Last year, just for fun I posted my goals for 2009 here. I have always put together collage boards for my goals since I was in my late teens.
I came across one a while ago that said “I make $21,000 a year!” Back then that was a big goal when I was 18 🙂
So here’s what happened in a year:
1. I said I wanted an BMW x3 without knowing that it was smaller than the x5 and I need space for all the sourcing I’m constantly doing for my clients. This is the one I bought instead, it’s a 2002, the new one was not in my budget 🙂 It’s hard to give up driving a designer car once you’ve had one.
2. Did not get to Italy this year, it’s still on the list!
Image source
4. A new dining table and chairs, still on the list.
5. Here I said I wanted a Louis Vuitton bag, but after I posted the photo it was in my head for this whole year so in the end I didn’t want it anymore because I felt like I’d already had it.
Has anyone else had this experience? I bought a Coach bag (below) at an outlet store in the fall and I like it so I’m not so attached to having a Louis bag at this point.
6. An orange Hermes daytimer. Turns out it’s not compatible with the Filofax daytimer I use so I bought an orange Kate Spade wallet in the exact same colour and I love it!
7. Well I’m not going to post a picture of the flat stomach I wanted here, it still doesn’t look like hers but I’m slimmer and fitter than I’ve ever been so I credit that to posting this photo on my blog!
8. Here I said I wanted to get my work published in a shelter magazine and kind of as a joke I also said “If nothing else is available I’ll take the cover”.
When the possibly of getting on the cover was discussed, my client said “Isn’t that what you posted on your blog?” I had to go back and look because I didn’t remember that I had written it down!
And here is the article on the cover of their September issue!
9. Here I said I wanted to get paid to fly somewhere and speak about colour. And that happened in May, I flew to Calgary and did a talk at a designer event for a Persian Rug Company!
Me with the owner
10. My last one was to form a mastermind group with a bunch of designers. This did not happen simply because I didn’t get committed to organizing one.
Last year the other thing I did was name my year. I called it my Year of Publicity and it certainly was. I wrote an article that was published in 2 magazines and got on the cover (as mentioned above).
My blog was mentioned in the Washington Post Blog Watch 5 times. Click here to see the articles.
So this year I’m naming 2010 my Year of Now.
I feel like I’ve been waiting and waiting for something to happen for too many years. Waiting and working to get really good at what I do so that I can have a great website (finally)!
Waiting to define my look (which I talked about here) working on regular posts for my blog– so that it stays high on google rankings–so people can find me, which is now happening. Most of the business and the calls I get weekly are now as a direct result of this blog.
And you know the pitfall of happiness right? The conversation we have with ourselves called “I’ll be happy when. . . “
I’ve stopped doing that for a few years now (well not totally but way less than I used to), 10 years of participating in Landmark Courses all through my 30’s trained me to communicate in a way that empowers other people–I’m human and it doesn’t always go that way–but I’m committed to being that kind of person and it’s why my blog name has happy in it!
Every course basically asks (in so many different ways) “Are you living your life powerfully? Are you living a life that you love?” My life looks the way that it does because of everything I learned through participating in them.
Plus it’s no surprise that you’ll find yourself learning something on this blog because I do have the personality of a teacher. It took me way longer than I think it should have for me to get where I am so I’m always happy to make it easier for someone else to find their way.
So, inside my Year of Now, here are my goals for 2010:
1. This is the house I currently rent with my partner, I want to buy it and renovate it, I don’t want to move—I love this house!
The owner grew up here and she wants to renovate it or build a new one (she hasn’t decided). But I’m hoping she’ll change her mind and sell it to us.
It’s a 60’s rancher with 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom with a great view and beautiful gardens front and back!
This is my living room. You can see that I have not painted because there is very little wall space here and the current colour does not impact the colour of the furniture in any way. Also if I were to paint it would have to coordinate with the wall to wall existing drapery so it couldn’t be that much different from what it is now.
As many of you know I have not wanted to show my house on this blog because the way you decorate a house when you own it vs. renting is different. Also all the finishes are almost original 60’s! See that mirror on the upper right with the gold frame around it? When we moved in it was a horrible permanent landscape oil painting which I immediately measured for a mirror to cover it up!
This is a glimpse of the backyard where we have many dinner parties
This is the view from the living room
I’ve been afraid to say this out loud because I worry that it might not happen and that in April when our lease is up they might be ready to renovate the house themselves but amazing things have happened when people start writing and speaking their goals so that’s what I’m doing.
