Monthly Archives: January 2008

The Kristy 3.0 / GMSTB30 Manifesto: Outcomes

I've always been hellbent on self improvement in one form or another - always striving to be stronger, skinnier, more spiritual, smarter, more aware, more peaceful, more balanced, more organized, loving and living life more. I've trudged along and made some pretty tremendous strides (go read a few of my posts from 2001 and see how far I've come). Now that I'm approaching 30, I'm provided with a pretty solid deadline to get a lot of the above accomplished. Except this time, I'll take a cue from the Cylons. I'll have a plan. There will be lots of lists.

Basically, what I want to accomplish are these things:

  • To be healthier, mentally and physically

  • To be get a handle on my finances and minimize consumerism

  • Improve my social relationships

  • To be personally organized

  • To finish my master's degree

  • To explore and enjoy the world

  • To determine what my goals are for years 30-35

These are outcomes, not goals. Figuring out what it is that I want to accomplish is a good start, IMO, but in order for this list to mean anything, I need to get all specific up ins and make some real goals. SMART goals. If you've been anywhere near a business book, you'll know what I'm talking about. It'll be tough, but I'm up to the challenge.

01.24.08 5:15pm(3 comments)

New Year. New Look. New Me.

Check out my awesome new template that Tom whipped up for me. Is it not badass? Yarn, technology, chicago, and a healthy helpin' o' helvetica all in pink for your viewing, and my writing, pleasure. As it turns out, my most recent template, ganked from a free template site, just wasn't very me nor was the template or two before it. The less this website felt like me the less attention I wanted to pay to it. I also struggled a little bit with the much minimized uniqueness of having a blog in 2008 as opposed to having one when I first got serious about kristyland in 2001. I'm consoled by the fact that my page rank is still pretty astronomical and that my Grandparents, among a few others, still check the site regularly. Kristyland has always been a personal blog with a small reader base for the express purpose of keeping friends and family informed as to my whereabouts, perhaps to offer them a chuckle now and then, and also to help me remember how I spend my years. If you think my duty as a blogger is to focus on one specific topic, become an independent journalist, or seek any sort of fame and fortune you're probably looking for someone else's blog. No, dear reader, kristyland is a totally self serving endeavor (in that I write here so I don't have to write individual emails to everyone I know) and I intend to keep it that way. All said and done, hopefully this will help me keep up with it a bit more. Thank you Tom, for all your help.

Speaking of, I have been doing a lot of self-serving introspection lately - the kind that's not usually shared on a public forum such as this until some conclusions are made. Well. I got me some conclusions, so I'll probably be sharing those. A Kristy 3.0 if you will (to steal from the software industry or the cadre naming convention) or, as I like to call it, "getting my shit together before I'm 30." GMSTB30. I've got some ideas and things that i'm working into a plan as well as some experiences and items that I would like put a few words on screen about.

It seems as if I have some writing to do.

01.20.08 6:19pm(9 comments)