“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’, but ‘that’s funny…’” – Isaac Asimov

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time; I have shared it often with college students who are exploring majors and careers, all while getting ready to embark on making some big decisions.

It can be tempting to want to find one’s true calling – after all, it can be appealing to be like someone with a laser focus in life such as an Oprah or Gandhi or Bono…basically anyone important enough to have just one word in their name.

Surely they must have discovered something meaningful early on that led them confidently down a clear path for the rest of their lives. But as the quote suggests, oftentimes big discoveries are not a result of some epic epiphany, but rather by painstakingly putting together pieces to slowly form a complex puzzle. In other words:

A true, life-changing discovery can happen when we were expecting a result we didn’t get, or when we find patterns among much smaller discoveries over a significant period of time.

This leads me to – drum roll please – the little black book.

Quick side note for my younger readers: Before cell phones, people would write down phone numbers for literally everyone they knew in an address book. And for those who were living the single life, they often referred to their book of people they have dated as their “little black book”. So the title of this post is a play on words. It’s funny. Kinda. Anyway…moving on.

The Art of the Little Black Book

Early on in my career someone gave me the idea to carry a small notebook with me at work and to write down the things I like and don’t like, times when I was challenged, times when I was energized at work, and times when I felt drained. Then, over time, I would be able to look back and find some major themes; these themes would prove to be crucial as I moved forward in my career.

Here are some examples of themes I have pulled from my Little Black Book:

• I prefer helping people go from “good to great” rather than diving into long-term challenges; this eventually helped me rule out Masters in Counseling programs and instead go for a Masters in Higher Education.
• I really value transparency from my leadership; when I moved into a leadership role, I wrote a leadership philosophy and shared it with my team – transparency was the first value I listed.
• I enjoy influencing teams, but discovered that it’s easier for me (and more enjoyable) to do so when I am not the leader of that team; as a result, my next career steps are focused on ways I can impact individuals and teams without necessarily “moving up the ladder” to a Director role.

The Science of the Little Black Book

It needs to be small enough to carry with you wherever you go so that you can jot something down in it any time, but be substantial enough to last for a while (I have used the same one for six years now). I also encourage you to set reminders in your phone to check in on it every 6 months or so and find any themes that may be emerging.

My personal choice has been this small, pocket Moleskine:

It comes in a lot of varieties, and dare I say it, it doesn’t even need to be black. But if you are curious, here is mine in the flesh while I wrote this very post, open to the first page:

Now you may be thinking, Liz, you are a person who likes lots of notebooks, so this makes perfect sense for you. But I challenge anyone to try this – the fact that it is so small and used so sparingly makes it very manageable.

Try it out and before you know it, you will be on your way to making some MAJOR discoveries…little by little.

And on that note, I leave you with this thought experiment:

What crucial themes might you discover if you were able to look back over time?

If you have read some previous posts in this blog, you know that a personal goal of mine is to lose weight. Cliché, I know.

My most recent attempt at this goal was actually the most successful I have ever been with it; for over three weeks I was so disciplined with my diet I not only lost weight, but I did so without it feeling like complete mental and physical torture. In other words, I didn’t mind saying no to pasta, dessert, alcohol, or anything else delicious.  

It felt like the start of a marathon that I was totally prepared for, and I was cruising away from the starting line at a comfortable pace. I could easily visualize the finish line and me triumphantly crossing it.

But then week 4 came, and I cheated a little here, and then a little there, and then before I knew it, I was pretty much behaving the same way as I had before beginning the goal. I am sure many of you out there have been in a place before where the voice in your head sounds something like this:

I have been so good lately that I deserve a little treat. Hell, if I eat these Oreos I’ll probably be helping myself because it’s just not realistic to go cold turkey. Yeah, it will be more sustainable if I allow some Oreos every now and then.

That’s a risky little game, isn’t it? But one we are all too familiar with playing.

One day in week 4 I was feeling particularly exhausted and my willpower was pretty low when it came to making healthy choices. I thought to myself, “Even if I lose the weight, I’ll need to work on keeping it off. What if I lose it, and then gain it all back? Will it have been worth it?”

The truth is, the research on this is pretty discouraging: by some estimates, 80% of people who lose a significant amount of weight gain most or all of it back. And new research is showing that it is biological and physiological, not just mental reasons why this happens, making it truly an uphill battle.

Since I could feel myself slipping, I decided to analyze the goal I had set. And true to fashion, it had all the markings of an excellent goal:

• The deadline was Labor Day weekend (giving me several months)
• There were mini deadlines (i.e. 1 pound per week)
• I had full support from the people that could help me the most
• I knew why I was doing this and created visual reminders
• I anticipated obstacles and made plans to overcome them

Beautiful, isn’t it?

