My Goals for 2009

I know we're already in the 11th day of 2009, but I thought I'd share some of my personal goals for the year. I got the idea for doing this last fall, when I read the book 48 Days to the Work You Love, by Dan Miller. It's a great book that deals with how we approach our careers, and how our career should be more than just a paycheck. It's a book that I recommend, no matter what you think of your current job.

One of the chapters in this book mentioned that often we want our lives to improve, but we don't lay out a plan for making it happen. I have been guilty of that; sometimes, I want to change, but I'm too afraid to take a chance, or I'm simply too lazy to do anything about it. So, for 2009, I decided to set some personal goals. I made 11 goals total, although I'm going to keep some of them private. Here they are, by category:

Spiritual
1) Read the entire books of Psalms and Proverbs, as well as all four gospels.
-I want to deepen my relationship with God, and I can't expect to do so if I am not more diligent about reading his word. I often lack the motivation to read the Bible, and I hope that challenging myself to do so will help. I will need about two months for each book. I'm cheating a little here; I was already halfway through Psalms when the year began. But Psalms is a pretty big book anyway. Hopefully, I'll have a better understanding of these books at the end of the year.

2) Pray every day, and pray for Angie and our (future) son every day.
-If you never talk to your spouse, the relationship never goes anywhere. Thus, if you never talk to God, that relationship also goes nowhere. I learned this during a good sermon that I listened to a few weeks ago. As a result, I'm going to try very hard to pray every day, even if it's just a small prayer, and I always want to be praying for Angie and our boy.

Finances
1) Work 300 hours at the M.E. Barber Company and teach two summer courses at RCC.
-The summer courses are already in the schedule, and I made a month-by-month account of how I will get to 300 hours for the year, based on what I worked in 2008 and how my schedule will be this year.

2) Bring our emergency fund to have three months of expenses saved up.
-We were at that point near the end of the year, but car repairs set us back. However, it was nice to have the money to pay for those repairs. This is where the extra hours at the Shop and teaching summer courses comes into play.

Physical and Relational Health
1) Spend 30 minutes on the treadmill (or walking outside) at least once a week.

2) Have a "date night" with Angie at least once a month.
-This will especially be important after our boy is born, so that our marriage can stay strong.

Personal Development
1) Read six books (one for every two months).
-I can already see some of my relatives laughing at this one. Reading, at least reading books outside of work, has never been a passion of mine, but I know that I need to read if I want to get ahead in life. I read two books for pleasure in 2008, so I hope to increase it this year.

2) Cook a meal once a week.
-I'm lousy at cooking, and that needs to change. Angie shouldn't have to cook every meal, so I want to help out.


And those are some of my goals for 2009. Why have I posted these on my blog? It's easy; it's a good way to stay accountable. All of you who read this are allowed to e-mail me anytime this year and ask how I'm doing, and you can demand that I be honest. I hope that this has inspired you to think about what you want for this year, and how you can make it happen.

Here's to a fantastic 2009!