The past three years I have taken the time to write a list of goals for the upcoming year. (See 2008, 2009, 2010 was never completely scanned in.) It has been a great way to live intentionally and make positive changes in my life. My favorite part about making a list of goals is going back and reviewing them at the end of the year. While doing that for 2010, I peeked over to my 2008 and 2009 goals and I realized a few things. I learned that while there were a few things on my lists that weren't completed in their specified year, they did stay with me and I truly am completing them one-by-one. But I also realized, the goals that are not task related (new habits, new mindsets) are consistently taking longer than a year to really find a solid place in my life. That said, this year I decided to do something different.

One of my favorite photographers/bloggers, Melissa Jill has been working on a 101 in 1001 list. That is a list of 101 goals to complete in 1001 days. I have seen lists like these floating around the web for years and I never really thought it was a realistic way to set goals. However, watching Melissa set her goals and complete them one-by-one has been super inspiring. Cap that with my tendency to take a little longer than a year to make changes and reach goals in my personal life and I think I have discovered something that might just work for me. :)

My friend Kate and I came together and started building 101 in 1001 lists back in November. I think we both still only have half of our lists completed. I do have enough to share with you all, at least for now. Here's a peak:

Start date: December 30, 2010 End date: September 26, 2013

Complete this list by Feb 28, 2010.
Blog every day for a month
Blog three times a week for a year on my SLP blog
~~Build a welcome (& thank you) packet to send to couples who book with me~~
Buy a year’s worth of birthday cards, address and stamp them all at once
Buy/make/give Tommy 5 "just because" gifts
~~Change portfolio site to no longer be flash based~~
Complete 12 consecutive months of a monthly photo theme or blog meme
Complete 52 consecutive weeks of Gratituesday blog posts
~~Do something extra special for Tommy's 30th Birthday~~
Document life more on my blog, even if some entries need to be private
Donate $5 for each goal I do not complete
Enter some of my work into a photography competition
~~Give a gift of something hand-made~~
Go on a ski trip with Tommy
Go to DC during a Cherry Blossom peak weekend
Have a book printed of 1 year of Gratituesday's
Have all Christmas gifts purchased/wrapped by Dec 1.
~~Improve my business website search optimization~~
~~Learn Yoga poses/flow I can do on my own without direction~~
Make an album of our wedding pictures
Meet Kate Nesi, finally! :)
Obtain copies of our parents’ wedding portraits, frame them, and hang them in our home
Participate in another triathlon
~~Participate in the creation of a style-shoot for a blog or magazine~~
Read one book per month for 3 months to better my business
Refine workflow to have wedding galleries online within 2 weeks of the event
Return to Nepal (with Tommy?)
~~Run a Holiday Giveaway Series on my blog~~
Run in 2 races > 5k
~~See Third Day in concert~~
~~Travel to the West Coast~~
Simplify my internet presence
~~Spend a day hiking~~
~~Spend more time outside~~
~~Submit a wedding for publication in a magazine~~
~~Take a cruise with Tommy~~
Take a dance class (at least 6 weeks)
~~Take a trip on a train~~
Try 5 foods I have never tried before
Visit New England in the fall/winter
Watch 5 I’ve-always-wanted-to-see-but-just-never-got-around-to-it-movies
Write a Will
~~Make the switch from PC to Mac~~
~~Make my office as mobile as possible so that I can travel often without it interrupting my work~~
Learn how to make sushi at home
Attend a (at least 2-day) photography workshop
Run another half-marathon
Earn a PR in the Smithfield Sprint triathlon
Earn a new PR in the 5k distance (so far my best time was 36 mins in 2007)
Run in a trail race
Have my work featured on at least 3 different blogs
Submit images and apply for WPJA
~~Work on lowering carb and sugar intake~~
Make the switch from coffee to tea in the morning
Swap our chemical cleaners for home made cleaners
Simplify our medicine cabinet by purging a lot of medicines and replacing them with herbs and essential oils
Learn how to heal our bodies naturally (and save money in the process!)
Travel to Florida to visit my grandmother
Travel to Colorado to visit my sister
Go on an anniversary trip with Tommy
Spend more time finding inspiration through online photo sites
~~Write something every day for a month~~
~~Create a social media marketing plan and follow it~~
~~Hire an intern~~
~~Transfer business status from Sole-Proprietor to an S-Corp~~
Repaint my kitchen walls
Incorporate the use of an ipad into my business workflow
~~Enhance Sincerely, Liz client experiences by adding gifts and surprises into my workflow~~
Redesign Sincerely, Liz website and combine all of my online sites into one
~~Rebrand Lynchburg Snapshot Studio~~
Create a marketing plan for Lynchburg Snapshot Studio
Develop and begin a preschool curriculum for Sunday (even if that means toddler school for now)
Make running a regular part of my weekly routine
Make 5 Pinterest recipes
Complete 3 Pinterest DIY projects
Create a "Sunday's First Year" book/album
Go to the Farmer's Market once a month in the spring/summer. ~~Buy and consume more fresh foods.~~
~~Go geocaching with my nieces~~
Shoot a photo session in an ice skating rink
Simplify our magazine subscription list
Make a photo album of our wedding pictures
Swap out my beauty care products for natural, less expensive versions
Go to a dinner theater with Tommy
~~Have new head shots taken annually~~
~~Start an annual head shot mini session day in late winter~~
Go on a camping trip with Tommy while in Colorado
Sell my landscape and art prints online
Print and frame images for a collage of "life" in our hallway
~~Take a weekend and "unplug" from all things digital~~
Do a "day in the life" blog post
~~Send a bouquet of flowers to someone "just because"~~
Get a bold haircut
Create the habit of making a weekly meal plan
Find 3 healthy dessert recipes and make them often enough to no longer need to look at the recipe
Host a party in our home
Change most (if not all) the lightbulbs in our house to energy efficient bulbs
Print at least two landscape canvas prints and hang them in our home
~~Purchase some plants for our home and keep them alive~~
Simplify my wardrobe by making smart accessory purchases and blog about the experience
Move the Sincerely, Liz office into the basement from the current office space

I hope to blog about the goals as I reach them. I am very excited about this journey and also excited to be documenting it! Here's to 2011... and 2012... and 2013. :)