My 30 by 30 List (And Why You Need One Too!)

This is personal in nature but there is a moral to this story...

A few other bloggers have posted 40 by 40 lists. Well, 40 is 15 years away for me, so I have to cut it down a bit to the 30 by 30 list. I have five years to go, and I want to prioritize some of the things I would like to do.

So here's my 30 by 30 list (in no particular order):

1. Post to this blog at least 2-3 times per week regularly
2. Audition for a play at the St. Louis Black Rep Done 10/15/11
3. Complete my B.S. degree program
4. Get a full-tuition+stipend fellowship to attend Grad School
5. Renew my wedding vows in a destination ceremony
6. Build up at least a six month emergency fund
7. Get into a size 10/12 pants
8. Learn to put off procrastination and manage time better (no pun intended)
9. Earn a six figures so that my hubby can stop working
10. Get into a regular sleeping schedule (I need a bedtime!)
11. Empower at least 10 people to start their own businesses
12. Comment on at least 5 other blog posts per day to increase my blog's exposure
13. Pay off my car (and don't buy another one)
14. Donate eggs (have to get healthy for this)
15. Go jet skiing
16. Swim with the dolphins
17. Visit Las Vegas
18. Start a business with my hubby
19. Purchase a vacation home
20. Go skydiving
21. See Whoopi Goldberg live
22. Go to the Essence Music Festival
23. Visit NYC (though I'm scared of this place)
24. Join Toastmasters
25. Become a keynote speaker
26. Finish writing and publish my book on customer service
27. Pay off all credit cards (and only use them if they can be paid in full every month)
28. Become a Big Sister (with Big Brothers/Big Sisters - not from my mom having more kids)
29. Go to church regularly again
30. Give 10% of ANY and ALL income to God

Wow, that was refreshing - sharing my goals with you in the form of this list makes everything concrete. I will be updating this list as I complete each task. Now, why do you care? Well, this should inspire you to create your own list. You don't have to publish it online, but you should have one. You should share it with people who will hold you accountable. After all, if you don't have lists, how will you know if you've done everything you wanted to do?

Another thing I considered while writing my list is that each task/goal should be SMART. You've probably heard that acronym before - it stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timed.

Specific is what it is - you must be able to say exactly what you want to do. For instance, with #21, I didn't just say that I want to see a celebrity live, I specifically said that I want to see Whoopi Goldberg.

Measurable means that the goal must be something that can be quantified or tracked. Some of my goals are rather vague - for example #29 - I said that I want to go to church "regularly". What is regularly? That won't mean the same thing to everyone. However, I couldn't go much further with that. I didn't want to say every Sunday or every Wednesday because I don't know when I will go.

If something is attainable, that means that it's possible. All of the things I've listed here are within reach. I may have to work hard to make them happen, but they are all within reach.

Relevancy is subjective. What's relevant to me may not be relevant to you. However, all of my goals are VERY relevant to me.

Timed goals are set into a time box of sorts. All of these goals, I want to achieve by the age of 30. There's my timebox.

So, what's on your list? How are you holding yourself accountable?

P.S. - you can view some of the other bloggers here:

Uncommon Chick

The Cubicle Chick

MELISASource

Glamazini