2. I want a paint company to sponsor this blog, not next month or next year. NOW 🙂 And I’m committed to making this happen so you’ll be hearing from me this month!
3. I want my work published 5 times in magazines this year. And I’ll definitely take the cover page again!
4. I have received many emails and requests to schedule a 2 or 3 day colour course so I will be scheduling it by the end of January for late Spring or early Summer.
Those are the big ones I’m adding to the list this year. If you have a blog I’m tagging you to write your own list with images – it was powerful to have them on my blog because many of the images remained top-of-mind for me, if you do I’ll add you to the list below:
Happy New Year everyone!
If you would like to transform the way you see colour, become a True Colour Expert.
Related posts:
Authenticity. . . The Currency of the Future
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Amazing goals Maria, so great to see how far you have come. I know that your goals will come true. You work hard and deserve to be happy. Blessings to you this year Maria.
P.S. Thanks for sharing your home, I hope that works out because it's beautiful.
Powerful stuff, Maria. Your candor and inspiration is amazing – and appreciated.
Love, love, your home and those atomic era architectural elements. Hope it can become yours for good.
Years ago I created what I called a "Lifecycle". On posterboard I cut and pasted images and words onto it that defined my goals. I need to pull it out. I know I need to make a new one. I will. Thank you for the prompt. If you have a moment – pls check out my blog – I just posted some New Years oriented thoughts, as well; with many more to follow in the next few weeks. Perhaps I will take on the offer you put out to your readers.
I look forward to reading about all of your successes as they unfold throughout this year.
Maria! Thank you so much for sharing your goals in depth. So many of them are similar to mine..which I am a bit gun shy to actually put down in writing but you have inspired me! I LOVE your ranch house and can relate to the comment "your house must be beautiful, just the way you want since you are a designer", I always chuckle just a little! I hope this is a fantastic year for you and I can't wait to see all the goals you accomplish!
Awesome goals… and I hope you achieve ALL of them!
Here's to a successful 2010 Maria!
xoxo Laura
Maria, What a pleasure it has been to read your posts and learn so much about you and your passion for colour and to help others with their struggles with colour! 🙂 I am confident you will accomplish your goals in 2010! Your house is so cool..would be an amazing project to get to renovate it… kinda like "Sarah's House" (Sarah Richardson)..you could call it "Maria's House"!! I hope the owner will consider your offer to purchase! Best wishes to you in 2010!
I really hope you get your wish to own the house, Maria! It sounds like you really love it and the garden and view looks gorgeous. I still have to write down my goals for this year. I always say I'd love to get published in a magazine {any magazine at this point}, but I've never written it down. Maybe that's what I need to do to make it become reality.
First, let me say, your home is so cool! Fantastic! Great goals, I just put mine up on my blog too. My hubby bought the X3 last year, it's worked out well for us. I absolutely love your blog and wish you nothing but the best in 2010!
Congratulations on reaching so many of your goals last year. I'm sure you will achieve many more this year. I hope you get to buy the house, it is so cool !
what an amazing space you live in….i wish I was as organised and motivated as you !! xxx
Having goals is a wonderful thing! Some how writing them down makes you work even harder to achieve them. It is particularly satisfying when you look back at what you wanted to achieve and realize you can accomplish anything you set your mind too. The only limitations are what you place on yourself.
Your house is beautiful, good luck with your 2010 goals!
oh my gosh i love your house- i so see why you want it! i cannot wait until your goal comes to fruition and you get to go buck wild on it!!!!
you amaze me- you met HUGE goals and you're just so driven!!! you always inspire me and i will have to think on my 10 goals for a bit.
i think one of my favorite NYs was when i was 7 years old and my dad & stepmom let us (3 kids) stay up until 12… it felt like the coolest, longest night ever. we were at my grandparents' house and had so much fun exploring– they actually had a secret pssgway from one closet into another.. you could go from a bedroom to a hallway!!
xoxo
Wow…what a fabulous post. I want that house! I hope you are having a great weekend honey! Kori xoxo
happy new year sweet friend!
may everyone recognize that reading your blog does not in any way replace you! 😉
hugs,
guylaine
Maria, you have accomplished so much this year! Also you have given me an idea as far as sponsorship!! I will have to really give this more thought and write my resolves!
