On Mission Setting

I've been busy these last few months getting settled into my new job, my new state, and my new role as mother of a high schooler. Needless to say, its been tough. But I am making it a point to take breaks when I need to and to regularly practice acts of self-love, self-awareness, and self-compassion. And since I am a woman who functions best when I have goals, I've been busy trying to figure out what's next.

I recently attended the National Book Festival at the National Mall in D.C. (so cool to be surrounded by books and authors!!!) where I happened to "run into" author Toni Morrison and NBC's Hoda Kotb speaking. Now of course, Toni Morrison was very interesting and inspiring to an aspiring writer like me (more on that later), but Hoda Kotb really surprised me! Now, I like her on Today and watch it when I can (which is not often), and I really admire her strength as a cancer survivor, but listening to her talk!!! She was hilarious, so energetic, and even profound! One thing she said really spoke to me...you change you life by changing your days. You have to really examine your life, figure out what changes need to be made, and do a little something each day to make that change. (I plan on getting her book, once I buy my Nook.)

I have already started doing that. Actually, the main reason that I was on the Mall that day was because I had just finished running with Black Girls Run, DC Chapter. Every Saturday, a group of Black women can be found running around the monuments and the Capital (Actually, there are about three groups, beginning, intermediate, and advanced...I straggle between the beginners and the intermediates, but I am moving on up!!). I have been running with them for about a month. Getting my health and fitness mission on track has already started. A later post will highlight the goals for October 2011.

So now I am thinking of the other changes that I want in my life, and I plan on doing something every day to make them happen. The first step is to think about what missions I want to accomplish in the next five years and even after that. So in no particular order here are the things that I want to accomplish:

In the next five years:

• Revamp my wardrobe
• Make my home a domestic haven
• Write 1-2 novels
• Become a running diva
• Become a weightlifting diva
• Travel to Europe
• Move up to at least a GS-14 level at work
• Get my son into college 
• Become much more financially comfortable 

Long term goals...well there is one that I have right now. Once my son is settled into college (maybe after his 1st year) I want to start doing work rotations overseas. A long time ago, I envisioned a life where I traveled and lived all over the world. I got a taste of that while living in Brazil, and while it was not all that I envisioned, I think that living abroad as a professional  will be a different and (for me) better experience than living abroad as a graduate student and single mother of a young child. My career is positioned in such a way as to make this a reality...in the interim, I am happy to work in DC (with maybe short jaunts out of state or overseas for work). But right now, this is the "next step" in my career progression...

I feel good about my life right now, and I feel much better about where it is headed!

On purpose,

Mae