Today I am 41. Ho hum. It is kind of a let down from the hype of 40. I can’t complain – 40 was an awesome year for me. I got my running mojo back (and won lots of age group awards in small races in my new bracket), I took lots of great trips including Canyon Ranch, By Pond Farm, Vancouver and South Africa. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. I started this blog and have been having a great time with it. We had a ton of fun with our friends. I got down to and stayed at (or near) the weight that it says I am on my driver’s license. I got a new job. Lots of good stuff to be said for 40!
So to make myself a bit more excited about 41, I decided to list 41 things I will try to do (or continue to work on) this year to make my life even better. Here goes (in no particular order):
1. Judge less and be more accepting
2. Try something new every month (ideas welcome)
3. Focus on what I want in my life not what I don’t want
4. Learn one recipe that I can bake and not be embarrassed to serve
5. Cook once a week for me and Neal- a whole meal from scratch
6. Run a trail 1/2 or full marathon
7. Get a personal record at any distance in running
8. Create a better charitable giving plan
9. Show gratitude and be kind(er)
10. Plan for success not worst case scenario
11. Stop worrying about things I can’t control (or at least worry less about things I cannot control!)
12. Be a better colleague and help my team be more successful
13. Learn to enjoy swimming for exercise (any help or ideas welcome)
14. Say no (more often) to doing things because I feel obligated to
15. Provide new learning opportunities for the students I work with at allstars project
16. Start with yes more than no
17. Practice empathy
18. Be a better listener
19. Share what I know and learn
20. Eat more slowly and enjoy my food more
21. Eat more whole foods- less from boxes and jars
22. Take the weekend trip to Rome we’ve been chatting about
23. Disconnect and take downtime every week
24. Be less critical of myself and others
25. Stop comparing myself to others so much
26. Be more spontaneous once in a while!
27. Stop buying things just because they are on sale
28. Support local businesses
29. Help friends and colleagues to network
30. Drive Neal’s Porsche at least once (with supervision ;))
31. Improve focus and stop multi-tasking so much
32. Really learn and practice meditation
33. Knit more and teach Stacy to knit, too
34. Be better about being more green (and support businesses who are green)
35. Stop wasting money, food, resources, time, energy (and keep giving things we don’t need to people who do need them!)
36. Continue to support awesome start ups and companies that give back!
37. Pursue professional interests more aligned with personal passions
38. Smile more, smirk less
39. Do a few things that scare me (which is not hard because I am a scaredy cat)
40. Tell people in my life that mean something to me how much they mean to me more often
41. Be grateful everyday for health, good fortune, Neal, my family, my friends and a very full life.
I look forward to sharing my progress with you on these (and I imagine many more) items in the year ahead! Any suggestions for things to do, try, etc. are welcome.