Life …

It’s been kicking my butt lately. Or maybe that was the nasty virus capped off with pneumonia. Either way, it’s mid-May and I feel so behind. The good news is that I have a plan. A plan that includes goals—five-year goals that I have already started working toward. I am more hopeful than I have been in a long time … probably since the last time I could think of tangible goals. These include:

• Freeing ourselves of credit card debt – we already have a payment plan in place to make this happen. The bad news is that it will take five years. The good news is that we will be free from credit card debt! This is one I am most excited about. It will take a lot of discipline, but I know it will pay off in the end.
  
• Obtaining a master’s degree and getting a new job/promotion – I’ve been at my job for six years … with the same title. No good! (Don’t get me wrong, I am so fortunate for my job and the people I work with and the flexible schedule and all that I have learned … but I don’t want to settle.) I have been accepted into a Master of Arts in Communication program, and I will begin classes in September. I know I’m a dork, but I can’t wait to take classes again and work toward my degree, and eventually, my next career shift.
  
• Create a nest egg – that’s Denny’s term for savings. Right now we hardly have any, which has contributed to our reliance on credit cards. I am hoping to have enough saved to financially support our lifestyle (if we both lost our jobs) for a month by the end of this year. In five years, I am hoping it will be up to three months.
  
• Permanently lose 20 pounds – with the sickness, I am a little closer to my ideal weight, but this goal is also related to discipline. I need to eat better and exercise. It’s really pretty simple when it comes down to it. I also need to stop turning to food when I’m sad, bored, lonely, etc.
  
• Write or finish a book. This is the hardest goal to commit to, but I need to set aside my fear of failure and do it! Who cares if it never gets published or if it’s awful … many successful people fail before they succeed.

That’s all for now. These might not seem very big to a lot of people, but if I can look back in five years, having checked each of these off, I know I will be happy.