A Plan and a Purpose

Before I begin my project I have to give credit where credit's due. My real inspiration for this process comes from a book by Gretchen Rubin called "The Happiness Project." I'm not going to attempt to recreate her project because, as she says, no one's will be the same. Everyone is working through their own very unique and personal trials, so no one would have the exact same goals as anyone else. What I will be using from her project is the process and design of it. Each month she focuses on an area of her life. As I mentioned in my first post, I haven't outlined what I'll be working on each month, but I am sure that I know where I will start. I have this awful habit of starting things, usually longterm goals/projects, and then getting bored of them or losing purpose. So in order to make sure that doesn't occur with this project I am starting with "Perseverance."
I have decided to start my project on August first. Starting in the middle of the year on anything having to do with new goals or habits is already a stretch for me. (I'm one of those people girls that always says "I'm starting my diet on Monday!" so naturally I hate the idea of starting a longterm project at any time of the year but January with my New Years resolutions.) That being said, starting in the middle of July would be too much to handle. So August first it is! That gives me about a week and a half of prepping and scheduling.
My prep work includes:

• making a "Resolutions Chart"  Like Gretchen, I love recognition for effort I put into things. I don't think I'll be counting on my husband to keep me on track with this project, so having a chart will allow me to reward myself with something as simple as a check mark next to completed tasks. Having a physical chart will also provide a visible reminder of what I'm supposed to be working on. 
• Decide on my 12 areas to work on Each month for a year I'll be focusing on one new part of my life. As the months progress I'll be adding each previous month's habits to the next months. (I'm bad at explaining things, so if this doesn't make sense it will in time.) 
• Create each month's goals I don't really like goals that start with "Be.." Like "be kinder, be more hard working, be an awesome wife, etc.." I don't feel like those are goals I can look at and know exactly what I'm working towards. Each month I will come up with about 5 concrete "action goals" that will help me to better the area of my life that I'm working on that month. These are the goals that will be tracked on the "Resolutions Chart" (with my gold stars and everything :] )
• Create Rules to Follow I fear this might be my hardest step. It's going to require some creative thinking and intense personal reflection. Gretchen used her rules to guide her actions throughout the project. I will post hers when I come up with mine (and maybe steal a few of hers as well.) 
• Get my Husband on board I've already said that I won't be relying on him for this project because if I did it would destroy part of the purpose. I'm doing this for me! Sound selfish right? Well.. not really. I'm starting to realize that if I want a happy, loving environment at home its up to me to create and maintain it. So before we begin to bring children into our home I want to be happy on my own, not relying on the way someone else treats me to decide my attitude. Getting Sean "on board" then, is really just bringing him up to speed. (He's under the impression that my blog is just a place for me to complain or keep track of the cereal I ate for breakfast.) Hopefully I'll just have to point him to this blog, but I figure he should know about it all the same. 

Sigh. That's already enough prep work that I'm getting tired just thinking about all the thinking I'll have to do. (haha?) Which means I already need a simple-steps plan of action. So I'll start with outlining my 12 areas to work on, creating goals for each of them, designing my resolutions chart, creating my rules, and then informing the hubby. 

See, I'm already happier having a plan and a purpose!