365 Challenge Rebooted

In the sidebar of my blog there is a "I'm making something 365" badge. Hmmm ... I was. Life happened. Perfectionism happened. Creativity stopped happening. The 365 creative challenge is simply to make something creative every day for a year. To help, Noah put together a book with 365 ideas. The problem was, I started adding rules. Naturally, it all got to hard, so I quit.

This year I rebooted. My 'rules' are simple -
- design a quilt, or other sewing project, every day
- by design I mean - scribble, describe, stick-figure type drawing, full blown pattern. It really doesn't matter - just something on paper. I do not have to intend to ever develop the idea. I do not have to intend to actually make the object. I just have to put something on paper in response to the prompts given in Noah's book
- use the book as an point of inspiration only. If it suggests building something out of clay, I don't have to actually use clay - as in, get my hands dirty sort of clay. I just use the word 'clay' to give my thoughts a direction.

I did really well in January. Then I had to go back to work. Carting my sketch book on the train every day was just that little extra weight I didn't want to carry. I've gotten a little slack and side-tracked.  I'm still working out how to overcome that. And that's okay because life as a recovering perfectionist is about recovery every day.

At the moment, I have nearly 50 designs/scrawls/scribbles. Some of them I know I'll never ever make. Some of them I have made in the past - which was one of my 'rules'. Past creations were allowable. They're my creative effort (I rarely follow someone else's pattern, preferring to make my own glorious mistakes and triumphs). There are few that I really want to make. There are a few that really inspire me.

Just a couple for your amusement:

Day 31: Make a path for people to follow and invite people to try it out.

 One of my more structured designs. I actually was aiming for paths that cross over and under each other. But I got sidetracked by trying to make my blocks simple half-square-triangles. I probably won't be making this one.

Day 21: Write a 10 word love story. Illustrate it.

The Teen wants me to make this one :-) It's a long story, but essentially, not long after we first met, in the midst of any apology that was supposed to involve bunches of flowers, husband-to-be offered to buy me a bunch of carrots instead. Tip for all the males out there: when you're apologising for something - try to keep your mind on the apologies, and not the conversation being conducted by the person sitting next to you! The 10 word love story is, "He asked me out with carrots. I eventually said yes."

Day 18: Work with the things you find in your car

This is an example of my rule to use the book as inspiration only and not the 'rules'. We were road-tripping, so instead of using 'inside the car', I chose to use outside the car.

Day 2: What's your favourite animal? Use it as your inspiration.

I have a number of favourite animals, but I do love fairy wrens. This is planned a set of placemats, which I am thinking of making at some point. The plan would be to deliberately make them all different. There are seven species, so more than enough to do a different one on each placemat.

One of the interesting things I've found about this challenge is the attitude of other people. Although I'm currently struggling to form a habit that sticks, I am determined to complete all 365 designs even if not in a single calendar year.

I happened to mention what I was doing to a quilting storekeeper (thankfully, not a local store). She all but scoffed, "Well, good luck with that!" And let me say - it was not a positive, uplifting wishing of luck! I was a little taken aback. She didn't know me from Adam (or Eve). For all she knew I could have already been a well-established designer. And whether I am or not, and I'm not, that's beside the point. It was pretty flipping rude for her discredit my ambition. I don't care who you are. I don't care what the dream is. Don't allow anyone - ANYONE - to pull it apart. And don't do it to anyone else.

There a great line in M*A*S*H, where Col Potter says, "If I had a horse who thought he was Man O' War, I probably wouldn't want to dissuade him. If you get my drift?" (probably badly paraphrased) His point was - if we dream bigger than we can achieve, we will achieve bigger than if we don't dream. (Of course, Frank Burns didn't get it ;-) )

Dream big, and "phft" to all the naysayers.

2015

So, this is the New Year. Funny, it doesn't feel all that different to the old one. That's the thing about New Years that I don't get. People pin such high expectations on it, endow it with almost magical abilities to transform their lives. But at the end of the day, it's just day, like every other day. The ability to transform our lives lies within us, not in a day.

