A New Year's Resolution Part 3: Accomplishing Goals in 2011

The New Year is almost a week in and I am already in awe. 2010 was amazing and 2011 certainly has a lot to live up to, but I am optimistic about the things that are going to happen and all of the exciting changes! It can be daunting to keep your fresh goals and perspectives for the New Year active in your day-to-day life. The secret is to keep yourself motivated and excited about achieving your dreams. I am certainly no professional, but I wanted to share some tips that I have found extremely helpful in accomplishing goals & keeping motivated. ♥♥♥♥

Quiet World Creative

1. Go on a Date with Yourself: Set up a date for yourself at a favorite coffee shop or cozy corner to really spend time reflecting and getting excited about the things you would like to accomplish. Bring a favorite journal and pen to begin sketching out a list and your thoughts. See my blog post about journaling & art journaling here for more ideas!

2. Keep Your Goals an Exciting Custom for You: Your goals can be ANYTHING, so really take the time to figure out the unique things you would like to accomplish. Do not feel like you need to add things to your list that everyone else adds. What excites you? What are you passionate about? Choosing things that light a fire in you will be a HUGE motivator.

3. Share: Once you begin to refine your list, share it with a couple of people that are close to you to help you decide if your goals are attainable or if you need help coming up with just a few more! Another benefit of sharing your goals is that it creates a type of accountability between yourself and what you have set out to accomplish.

4. Keep Your List Visible: Once you have completed your list, take time to put it somewhere that you will see it often and where it will serve as an inspiration to you daily. I usually keep all of my lists and ideas in my Moleskine journal and try to review my lists a couple of times a week. You could also make your list into artwork and put it up in your room or bathroom!

5. Schedule Your Goals: I usually like to take time each month to make lists of the things I would like to accomplish. I try and view each month as a "fresh start" so I can get motivated to accomplish new things. Along with your monthly to-do's, be sure to look over your list and begin breaking down your goals and scheduling them in for the month. Scheduling things can often make it a TON easier to accomplish something rather than just dreaming it up and setting it on a shelf.

6. Reward Yourself: Reward yourself along the way as you begin accomplishing your goals! Find people you can celebrate with and who are running after the same things you are in order to revel in the accomplishment. Maybe you reward yourself with a cute little purchase on Etsy if you have accomplished a set amount of goals. Get creative and set up a system that works for you!

7. Mind Over Matter: Last, but not certainly not least! Achieving your goals is about your mental state and self-motivation. Make your list attainable, exciting, and challenging. It will be easier to motivate yourself to accomplish things that excite you. Also, do not give up. If you go a couple of months and feel like you have not made a dent in your goals, it is ok to start fresh and adjust your accomplishments for the rest of the year. You do not have to live like you only have one shot (i.e. New Year's) in order to accomplish new things and keep yourself motivated. You can make any day and any month have a "New Year" attitude.

Melody of Wind

Check out the other parts of my series!
Part 1: Project ReStyle
Part 2: 22 Before 2012

Have a goal list for the year?? I would love to read up on it! Comment with a link!

A New Year's Resolution Part 2: 22 Before 2012

Happy New Year's Eve!! This is Part 2 of my short Resolution series for the New Year (find part one here) and this post is all about GOALS! I know, I know...cliche right? But I really believe goals are powerfully exciting and bring so much joy when they are accomplished. In other words...I. love. them.

I have been working over the past month and a half on personal goals, visions for MaieDae, and planning for this upcoming year. I have found that setting attainable and inspirational goals and making a game out of it has really done a lot for my self motivation. I do not care for the label of "resolution" for my goals. Resolutions are getting a bad rep and it is time to make things happen! Now, different people are certainly self motivated in different ways but I have found that if I have a mindset of a "fresh start" at the beginning of each month and each year, I can really psyche myself up and get excited about upcoming goals.

Here is a peek into my list of 22 (number chosen from my age) things I would like to accomplish before 2012:

1. Go on a skiing trip with Jon & his family.

2. Start a collection (or two!).

3. Read five business//development books. 

4. Have an amazing one year anniversary!

5. Finish Project 365 & put together a tribute coffee table book.

6. Participate in my first Arts Fair.

7. Buy a mandolin and learn to play.

8. Decorate & create an inspirational studio space.

9. Try five sewing projects.

10. Create a line of print design for my Etsy shop.

11. Start putting together and drafting rough draft of my book.

12. Start new photography project.

13. Get a new camera for blogging, photo-shoots and products.

14. Develop & grow blog.

15. Refine & define Etsy shop.

16. Collect art, frames and photographs for wall collage in living room.

17. See Rocky Horror Picture Show in the theatre.

18. Design a font.

19. Pay 50% of my student loans.

20. Keep Madi as my pen-pal & "little sister".

21. Re-decorate bedroom.

22. Have sister and mother dates on a monthly basis. 

And here are a couple of things you can look forward to this year with MaieDae!

1. New weekly post series.

2. Mini make-over and jazz up of the blog.

3. Participation in Project ReStyle.

4. New products and pretties in the Etsy shop. 

5. Introduction of MaieDae Graphic Design!

A Happy New Year to everyone! I wish you all the very best. 

A New Year's Resolution Part 1: Project Re-Style

I am so excited about the New Year. I have been planning, brainstorming, sketching, and dreaming up ideas for 2011 and I cannot wait to share some of my ideas and goals with you. Part 1 of my New Year's resolution post is focused on an amazing crafty venture for 2011 called: Project Re-Style.

The beautiful elsiecake from A Beautiful Mess is challenging herself, as well as fellow creators, to take part in a year-long resolution to turn unwanted, damaged, and old things into usable, fresh, and beautiful items. Thus: Project ReStyle. So, for 52 weeks, A Beautiful Mess will feature their weekly project as well as feature ReStyles from others who take the pledge. Sound like fun? Here are some of the guidelines via Project ReStyle:


Project ReStyle Guidelines
1. You must use unwanted, damaged, or unusable vintage or used items to ReStyle. One of the big purposes of the group is that it encourages green living and is budget-friendly. You can use items from your own closet//attic that you no longer love, thrifted finds, or hand-me downs. 
2. Take a Before & After photo of your ReStyled project. It is that simple!
3. Share your creative work on your blogs and in our Flickr Group. If you do not have a Flickr account, it is free to join. We will be choosing favorites each week to share on our blogs, so you will want to be sure to join the fun.
4. You can create fashion, home decor, or gift items. There are no limits on what types of items you can ReStyle! Be creative and make items you know you can really use!

The best part is that anyone can join in on the fun. I am taking the pledge and hoping to feature 2-3 ReStyled projects per month on my blog. If you and your blog would like to be part of the fun, you can join here.

Planning to take the challenge? I would love to hear! Cheers to the New Year!