Support and Accountability

I’ve learned a few things about myself after having worked at completing  12 Personal Monthly Challenges in 2010. Firstly, I like challenges.   

There are a few stipulations if I’m planning to be successful at completing them, though. 

They have to be meaningful to me. I have to really WANT to accomplish them.

They have to be measurable and specific. 

They have to be attainable by ME. I have to take into consideration my personality, my values, my dreams , my energy level!  Someone else may be able to accomplish great things like climbing Mt. Everest or writing the next great novel, but that doesn’t mean I will.    

They have to be relatively short term, although they can be repeated to, in effect, become long term. I have learned that keeping at something for an entire year is JUST TOO LONG and I’m bound to give up.

I will need to be accountable in some way, even if it’s just letting people know what I’m going to do. Even letting blog buddies know (some of whom I will probably never really know or meet) gives me that little extra boost to work at it. Having a friend that lives nearby join me would be even better. (hint, hint)

So, yes, I have begun a new challenge this year. It’s not going to be easy, but for some reason, I am excited about it. I’ve only been into it for 5 days and already I can feel it’s been good for me.

Nothing earth shattering or life changing, but it’s part of a balanced life, I think. I have joined  10,000 others to do the 100 DAY CHALLENGE. You can find out more about it here. When I first started seriously running to get fit about 10 years ago, one of the first inspirational books I read was  The Courage to Start by John Bingham. He was an overweight, smoking couch potato when he began to walk. He started to feel so much better that he began running, and hasn’t stopped since. He’s never won a marathon (I don’t think) and he’s all about running for the sheer fun of it. I like that. Now, you should know, I haven’t been running lately. I haven’t even been walking much. But I am inspired to MOVE for at least 30 minutes a day for 100 days straight. I sure hope I do it. Barring unforeseen circumstances (does that sound like a ready made excuse?), I will accomplish this first goal of 2011. You can check up on me by clicking on my Challenges page at the top of my blog. Better yet, why not join me? You can start anytime!

I plan to set more goals for myself this year, but they will be random. Who knows when the next one will pop up?