But…

…why didn’t it work?

After reflecting on it for a while I realized that’s it pretty simple:

This goal…is not actually a goal.

I had been going about it all wrong, because weight loss isn’t a goal anyone should set.

Let me repeat that.

Weight loss should not be a goal you set for yourself.

Now before you get too excited, what I mean by that is losing a significant amount of weight requires making a permanent change. It’s a wealth of habits that need to be broken, and a whole new set of ones that need to be created.

Forever.

There is no deadline.

This goal isn’t a goal at all. So, now I’m calling a “non-goal”.

If we change our perspective in this way, it’s no wonder that losing weight can be so challenging. It’s daunting. But the good news is, even though it is incredibly difficult, there are several ways to overcome.

According to an article from Psychology Today, there are 8 reasons why it’s so hard to change behavior, including things like:

• We are motivated by negative emotions
• We try to change too much
• We forget that failure is a given
• We don’t make a commitment

Sound familiar to you? It sure does to me.

Suddenly I can see the errors with my weight loss goal crystal clear. The system I created was a great one for a one-time event, but not for a systematic change in my life. A new system will need to be created.

So now it’s time for me to start over with a completely new mindset, and a new plan.

And this time when I leave the starting line, I’ll know there is no finish line to reach.

And as always, I leave you with a thought experiment to ponder:

How many of your goals should actually be non-goals?

Ah, the bucket list. An old classic.

Although I generally think the new year is a totally arbitrary date (on every single day it has been one year if you think about it), it’s a nice time to dust off your bucket list and make some exciting plans.

My guess is that everyone has had one at some point in their life, in one form or another, whether formal or informal.

My question to you is, how often do you look at it?

And make plans for it?

Is it written down?

As you can probably assume, mine is. And there’s even more than one variation of it. I have it safe and secure in my non-journal. In fact, it was the very first thing I wrote in there.

The big question I had leading up to this post was, does having a bucket list actually work? Most of the information I found was positive, but it turns out there are some people who really hate them.

So here are my most important takeaways when it comes to creating a bucket list:

• It should be things that you actually want to do. If you don’t know what to put on it, try to avoid the typical things that appear on everyone else’s. If you do want to do those things (i.e. travel the world, go sky diving, run a marathon, etc.) then put them on there! But don’t feel pressured to choose those things just because everyone else does.
• Make sure you regularly ignore your bucket list and live in the moment. This is where the really good stuff happens in life.
• Dream big! Even if you don’t cross off every item, it is still pretty amazing to be able to cross off a good chunk of them.

So what’s on mine you ask?

Some of the typical, cliché things you will find on it, some are seemingly easy to cross off, and some will take considerable more effort.

This is a list I have been keeping since I was about 12 years old or so. I went on a cross country road trip with my grandparents, and decided that I wanted to travel to all 50 states. And so it began.

Below is a breakdown of my bucket list…

Things I have already crossed off:

1. Go skydiving
2. Fly a kite
3. Become a mother
4. Eat caviar
5. Fly a plane
6. Watch the Chicago Cubs win the World Series
7. See the running of the bulls

And the things I am still working on:

1. Visit all 50 states
2. Visit all 7 continents
3. Earn a PhD
4. Have a conversation in American Sign Language
5. Take singing lessons
6. Ride on a motorcycle
7. Visit a dark sky park
8. See a crater

And a few things that are on there, that I have no control over, but really hope they happen:

1. Watch the Chicago Bears win the Super Bowl
2. Witness a baby being born

I love my bucket list so much that when my daughters started telling me things they wanted to do, I made a bucket list just for them. Here’s what they have told me so far:

1. Ride a horse
2. Ride in an airplane
3. Ride on a train
4. Ride on a school bus

You can see their interests are related to riding things.

But you better believe I am taking their list seriously. This February they are going on their first airplane, and this summer I am going to be intentional about taking them on a train ride to Chicago.

To end, here are some lessons I have learned about the bucket list:

• Be intentional. This summer I am going to a dark sky park in northern Michigan, no matter what. The last couple of years I have put it off because my daughters were very young, the weather wasn’t perfect, whatever. This year, I am going.
• Get your family on board. Getting to all 50 states is very important to me, and I am grateful that my family has been supportive of it. So when it was time for a vacation, we were all adventurous together – thanks for taking me to Alaksa, mom and dad!
• If you have it actually written down and an opportunity arises, you are more likely to do it. When the offer came my way to speak at another university, I was most likely going to yes, but the fact that it was in North Dakota (a state I hadn’t been to yet) made it a sure thing. And while I was there I didn’t just work; I made an intentional effort to explore, which I might not have done if it weren’t on my bucket list.

