FinishYear
So I'm late to the party on this one, but FinishYear is something that Jon Acuff has started with his blog community, you can check that out here. It's all about finishing your ideas. So many of us come up with great ideas or goals and then never follow through with them because we get bored, distracted, or come up with cooler, newer ideas. If you're like me you're constantly falling in love with the new idea simply because its new, not necessarily better. You see, finishing things takes a lot more work, time and effort than coming up with new ideas, so I rarely finish. In other words I quit. And when you put it that way it hurts a lot more. No one likes being called a quitter, it means you're lazy, you don't have the strength to carry something out, you don't have the marbles to follow through. All things I'd rather not be associated with, which is why I prefer to be called an 'idea guy' or a 'big picture guy'. It means I can come up with the new ideas but I am not responsible to carry them out, thats for the 'administration guy' or the 'details guy'.
This works well in a work setting, but what about in my personal life? I don't have a 'details guy' that is going to put the work, time and effort into my marriage for me. If I've got an idea on how to become a better husband I'm the only one who can finish that idea.
From a young age I've been described as an underachiever, and a chronic one at that. And at some point, probably in middle school, I began to embrace that label as my identity. I realized I could get by rather well with limited effort. I could have been a straight A student but I chose to be a B student because it was easier and allowed me the opportunity to play more video games...and after all I was an underachiever and thats what underachievers do.
Now as a 25 year old I'm learning that 'underachiever' is not who I am. It's an option on how to live and a sucky one at that. I'd much rather be an achiever, someone who actually finishes their ideas and goals.
So here is my finish list for 2012...the FinishYear..
- Write 3 quality blog posts a week minimum
- Write 1 magazine article submission a month (Group magazine and youthministry.com)
- Write 1 book proposal (I've got a few ideas, go figure, but I need to pick one and FINISH)
- Write 1 curriculum proposal (see parenthetical comment for #3)
- Read 1 book a month minimum (1 out of 12, but I've got the next few lined up and #2 is almost done)
- Lose 15 pounds (let's be honest I'm a lot more svelte at 220 than 235...yikes)
So that's my list.
What's yours? Write it in the comments section, I'd love to encourage you to finish your list.