The Easiest Way to Predict the Future...

...Is to create it! And every year around this time, I find myself turning into a list makin', collage pastin', goal chasing fool, trying to do just that—create my future. So why do all of this particularly doing THIS time a year, you ask?

Photo from Jek in the Box

Because the New Year is near, duh!

Like clean, white sheets, fresh from the dryer on laundry day, the beginning of the New Year is that new start most of us just can't wait to get into. With a tumultuous 2009 nearly behind me, I too am excited at the prospects of white my life will be like in 2010. True to Think & Grow Chick form, I am leaving nothing to chance and everything to a well documented list of goals. The difference this year, however, is that I am not waiting for a whole 'nother year to pass by before I realize I didn't accomplish anything. Goals are useless if (1) you don't set deadlines for yourself and (2) you don't review your goals to see if you're making any progress before your deadline hits. In other words, the following represent things that I am trying to do in 6 months or less. Meet my half-year hit list:

1. I will attempt to bring in a solid income of $2,350 per month. Though this is equivalent to a million dollars for me given the (college student) poverty level I'm currently operating at, the above number was carefully calculated as just what I need to get out of my current financial mishap and still have some left over. I just got hired at a popular downtown bar (and I still plan on keeping my current part-time job), so working full-time, I think this is feasible. (I'll do more about my new budgeting plan in a separate post.)
2. I will completely pay off my lowest credit card amount, $873.53. (I have three cards in total...I know, I know, I'm cringing too.) Calculated in the income goal above, I should be able to eradicate that little grey piece of plastic which has caused me so much pain and cost me near a grand to date. Sheesh...
3. Because I'm super ambitious, I plan to attack my debt AND I will have at least $1000 in personal savings in 6 month's time. I know ya'll think I'm crazy because I owe A LOT of money, but if I've learned anything from those personal finance books, it's that you have to have some sort of egg nest when paying off debt, otherwise you'll just run back to your credit card when the (inevitable) first sign of trouble hits. I cannot go back there again, so my new plan incorporates paying myself first.
   
4. I will be enrolling back in school part-time for the 2010 summer session, and full-time for the 2010 fall session. I would be in school right now if it weren't for the back tuition I owe Howard, so a soon as that's paid off (which will be in less than 6 months is I can hit the income number listed in #1), I'm enrolling in the most affordable school I can get in to so that I can FINISH. THIS. DEGREE!!!
   
5. Swinging into the land of vanity, My hair will reach armpit length (APL) or longer in six months or less. I'm armed with a new regimen and a new attitude, (again, more in a separate post) so I see no reason why my strands can't attain such lengths.
6. This may come as a surprise because I'm already a pretty healthy, slim girl, but in 6 month's time I really want to tone up my physique. That's right, I'm trying to be all chiseled up like I was in my high school ballerina/track running days. I'll be sure to document my new found fitness adventure in subsequent post.
7. I've been saying this forever and I'm sorry I still have to say it now, but I want to improve my wardrobe. Now this is not to say that I dress busted or anything, but my financial situation has really jacked up my fashion situation and I have had enough! I used to take pride in being a generally stylish young woman and I want to get back to that, stat! I've included shopping money in my target income level (goal #1) so that I can achieve this, guilt-free. 
   
8. Last but of course not least, in 6 month's time I really want to develop this blog. To be honest, I've really grown to love blogging and I think it can become an amazing personal resource and entrepreneurial venture for me and my readers. I generally like to be more concrete than simply saying that I want to "develop" something, but for now I'll say that I definitely want to increase readership.

So that's it for me dear readers. The are my personal action items for the next 6 months, starting today. My deadline for all of these goals is Thursday, June 10, 2010. I am not playing around this year and neither should you! Two (or a thousand) heads are better than one, so I encourage everyone to come up with their own 6 month game plan and either link to it in the comment box below, or email it to me at thinkandgrowchick [at] gmail [dot] com so that we can get the ball rolling together.