I love your home! You must feel great waking up each morning to such beautiful surroundings. By April I’m hoping it’s all yours.
I like the way you were specific with your goals, i.e. wanting your work published 5 times this year; wanting a paint company to sponsor your blog now not next year. Being very specific ensures we get exactly what we want doesn’t it?
I don’t know why writing them down is so powerful but it is. I write them down, put them out to the universe and go about my day. One way or another they come to be.
Good luck in 2010! Can't wait to see how all of it comes true!
Great goals, Maria. It's true that you won't get what you want until you decide WHAT you want. Thanks for the reminder.
And, your home is lovely. It's…real. A real home for a real person. No excuses or explanations necessary. You definitely have a comfy, warm vibe and that's what's important.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Maria! Thanks for sharing your successes and continued goals with us. It's a great reminder to keep working on our goals.
Let's meet up for coffee soon!
Hi Maria,
Well done!!! I kept journals for 20 years where I always wrote my goals and there is nothing more powerful then believing in them, speaking about them visualizing them most importantly. I was inspired by a little book called Creative Visualization I read in 1986 and has made all my dreams come true! You will achieve your dreams if you believe in them, and have the drive to make them happen, which I know you do. Have fun on your journey, it will be the ride of you life!
I love this, Maria! You've accomplished so much this year, and it is well-deserved! You inspired me to make my own list – yes, I accepted the "tag" – so here it is!
http://www.tracizeller.com/blog
Maria, you are an inspiration! I don't know if I'm gutsy enough to publish my own list of goals, but I hereby promise to write them down. Congratulations on a fabulous 2009 – and here's to an even better 2010!
It's been so fun watching your blog grow and grow over the past year…. I too have a career that doesn't involve selling a "product" really, but a "service" instead, so I have watched with interest and admiration how you have utilized this blog! Can't wait to see what unfolds for you this year… here's to 2010!
Hi Maria!
Great post!! I love the idea of naming the year. I have a revolving goal list, meaning, I add to, cross off, and update almost weekly, but idea of focusing on one concept for the year and its related subcategories is very inspiring!!! I may take you up on your offer :).
P.S. Love your house and the view, spectacular!!!
Maria, there's no doubt in my mind that you will achieve all the items on your list! I adore your blog and have learned so much!!
Secondly, I hope your landlord does decided to sell to you all, if not just know there's something out there even better for you. It will find you!
Hi Maria, thanks for the lovely comment! Sure go ahead and tag me that would be great! Again, love your list and your house. Thanks!
Maria,
I am new to blogging, but have been reading yours…in my top 5 favotites…for the past few months. Immensely educational and inspiring. As a designer, clients always think you are a color expert, those of us in the biz know this is not necessarily the case. For me personally, paint is often the one component of a project that can give me the most angst. Love the fearlessness of your goals!
Thanks, this is inspiring! I just made such a list for myself. Thanks for your inspiring, informative and interestings blogposts!
Congratulations on all your success! Hope 2010 brings you everything you are looking for and more.
Congrats on reaching so many of your goals! And wishing you bigger and better in the new year!
Maria,
Thanks for sharing women better do with goals when they verbalize their goals (My blog post this week).
Putting a goal in writing sets up a filter that helps you become aware of certain things in your surroundings.
Writing it out triggers a nudge to "Wake up! Pay attention! Don't miss this detail!" So once you write down a goal, or post it, your brain works overtime to see you get it, and alert you to the signs and signals that were there all along.
Now that's a great start for a new decade!
Bette
Maria, as always you continue to inspire me to grow and develop. Many years ago I learned to write down my goals and dreams. My daughter began doing that as well and we both gained so much good from that practice. However, I have fallen away from many of those good practices in recent years so your post has inspired me to pick up the good habit again and believe in myself and the goals and dreams that God has placed in my heart.
I am thrilled for your continued success and excited to see where 2010 will lead you. I am believing with you that you will meet and exceed all of your goals for 2010, and especially that the house is yours for good this year and all of the other wonderful goals you have come to fruition.
I must add that you have touched me and my life in a very wonderful and profound way through your blog. You have given me so much more hope than I had last year at this time after having to leave a good job that was the source of my redecorating/renovating funds. For that, I am eternally grateful.
Oh I so hope you get to buy that house. It will be absolutely stunning when you renovate. It also has a breathtaking view!
