“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” – Proverbs 29:18
We’re 7 days into March, the month that should be all about crushing my 1st quarter goals, but instead I feel as if my goals and everything else in my life are all crushing me!
Lately, I have felt so uninspired and this has hampered my ability to write and blog. Because I help the women of See Jane Write with this issue all the time I know exactly what my problem is: I lack vision.
Last month I took my very first solo weekend writing retreat. The beautiful Hotel Finial in Anniston was the perfect place to get inspired as I set out to start writing the book I hope to publish this year.
On March 4 I’ll be spending the day in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the first Lean On: Alabama conference. This leadership and lifestyle conference for women seeks to provide attendees with the chance to build relationships with like-minded women while sharing their own experiences and learning from women who are leaders in their communities, in business, and in government.
This past fall I started hosting a new event in my town that I call the See Jane Write Wine Down. It’s a gathering at a local wine bar & lounge, a girls’ night out of sorts, but one with a distinct purpose. The See Jane Write Wine Down is meant to give female writers, bloggers, and entrepreneurs an opportunity to meet with other women on a similar journey to share their troubles and to get encouragement and support.
This all came about because of a conversation I had with a fellow female entrepreneur at a networking event. She, like me, is building a business while working a full-time job. She’s also a wife and a mother and her husband is getting restless with the late nights and early mornings she’s spending working on her dream.
She’s not the only woman I know fighting this battle. I attend at least one blogging conference every year and at each conference I meet a woman asking for advice on how to get her spouse or significant other to get on board with her goals. I want to help you with this in case you’re struggling with this, too.
There’s something special about having a birthday in the second month of the year. If you’ve had less than a happy new year, if you’ve broken resolutions or failed to accomplish your January goals, your birthday becomes your second chance. Your birthday becomes your do-over.
Today, February 9, is my birthday. Today begins my second chance at 12 months of excellence.
Today I turn 36 and as I wrote in my Write Like a Girl column for B-Metro, at first I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this new age. You see, 36 is not a milestone birthday, but it sure feels like one as it officially declares me closer to 40 than 30. Does this make me old? I wondered. Does this mean I’m “over the hill”? Was 35 “the hill”?
But, I’ve decided that only I can define the prime of my life, so, I will take 36 and have the time of my life.
Here are 36 things — both personal and professional — I want to do while I’m 36: