A pep talk

Happy New Year!

Hopefully you had a restful and joyous time away--however long it was. Maybe you had magical thinking about what you were going to accomplish during your time away. Hopefully you've been kind to yourself if you weren't able to do everything you wanted to do. Whatever you did (or didn't) get done over break, I hope you returned refreshed, renewed, and ready to Do Awesome Things in 2015.

So let's do it. Let's get started.

What's that one project you've been putting off because you were afraid of how it would turn out or how difficult it would be? What's that one issue you feel passionate it about but haven't stood up or spoken out? What's that one dream you have but haven't pursued because you were afraid of how much you would have to give up to realize it?

I find delight in a quote often attributed (probably incorrectly) to George Elliot:

It's never too late to be what you might have been.

Whatever it is you've been putting off, dig it out and dust it off. Maybe it doesn't fit who and where you are now, personally or professionally. If not, let it go--that's okay! But if it still fits and you still feel passionately about it, what's the first step to making it happen? Figure it out and do that.

I'm eleven weeks out from my first half-marathon in over a year. 2014 was kind of a whirlwind. I started the year over 800 miles away from where I ended it. I interviewed for, and started, a new job. And before I knew it, I was closing the books on a year where I hadn't taken very good care of myself as I tried to keep my head above water learning the ins-and-outs of a new library and a new town. I sprained my ankle and spent the majority of the Summer healing and when I started running again, I felt frustrated at how much slower I was. In short, 2014 was both really amazing and really hard. 

So. Eleven weeks.

I have a written plan--half chart and half calendar. I have plotted every run, ever cross-training day, every rest day from now until March 22nd. The way is clear and there is no excuse for me to fail or give up. I'm going to have to squeeze some things in--like that 6 mile run I'm supposed to do on the Sunday of ALA Midwinter. In the warm and fuzzy beginning of achieving our goals, we often overlook how much planning and hard work achieving our goals can be. So let's be excited about Doing Awesome Things, but let's be real about what we'll have to take on or give up to do those Awesome Things.

Are you with me? What can you accomplish in the next eleven weeks? Start today, and leave a note in the comments telling me what Awesome Thing you'll do in the next eleven weeks.

Let's do this.