30 by 30

On and off for months I’ve thought about doing a 30 before 30 kind of list. Just the fact that I have come back to it so many times has taught me that it is time to just commit to it and go for it! And really, I turn 30 at the end of just 3 months from today, so no better time to start, right?!

Of course, I saw this somewhere. Multiple blogs and websites for sure. But I have no clue where. So rather than look to see what others have done or find what I saw before, I’m going to do my own thing with this: A moving, flexible, adaptable 30 by 30 list. In my mind, I look these lofty lists I’ve seen of backpacking through Europe, Skydiving, reading the BBC top 100 list. Me? I think these are great, but I would much rather focus on the here and now. The things that are staring me right in the face that I want to spend my time on today. That I can accomplish in 3 months.

Aside from that lofty ever growing and changing list of things to do someday, here’s my idea of a 30 by 30 that I want to accomplish by my birthday on February 28th, 2010!

1. Read 30 books by 30. I seriously have a HUGE collection of books I want to read. I even have a stack of loaned books that have been sitting in my living room for over a year now. So that pile of books is where I intend to start.

2. Finish 30 projects by 30. I have a never ending list of projects. The to-do list just seems to grow and never seems to get smaller. Small projects, time consuming projects, annual projects. Even if that list continues to grow I want to finish 30 projects by 30.

3. Watch 30 movies by 30. Our Netflix queue is out of control. Hundreds of movies. Time to catch up a little. We’re on a roll right now and I want to at least get our $'s worth out of Netflix again!

4. Cook 30 new recipes by 30. No other rules here, just to try 30 new things. Anything really. I just want to spend more time cooking and baking. Already have a few in mind!

5. Run 30 by 30. And by 30 I mean a 30 minute 5k. Totally doable, but a commitment to getting back into running 3-5 days a week. I was close to running this time once by a few minutes. I am a better runner now than I was then. I’m mentally tougher now and have endurance now that I didn't then.

So how will this all work? Right now I look at it as three months, 30 items on those four lists and one goal. Just ten a month... ten books, ten recipes, ten movies, ten projects. Check in at least once a week, start building those four lists of items done.

As for the running goal, I will go back to my old program I liked so well, the ten weeks to run a 5k. Want to keep my evening class workouts of aerobics, kickboxing and the occasional boot camp... maybe even toss in the occasional bike ride with my husband, but I think I will be getting up the morning to run again. All I need is my iTunes play lists and some sleep.

So in three months, I hope to look back satisfied and maybe then I’ll write an impossible pie-in-the-sky 40 before 40 list. Old school style. But there won’t be in skydiving on that one! :)

Do you have any lists of things waiting out there for you to do? What helps you stay motivated? Have you finished any of those lists?