Day 2: Assembling a List of Goals

This is a rough list of the goals I would like to accomplish (just from the top of my head). I think this is a great place to start, and I'll do my best to regularly evaluate my progress, revise as is necessary and even add new goals as I progress on this journey to do more for myself and become a better person.

-Hold myself accountable with my finances. Stop borrowing money from parents all the time, and pay them back when you say you are going to.

Design a budget worksheet. Include consideration for bills, entertainment, transportation, etc,. Keep in mind that it would be in my best interest to include some sort of way to keep track of whether or not I spent my money like I planned I would.

File your taxes already. The money is waiting for me. I just have to make sure I don’t get it and immediately go blow it on shoes or an HDTV.

Repair your credit. Continue to make payments on time to Macy’s. Keep in mind that, eventually, I'll have to start paying off the rest of my debt, too.

[Oh, and for anyone who wants a great resource for managing your credit, checking your credit score and whatnot, check out freecreditreport.com. It's been very helpful for me so far, and I doubt there are many for whom it wouldn't help out. -Cam]

-Get more involved in music. Look up the cost of lessons at Ethos and learn to play the piano. Find studio recording classes at PCC Cascade.

-Apply for the radio job at K-HITS 106.7

-Go see an advisor at PCC. Get an Associate of Arts in Web Development and work towards fulfilling AAOTD (Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer Degree) requirements in order to transfer and pursue a Bachelor’s degree in something more general and less technical.

-Achieve balance at all costs. I don’t feel like a very balanced person at the moment. I feel like I put to much effort into the girlfriend aspect of my life and not enough for myself, my friends and my family.

-Read more. I don’t read much, but I enjoy books a lot. What’s stopping me?

It might be easier to read more often if I didn’t owe the library $85. Just a thought.

Authors to keep in mind: Hunter S. Thompson, Chuck Palahniuk [Any other suggestions?]

-Write more. I don’t think I’m going to get anywhere if I don’t take the time to write down my thoughts, evaluate my goal progress, etc,.

Going good so far.

Plans for Today:
-Stop by Ethos for music lesson pamphlet.
-Talk to an adviser at PCC concerning the direction I wish to take for my studies.
-Compose initial draft of e-mail seeking job at K-HITS 106.7.

Paradigm Shift - Part One

Currently, I am struggling. I have many areas in my personal life that I wish to improve upon. I hope to be a successful and productive person; I hope I am able to use this blog and potentially the support of others who wish to be successful themselves in order to set and reach reasonable goals that will--over time--help me reach a point where I can say I've given it my all.

I'd also like to recognize that I have the potential to do great things. I have a lot of interests, but I haven't found a way to maximize that potential in order to accomplish things that are important to me. I have so many passions, yet I haven't been able to find a set of behaviors to follow that aids me in reaching my goals.

In a sense, this blog is an experiment. I continue to tell myself that this isn't just a desperate attempt at getting attention--a question that could be asked for almost all blogs--but that instead I can use this environment (with which I am very comfortable) as a way of keeping myself accountable, perhaps get some advice from complete strangers who have similar struggles, or whatever else I can get out of it that can be deemed useful, really.

I will make revisions to posts. My writing process is still developing, and the laziness in me never seems to want to do more than one draft before posting to the internet. Maybe I'd be able to illustrate my ideas with more clarity and focus if I'd actually take the time to do so... but I believe my "write it and post it"-strategy will be sufficient for now. If I decide a post warrants a revision, I will do so.

I understand that, at the moment, my purpose for this blog may not be entirely clear. This is fine. Once I get more of an idea of exactly what I want to use this for, I will take proper action. I could easily apply a vague label like "I want to be more productive" to the blog, but the impersonal feelings generated by recycled ideas just isn't going to cut it. Another one of the themes of this blog is original thought; something I'd like to encourage to everyone out there.

More later.