Anyway, enough of my New Year's bah-humbugging. What have I got planned for 2015? Oo, lots. I started looking at my goals in November. Looked at the ones I missed in 2014, considered why I missed them. Looked at the ones I hit and gave myself a pat on the back, because I think it's important to see what you've achieved more than seeing what you missed. Considered the year ahead and what I want to achieve, and how I plan to do that.

Goal Types
My goal setting process has multiple methods. It's all very well to say, "You should set SMART goals", but some things I want to achieve don't fit the SMART mould. And some things I want to achieve are not goals as such, they're habits I want to develop. My goal setting methods are:

1. Set a specific SMART goal: run a 5km fun run some time after August (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely). These goals then get broken down into monthly chunks and then weekly chunks and then daily chunks. Every month I look at my yearly goals, consider what I need to achieve in the month. Then each week I look at that monthly chunk and work out what I need to do this week on a day-by-day basis.

2. Set a "list goal". I have a lot of projects I want to finish, for example a dozen or more quilts. A list goal is to focus on one project every month from the list that I keep with my goals. My lists grow as the year progresses, as new projects are added. Each month I choose the focus from my list, and decide how much I want to achieve, which depends on what stage that focus project is at, and what sort of a month I have ahead of me. Project lists include quilts, other sewing, holiday scrap booking, house renos, garden projects. I also have a list of people to write to (the goal being one per week); friends to catch up with (one per month) and similar activities.

3. Set a "percentage" habit. Habits are tricky goals to set, particularly for perfectionists. We feel if don't hit them 100% of time we're failing and (more often than not) might as well quit. This year I've come up with the percentage target. I want to develop a habit of taking my vitamins every day. The perfectionist me would say 365 out of 365 days is goal achieved, anything less is not. Reality me knows that just isn't going happen. I track every day that I take my vitamins. Each week I record how many days I 'hit'. Over three months I calculate my percentage hit. My habit goals are to hit 25% in the first three months, 50% in the second three months, 75% in the third three months, and 90% in the last three months. This gives a stretch goal, it gives me a target, and it keeps me realistic.

Putting it on Paper
I mind-map my goals. This year, I've gone back to Stephen Covey's concept of 'roles'. I have four roles: artist, community, care-taker, worker.
I have the year in the centre and a branch for each role. Each 'sub-role' is on a smaller branch. Under 'caretaker', for example, I have 'finances', 'spirit', 'body', 'house' and 'garden'. At the end of each sub-role I list my goals, whether SMART, list or habit.
I keep this yearly mind-map in my diary. Once it's created, I scan it and remove the goals at the end of the branches and the year from centre. I print out the remaining basic structure and use it each month to set my targets for the month.

Blank mind-map for ready for monthly targets

In addition to setting goals for the year, I picked up an idea from a fellow quilter a couple of years ago, of assigning a word to the year. The word I've chosen for 2015 is "harmony". I want to develop as a musician, I want to find balance with all my pursuits, not focussing on any to the detriment of others, I want to develop strong, healthy relationships with people who are important to me. Using a tool I found on-line (http://www.wordle.net/create) I created a word cloud (also kept in my diary).

Harmony word cloud

That's a basic overview of my goal setting process. Although, at the end of the day (even New Years Day) I think there's just three things that are important for reaching a goal:
1. Write it down. Research shows if you write it down, you're more likely to hit it.
 2. Review it. If you write it down and ignore it, you won't hit it. Review each month and each week, "What do I need to do in order to achieve this goal?"
And then, the third important step is simply "Do it".

Not wasting it

For many years I have received an excellent weekly newsletter, written by Philip E. Humbert, called Tips. One of the main reasons I love Philip's newsletter is that he has a broad definition of success. I've signed up (and unsigned) from many newsletters because they define success purely in terms of money or things or stuff. Philip understands that, while that may be Joe and Jane's definition, it's not necessarily everyone's definition, and his newsletters reflect that balanced view of life.