What a year 2009 was, and what awesome goals for 2010 – I can't wait to see what's up your sleeve!
Welcome to the Year of Now! Great goals and I can really relate to your situation with your rental. We feel the same way about ours. Ours needs a lot more work, but I find myself dreaming about taking it over and doing it my way every day.
I knew you were up to something. You've been silent for a couple of days (ok, it could have been w-end, but i could feel something in the air…) – of course, because you were writing a great post!
I wish you achieve all your goals Maria, and I hope by the middle of 2010, so you can go on holidays, or lets say: extra holidays because Italy is already on your list.
I've posted myself things i wanna do this year too. One I have in my heart (didn't post) but now i'm going to dare and say it – I wish to get the portuguese airlines advertising on my blog, like you wish a paint company to sponsor your blog 🙂
Have a good week.
Good luck with your goals, especially buying that fabulous house.
ah, the courage necessary to take a good hard look at what you want to accomplish and really hold yourself to those goals by stating them out loud. takes guts! i'm still working up my courage to write mine…
Congratulations on your achievements and for sure more to come this year!
You must buy that house. I love visiting you, having a glass of wine and enjoying that view. You should've posted a picture of our tummy you are so gorgous and thin ! You are brave to post your goals for the year and remind everyone what you did last year. Yikes.
I love that you wrote down your goals for 2009 and then reviewed them with us. I'm going to use this for my 2010 goals and see if I can "be the change". Your blog and your voice are inspirational and remind me to be more mindful of color in my design work and life. Good luck with your goals for this year!
I love your goals for this year! Go you! Especially your idea of this year being your year of now; such a great idea!
And your one of the few people who I've heard every talk of Landmark. I did the Forum, the Advanced Course, which is even better than the Forum, in my opinion and I made it halfway through the Self-expression and Leadership program and couldn't finish. Just wasn't the right time for me I suppose. I'm sure I'll go back and do it again.
Your post is so inspiring. Your knack for writing and words is a gift along with your exceptional design talent. After reading your post it has certainly inspired me to write a list of my own.
Love your house, the backyard and the view are beautiful.
Happy 2010 may all your dreams come true!
Live what you love.
cheers
Susan
You've been busy! Congrats on all your successes, your blog has been an inspiration to me.
Maria,
There is not doubt in my mind that you will accomplish all you have set out to…you amaze me!
I loved seeing where you live…I can completely commiserate with the renting vs owning thing…we had to rent many times due to military life and I always did what I could, but it is just not the same when it is your own. I hope you are able to purchase it. The view speaks volumes…just look out the window and all the things you want to do inside fade away.
Blessings to you for a super 2010~
xo
Maria! You've inspired me! I did a goals post, and a goal board for myself. Now I have a more physical expression of my goals for the year!! I will happily "watch" this year as your goals are ticked off one by one. I absolutely adore your home!!! I hope you get to purchase it, and I think that posting pics and how you've worked around decorating obstacles is great inspiration for those of us in blog land!
Awesome Accomplishments & Goals! I find goals much easier to reach than resolutions! This is the year I'm working on my home, sometimes hard to do when so busy working for other people. Good Luck to you and your goals, it will be fun to watch for you in the magazines.
Girlfriend!! As always your posts are inspirational, honest, educational, brilliant, with a touch of fun mixed in that I love so much.
You truly are an inspiration, I can not tell you how much I enjoy reading your blog.
With the determination and talent that you possess I have no doubt that you will get all on that list and so much more. Go get em' girl.
On a lighter note, LOVE, LOVE, did I say love, the new car, that bag is to die for, and dang, nice legs! 🙂 Feeling healthy and looking good is an awesome achievement. I have a feeling that between that picture and your sister's comment you are being modest here.
Happy New Year!! xo
Happy New Year Maria!
Love the coach purse with green accents and the orange wallet looks great. I've been seeing green and orange everywhere lately.
Oh and your garden looks divine! I hope you are able to keep the house
Wow, this is a MOST compelling, powerful post, Maria. SO inspirational. (I have a sort of collage board too, one of my pictures is the Audi A6 wagon that I didn't quite manage to buy yet. However my Subaru Outback gets me and my paintings where I need to go ok for now.) Thank you very much for sharing.
Hi Maria – Well, I did it. Here's to an amazing 2010 for all! ps – It was somewhat intimidating to "put it out there" but gotta start somewhere, right? 😉