone has had a great, relaxing, enjoyable holiday season. Many blessings to you and your family this coming year!