(To sign up for Tips, subscribe at http://www.philiphumbert.com.)

I mention the newsletter because this week there was a sentence or two that resonated with me.

I'm going to make a strong, blunt statement that may offend some, but here goes: I believe too many of us have grown flabby and lazy. We enjoy our freedoms and our wealth and our opportunities, but we also squander them.

If you missed it, some weeks ago I was made redundant . There's not a lot of work on offer in my particular field . On the upside, not having to trudge an hour into the office every morning, work for 5 hours, and then trudge an hour home again, has given me amazing freedom. Several weeks ago I realised that freedom could easily be squandered. In fact I was caught out ;-) I was using my freedom to read in bed in the morning. I love reading. I love reading in bed. I love reading in bed in winter and not getting up until it's warm. This particular morning, just as I was getting up, the phone rang. It was the school, "Could you please come and pick up a sick child?" In my pyjamas? Surely not!

Since then I have tried to keep to a schedule. I have worked hard not to be a grouchy perfectionist about it, but I have routine and I am (I believe) making the most of my freedom. And it's starting to show. Projects are getting done; tasks are being accomplished. My daughter "accused" me of being a "real mum" the other day. If it wasn't for the family budget, I think I could get used to this freedom.

New Beginnings - Saturday 2 June

Long story short - letting things get me down that really need to be shrugged off. Lost my motivation; not eating right, not exercising, not enjoying life. Being a great believer in starting over from where a body happens to be, I decided on Saturday afternoon to do just that. My basic plan is - give up coffee (sigh) and do at least one thing a day that I truly enjoy. Although I started on Saturday afternoon, it is easier to track using full days, so I'm counting '1' from Sunday. However, as a 'catch up':

Saturday 2 June - bought some "Detox & Cleanse" tea from  The Tea Centre. It's a pleasant enough drink; not sure what it's supposed to do.

I also fixed a lamp. It's bugged me for, quite literally, years. It's got a long flexible 'neck' with two prongs going into the base. One prong always comes out of the base and causes the light to droop. I finally decided I was going to replace it, but first, I'd pull it apart and see what was what. Inside the base the prong is supposed to screw into a nut; it was unscrewed. I screwed the nut back on; tightened up the nut on the second prong, and the lamp is as good as new. So simple, so rewarding, so annoying that I left it for so long.

Mid-January Update - List of Three

Thought I'd post an update of how I'm going with my daily list of three. Just briefly.

• It's hard going on days when I'm working. I have a million things to do (I keep a 'to do' diary for work). I don't want to put work things on my List of Three; I'm not convinced I'm going to be inspired to do anything by the time I get home; and I'm not always sure what time I'll get home or what'll be waiting for me when I do. So, I've missed a couple of days this week.
• I haven't been Twittering my lists consistently; particularly on work days. The phone app doesn't allow me to post to Twitter. By the time I get to a computer to send them through, I've often completed them (or decided to can them).
• The kitchen shelves from the 2nd are a bit of a bug bare. Maybe tomorrow.
• My other bug bare (bear?) is my stationary portfolio. I've had other sewing projects (and early nights) take presidence. It keeps getting bumped off.
• I need to make more of an effort to continue to record 'to do' items in a general list. Too often I've thought "I've got three; I'll leave that." Then later I can't remember what it was to add it tomorrow. The plan has always been to keep a "future" list; once the three are done for the day the future list is fair game. It's also supposed to 'feed' my List of Three.

List of Three

For a number of years I've been receiving Philip Humbert's weekly "Tips" newsletter (http://www.philiphumbert.com). I like Phil's newsletter. They're success orientated, but recognise that success does not necessarily mean lots of money, flashy cars and over sized houses. Success is a very individual pursuit.

Some time ago he suggested a very simple method of getting things done. I wish I could find his instructions, 'cause there was a little more to it than I'm about to explain. However, the premise was to take a small card that will fit in your pocket, wallet, etc - so you have it with you all the time. On one side of the card you write three things you have to do today. You will not go to bed until those three things are done. I think on the other side you kept the full to-do list. But the three things are a priority.

