My question for you today: When was the last time you felt COMPLETELY ALIVE?
I was reading Dale Carnegie last night and came across what is quoted above and also another quote he had in the book that says 'Every day is a new life to a wise man' and it really got me thinking about things...
One of my favorite challenges is to "do something every day that scares you!" I teach this to other small business owners because if we become complacent and comfortable it means we're not changing, evolving, becoming better versions of what is current. Over the past few years God has been teaching me slowly about how we are so deceived into thinking that COMFORT is the key to success in life... when really it's comfort the world preaches that holds us back in so many ways to become and do what we're really intended. I guess it's difficult to understand until you've given so much up to live the better life... the free life... and I'm not sure I know of too many people who really live this nor will be able to fully accomplish this in their lifetime...myself included!
Well... what all the babbling thoughts lead me to ...is to write down all the things that either:
1. Make me feel alive and at my best,
2. Scare/Challenge me out of comfort, and/or
3. Will help me break bad habits and create good ones
Now a LOT of what I'd have put on this list four years ago has already been marked off... see this post for a small glimpse of what I've been up to. Then earlier this year I had this overwhelming need for margin and to stop being so "go, go, go, goals, goals, goals" all the time. I'm happy to report the margin is here now and I've been basking in it. So now it's finally okay for me to go back to the dreaming and goals...
With that, I'm jumping on the 101 in 1001 bandwagon and making it my goal - starting today - to start living each day as it's a new life and NOT put off living!! I want to do those things every day that challenge me to be uncomfortable. With help, I'm confident these can become reality! I broke them down into categories to make it easier to digest and organize. So here goes...
Liana's 101 in 1001:
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 to Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Reading, Writing, Learning
1
2 Watch the news every day for 21 days
3 Re-learn enough Spanish so I can visit a Spanish-speaking country and not speak any English for an entire day.
4 Hand write and snail-mail a letter each work-day for two weeks straight
5 Contribute/post to the Spain blog at least six times for a year
6 Write an article and/or press release and get it published in a magazine or newspaper
7 Re-read a book from childhood
8
9 Learn a genre of dance I don't know already (The Shag or Clogging perhaps? LOL)
10
Friends, Family, and Community
11 Help my family sell their house and relocate
12
13 Visit friends in Santa Barbara and Cali
14 Host a rad neighborhood BBQ in our cul-de-sac
15
16
17 Consult and encourage someone through starting a total-money-makeover themselves
18 Keep a better prayer request / praise list and journal it for three months straight
Random Environments
19 Spend a day in bed for no reason
20
21 Work from a coffee-shop for a whole week
22
23
24 Go an entire week with no email, text, internet or computer
25 House-sit and/or babysit for a week or weekend
26 Get a sweet hammock for under the porch and use it! - Bought a hammock, but it's not up yet!
27 Go somewhere public by myself and make new friends
Health, Fitness, and HABITS
28 Complete 20 sessions with personal trainer and practice what they teach!
29 Go to 15 dance classes in one month
30 Run 5k without stopping / walking
31 Take a level 4 class at Dance 101
32 Drink only water and wine for 1 month (mostly water!! LOL)
33 Go to bed by 11 PM on the weekdays for two weeks straight
34 Get up at 6 am for 6 days straight
35 Loose a few lbs to reach goal of 128
36 Prepare and eat five new healthy recipes
37 Learn to eat a vegetable I currently do not like
38 Eat a BIG breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner for three weeks straight
Travel and Culture
39 Bellydance wearing shawl from Bahrain
40 Find a good Indian food restaurant in Atlanta area
41 Spend a night in a swanky hotel in NYC
42 Visit the southern part of Spain
43 Practice the tango in Argentina
44 Watch a "classic" in a theater or park
45 Go to Glacier National Park
46 Go swing dancing
47 See another show on Broadway
48
49 Tour the California coast and the Wine Regions
The Most Important
50 Listen to the entire bible on CD
51 Memorize a verse from the bible every week for ten weeks
52
53 Try for a week to live each day as if it were my last
54 Volunteer my photography services to my church and/or community in Atlanta
55 Round up and donate as much as possible from my basement and closets
56 Be a mentor to a female photographer or small business owner
57 Seek out and meet with a new mentor
58
59 Start a local entrepreneurs small group
60
61 Not buy anything new personally for 4 months (only used or borrowed besides food!)
62 Create an inspiration board and hang somewhere where I’ll see it often
63 Give an amount that makes me feel extremely uncomfortable
64 Write five letters of encouragement and thanks to people who have impacted my life in some way
65 In-depth study/reading of a book of the bible every month for a year
Art and Photography
66 Make a coffee table book out of my travel photography
67
68 Take a self portrait once a month for a full year
69
70 Enter a national photo competition
71 Sell 21 of my framed or canvas prints from Greece
72 Go on a photo-safari in Atlanta just for the fun of it
Fun, Activity, and Adventure
73 Go camping and/or hiking
74 Live a work day in someone else's shoes!
75 Drive a boat
76 Ride horses on the beach
77
78 Ride a bike on the Silver Comet trail from the start into Alabama
79 Take a random road trip without planning ahead of time
80
81 Have an OSP-S/MC reunion
82 Spend a whole weekday in an Irish/English Pub with a small group of friends talking
83 Participate in a sport that’s new or unusual for me
84 Create a scavenger hunt or adventure for someone
Business and Finance
85 Launch new biz website
86 Finally get Liana.TV redone/finished
87 Buy gold, rare coins, and/or stock as an investment
88
89
90 Pay off 40k on mortgage
91
92 Attend 5 chamber of commerce events in three months
93 Throw a rad launch-party for new photo biz
94 Have me and Mike shoot an average of three sessions per week for 4 weeks straight
95 Teach an advanced sales and marketing class
96
97
98 Complete my rainy-day savings fund
99
Last But Not Least
100 Encourage and help three others to start a 101 in 1001
101 Blog about each one as it’s completed!
Wow that's a lot!! I'll be sure to come back here and mark these off as I go along and also look in the comments for suggestions and ideas if anyone has them. Now the hard part... picking where to start.... LOL.
14 comments:
Emily - I'll let you know if and when I'm up there next :) Fun!! May 7, 2008 at 12:38 PM
now if only I could FINISH filling out my list! ;-) May 8, 2008 at 5:40 PM
I hope you are doing well. I am a mostly stay-at-home mom but am a photographer, too. Just kids, babies and their families. I love my jobs so much! I read the chat on Pictage last night--you have such a sweet way about you that I appreciate so much. Anyway... I wanted to tell you I saw on your list Grace Ministries and have to tell you going through the program there was life-changing! (I am here in Marietta, GA.) I wondered how involved you were with it. I also wondered what church you go to? We go to Buckhead Church and love it.
I am a Pictage member but haven't made it to a PUG just yet. Maybe we can meet up some day. My background with photographers started in Birmingham and I have little ATL photog connections... I'd love some, though! I know it would be helpful.
Thanks for sharing your advice and your many talents.
Sincerely,
Mandy Robinson (www.mandyrobinson.com) July 10, 2008 at 10:56 PM