April's Infinite 2010 Plan

I got up Saturday morning at 9:23 am and realized that I must start setting my alarm on Saturdays as well as weekdays. There was a time when I got up no later than 7 am on Saturdays to go out and speed walk at least 3 miles. Then I'd go to the Del Ray Farmer's Market, get something healthy to eat and begin my day. But this past year, I made the excuse that it was to cold to go outside to walk, and I convinced myself the only way I could exercise was to join a gym. Then I decided that being an unemployed writer, who gets temp work when I can, that I couldn't afford a gym membership. So I then decided that I would do 15 -20 minutes of yoga at home each morning, or work out to the many yoga and aerobics tapes I have purchased. I avoided that by rationalizing that there wasn't enough room in my bedroom, which at the moment was my parent's basement filled with old furniture, holiday decorations and old toys of my nephews and nieces. In truth, it was a cluttered space, but much of the clutter was my own, which included old magazines, several books I hadn't read, old files of expired job descriptions and several old newspapers. I had already made the decision days ago that I was going to clean up and get rid of what I didn't need, but it wasn't until after I watched two fitness infomercials this morning, including the "Insanity" fitness program that I decided I would stop making excuses, get off my ass, and get moving.


Because I'm an environmentalist and believe one should recycle when possible, rather than just trashing everything and adding to the land fills, I will give all old furniture, toys and books and clothes I haven't worn in a year to thrift stores. I'll go through all my magazines and make a storyboard/collage. Once I rip out the pages I need for that, I'll throw those magazines away and donate the rest to my freecycle group. I created a storyboard two years ago and it was a great visual for keeping my goals in focus. So after I've given away all my junk and made my collage I'll have no excuses to keep me from exercising in my space, because all the clutter will be gone.


Getting organized and getting in shape are but two of my eight 2010 goals. I chose 8 because not only is it my favorite number (there's a childhood story behind this that I will blog about another time), but also because if you turn an eight around, it turns into the infinity symbol, which reminds me that my possibilities are infinite, and so is my success in reaching my goals. Here are my 8 goals:


Goal 1: Blog More. My last blog was in 2008. I didn't blog once in 2009. Someone slap me. I let anxiety and fear keep me from doing what I loved most. I was anxious that no one would read my blog, and feared that people might read and not like it. How pathetic is that? Don't ever let fear keep you from doing what you love. None of us know when God will call us, so it's up to us to make the best of the life we're given and make the biggest impact that we can.



Goal 2: Submit writing to agents, contests or publishers bi-monthly. There are so many writing contests and grants out there, once I realized the opportunities available to me, I wanted to kick myself. And there are tons of agents and publishers I didn't know about before that could be interested in my work. Again, time to lose the fear and just do it.


Goal 3: Go to the library at least once a week to work on editing children's novels and women's novels I've written or began writing. I can remember only working on my writing maybe 10 times in 2009. I was so afraid of failure and my room was in such shambles that I didn't put the time in that I should have, and I'll never get me published like that.


Goal 4: Clean room at least twice a month. This sounds simple, but I can tell you the many excused I've given myself not to do it. Cleaning my room on a regular basis will help me know where everything is and I won't keep duplicating files, stories and to do lists.


Goal 5: Eliminate credit card debt. This will not be easy an easy task. I've accumulated more than $5000 in debt, much of which is from ten years ago, when I was in college. Thinking about the money that Citibank and other credit card companies have made off of my interest makes me want to scream.



Goal 6: Balance my checkbook every day. I paid at least $300 in overdraft fees in 2009. I'm a struggling writer and that money could have gone toward meeting my personal and professional goals had I balanced my checkbook and kept track of my spending. This is just irresponsible. I'm almost 40 and it's time to grow up and be a big girl. What better way to start than to be financially responsible?


Goal 7: Do yoga everyday or at least, 5 times a week to maintain healthy mind and body. Basic yoga doesn't require a large space. And after doing just 10 minutes of yoga, I feel more energetic and more positive. There is no excuse for not doing it, unless I'm sick with ebola. And didn't they find a cure for that? Everyone has 10 minutes in the day to put aside for their health. Including me.


Goal 8: Apply only to jobs that I really want. Some people will say to take whatever job you can, but I've tried that method and it doesn't work for me. I'm a passionate person, and I need to be passionate about what I'm doing. And at this point in my life, being almost 40, it's time to do what I really enjoy and where I can really make an impact. And I'm not just talking about writing jobs. I mean any job that will allow me to achieve my other 7 goals. For instance, an administrative job will be easy enough that I'm not brain dead when I get home, and will still have the energy to write after a day of work. And with a high paying Executive Assistant position, it is realistic to believe that I can eliminate my credit card debt because I would be able to pay 3 times the minimum balance and get many, if not all of my credit cards paid off by the end of 2010. So, if you are searching for a job this 2010, think about what it is you really are willing to do, record each position you apply to, and follow up by phone in two weeks - even if they say not to contact them by phone. How else are you going to know the status of your application if you don't ask? Also, think of getting your resume edited, and if you need help with it, consider my resume service. You can get information about my career writing services at www.aprilcrews.com.

My trick to keeping my resolutions this year will be to write them down, and share them with my girlfriends who I have brunch with every other weekend. We had our first brunch of the year Friday on New Year's day, and decided that we all will make goals, write them down and report our progress every two weeks. I've read the newsletters of several life coaches, including Leslie Gail and Jewel Diamond Taylor, and they both say that being accountable to your friends or family makes you much more likely to succeed in keeping your goals. In sharing with friends or family however, be careful which ones you tell. Make sure they will be supportive.

Last but not least, meditate on this: fear of failing is wasted energy. An ex-boyfriend of mine who was an attorney once told me after I was sulking over not being where I wanted to be in life, "April, I'm successful because I've failed over and over." At the time I didn't want to make sense of it, but after really absorbing what he said, I realized that the only way you can succeed is to fail, and learn what doesn't work. If you fail at one of your goals or resolutions within the first week or month, don't give up. Pick yourself back up again and keep trying, using a different method. After all, the only way a baby learns to walk is to fall down and pick himself back up, over and over and over again.