Well, I've substituted my to-do app on my phone for the card. After all, I have my phone with me 24/7. I started on the 2nd (not into NY Resolutions). Each day I enter three tasks that I will do today. For the last four days I've completed all but one of them. The outstanding task was a little ambitious and multi-step undertaking.
To add a little accountability, I thought I'd post each of my three tasks on Twitter and then post when they're done. Obviously, my explanation is a little longer than 140 words - hence the blog post. Gees, what did we do before the internet?

The important thing, for me, about the "list of 3" is that they don't necessarily have to be important or life-changing tasks. They're things that I would probably put off without some prompt to get them done.
Here's my lists to date (with a little explanation):2 Jan

1. Fit kitchen shelves - this is my outstanding task. It really should have been just the first step, but I'm leaving it there until it's done.
2. One bookshelf - we're decluttering our books, one shelf at time. This task is likely to be reoccurring for the next few weeks (at least)
3. Bedroom floor - it just needed to be vacuumed and mopped - every square, dusty inch of it, which means moving the bed and everything

3 Jan

1. Masters - to buy bits and pieces including cucumber seedlings and kitchen shelf brackets (and check out whether it really is as good as Bunnings)
2. Weed veggie patch - self explanatory really

I didn't have a "3 3/1", because after the kitchen shelves I was thinking "smaller, smaller", and then went too small, listing each item I wanted from Masters as a separate task. It's a learning process.

4 Jan

1. Plant cucumbers - I'd bought them, they needed planting
2. Buy newspapers for GP cage - we don't buy newspapers, but we'd run out of freebies for lining the guinea pig cage
3. Call Trev, plan worship - needed it for Sunday

5 Jan

1. Clean out the "deal with it" drawer - this is the 'pre-filing' drawer.
2. Plant low-growth seeds - I have had a collection of seeds, some years old. So I dump them into a container based on their growth habit - root, low, high, climber.
3. Clean study desk and shelf - my desk is used for study, for sewing, for work and is everyone else's general repository for junk they're not sure what to do with

As you can see - nothing particularly astonishing there. If you look closely though, you'll see that some tasks have a theme. I could set myself a NY resolution (or just an every-day goal) of setting up my veggie patch again, which is a big task - it needs to be weeded, dug over, plants bought, plants planted, rah-rah. Hours and hours of work. Easier to leave it until 'later'. If I set myself a single simple task each day, before you know it - there's a veggie patch happening.

The other important thing about the List of 3, is that they're not my only activity for the day. They are simply three things that I am going to prioritise on any given day. As things I want to achieve occur to me, I'm adding them to a general list of tasks. Some of them will simply happen as a matter of course, others will get transferred (in small chunks) to my List of 3.
My aim is for each of the tasks I set myself each day to be important to me. I found a little quote last year that I'm using to help me determine just how important things are:

If it's important to you, you will find a way
If not, you'll find an excuse.

If I'm finding excuses not to do things, why are they not important? Have I set the wrong goals? Are they my goals or are they goals I think I "should" be aiming for? Am I wasting time and energy on things that really aren't important to me after all?

I have no idea how long I'll keep the posts to Twitter going, but I thought I'd try it. My first post (including the link to this blog) I'm including on Facebook, but after this one, I'm only posting to Twitter. So, if you're at all interested in whether I achieve a 1,000+ tasks by the end of the year, you'll have to follow me there.

~~~~~~
I found Phil's instructions:http://www.philiphumbert.com/3x5Card.htmhttp://philiphumbert.com/audio/3x5audio.mp3
http://philiphumbert.com/Time.htm

Creativity - Every Day

Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Thomas Alva Edison.
As a creative person I don't seem to actually do a lot of "creating". I talk about it, I think about it, but I don't actually do it. I think sometimes the issue is that I sit around waiting for the inspiration to hit while wasting my time doing ... stuff. Stuff like surfing the net, Facebooking, playing silly games, watching TV. Actually, for someone who doesn't own a TV, I watch a huge amount of TV. The advent of past TV series on DVD has been my downfall.

I have decided that the only way I'm going to overcome this lack of creating is to start putting in the perspiration bit on a daily basis. I'm pretty certain I'm not going to succeed, at least not immediately, but I am aiming to do something creative every day.

My rules are pretty simple. Something every day. Can not be housework (cleaning, vaccuming, mopping, dishes, laundry), can not be shopping, and, as much as I love it, can not be reading. If I include reading I'll never do anything else. It can include cooking (not sausages and eggs LOL), gardening, decorating/renovations, sewing (obviously, since that is my main hobby), and any other craft activities. Reading about projects doesn't count, I actually have to do something tangible.

I'm thinking if I'm blogging about it, maybe I'll push myself to do something. On the other hand, maybe blogging will take up time I should be using for creating, so we'll see how that goes. My on-line quilting group has a "Friday Flaunt" where members post their blog addies with their creative efforts for the week, so initially I'll make it my goal to blog at least once a week.

Believing that today is always the best time to start anything, I have started. It's a partial cheat. We don't like commercial tartare sauce and Tuesday night is fish & chip night and we're out of tartare. Tartare needs a bit of time to sit and mature. It's sort of a "have to do" but it is still creative.



My tartare sauce recipe:

1 jar of the absolute best mayo you can get. I only buy one without fake anything in it.
1 or 2 large "branches" of Italian flat leaf parsley (from the herb garden)
couple of stalks of tarragon, leaves only ditch the stalks (also from the herb garden)
2 spring onions (ditto the garden :-)
2 large dill gerkins
2 tablespoons of capers

Put everything except the mayo in the food processor until teeny tiny. Stir it through the mayo. Store for two or three days before eating. Yummo.

Note: always check the bits from the herb garden for visitors. They're best removed before you chuck everything in the food processor!

Exams

Well, it's that time of semester again. BUT, the good thing is - this is the final semester. At last. It's only taken 6 1/2 years to get here, but I finally finish uni on 11 June, at 11:30am. That's less than 19 days time. YAY. Needless to say I've been pretty slack about keeping my blog updated, 'cause I've been focussed elsewhere. BUT, still, here's a tip or two.

If you don't like your job - change it. If you think you can't change it - you're wrong. The reality is any one of us can do anything we choose to do. It's also a reality that we have different priorities. If you can pinpoint some of your priorities, you might just be able to change your life.

For example: you hate your job and you think "I can't do anything about it" - what's really guiding that? Is it that you don't want to go without the money while you study? You're scared you'll be no good at what you really want to do ie you just don't want to step out of your comfort zone? Whatever it is, you have to a) identify it and then b) ask yourself is this really a bigger priority for me than what I really want to do (eg change my job).

Now - if changing your job is a bigger priority - get out there and do it. IF on the other hand maintaining your current comfort zone is a bigger priority - then stop whinging about your current job.

When I went back to uni I was the breadwinner for the family. (I couldn't cut it as a stay-at-home mum, so The Man took over.) I had to juggle being a mum, working 40 hours a week (plus the rest) and studying. That meant I had to give things up - reading, movies, sewing, sleeping long hours. But I just didn't want to do what I was doing until I retired.

It's taken 6 1/2 L-O-O-O-N-G years, but I've finally made it. I really enjoy my job, and I'm just starting at the bottom! And now I get back my free time and comfort zone. There were times when I HATED studying. There were even a few times I threw my books across the room (stats!) But in the long run - it's worth it.

Thing is though - only YOU can decide if its worth it. Doesn't matter what it is. Some people want to climb mountains (why?), some people want to make lots of money (ho hum), some people want to put a computer in every household -they all made sacrifices to see their vision come to fruition. If you have a dream; a goal; a desire - call it what you will - decide if you want to make the sacrifices and then go for it.