So there you have it! Get your list and make it happen!

And on that note, a thought experiment:

What’s on your bucket list? And when will you make time for those things to happen?

If you follow this blog regularly, you may have noticed that I did not post anything new last week. I was forced to take a break for a few days, and as it turns out, that was just what the doctor ordered.

Literally.

My husband was unexpectedly in the hospital last week due to an infection on his elbow. Yes, it was as random as it sounds. It could have been much more serious than it was, and at the end of the day it didn’t disrupt our lives terribly much.

But what it did do, was force us both to take a break. Him for a week, and me for a few days to help out.

The two weeks leading up to this were two of the most challenging I have had at work in a very long time…possibly in my entire career thus far. Every day I was stressed, every evening I was tired, and my personal tell tale sign (we all have one!) that I needed a break slowly appeared…I was grinding my teeth at night.

And then when you add a couple of sick toddlers, and endless barrage of political ads every day as we approach midterms, and a hurricane or two to the mix…suddenly the mix of my everyday life and the national news just become too much.

So when Nick texted me to say he was being admitted to the hospital, I checked my calendar, knowing I’d need to take the next day off. It was one of those days where nearly every single minute of the day was taken by a meeting of some kind…and most of those meetings overlapped with each other. I stared at it in shock – how did this even happen? And how am I going to make all of this up?

But that’s the beauty of the forced break. You have no choice. So I began emailing everyone that had time on my calendar. Little by little, everything got rescheduled, cancelled, or would go on without me. And you know what?

The world kept spinning.

Everyone got what they needed in one way or another.

Everything was fine.

It was just the reminder I needed that it is possible to slow down and take a break. I wish my husband never had that infection, but I’m happy to be able to make some lemonade with the lemons he was dealt.

But what are the chances that all of us get an urgent, but not-too-serious reminder like this? The reality is, we may get a reminder due to something much more serious, or we may continue on being busy without someone ever forcing us to slow down.

So why wait? Create your own forced break.

Personally, I think I could use a break like that quarterly…or at times even monthly. But next time, I’ll take it without the elbow infection.

And with that, here is your thought experiment to carry you on until next time:

What are your tell tale signs that you need a break?

In what ways could you force yourself to take a break?

“I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.” – Lou Holtz

Several years ago while working as a career advisor, I often found myself explaining the benefits of doing informational interviews. The idea is that a student who is still exploring career options should find someone in a job or field they are interested in; you invite them for coffee, and ask them a bunch of questions about their career path, what they like and don’t like about their job, and what advice they have for you.

It’s a fantastic way to not only learn about a career option from a candid, inside source, but also establish a strong networking connection. The days of handing out business cards to a few dozen people at a stuffy networking event are few and far between. No more awkward conversations with complete strangers. Now, students have a way of networking in a more structured manner – even introverts (like me) can get behind this!

Since I had seen so many students find success with informational interviews, and I had my own success with them in college, I figured, why should I ever stop doing them?

If it’s been a while, or if you have never done one, here is a quick how-to guide on how to do this!

(Just some) Reasons why an informational interview could be helpful:

1. You want to determine whether or not a job/career/company may be a good fit for you
2. You are considering switching industries and/or move your career in a new direction
3. You need advice on where to volunteer/how to join a non-profit board
4. You are exploring the idea of starting your own business
5. You are a curious person and enjoy talking to people, at least a little bit 🙂

(Just a few) Ways to find someone to invite to an informational interview:

1. Utilize your alumni network from your alma mater(s)
2. Consider your existing network; you may not know someone who was a respiratory therapist, but I guarantee someone you know does!
3. This is not always ideal, but go on a company website, find the person who has the job you want, and just email them. I have done this a few times when I had no other connections to help me find someone, and have gotten very positive results.
4. Use LinkedIn!

(Just a few) Questions to ask during an informational interview:

1. What was your career path that led you to where you are today?
2. What type of education and/or experience is helpful or required for this type of role?
3. What is your favorite thing about your job? Your least favorite thing?
4. If you could go back and do anything differently on your career path, what might that be?
5. What types of skills do you use on a daily basis?
6. What have I not asked that you think is important to know when considering entering this field?

And remember, this does not have to just be about your professional goals – it can and should be about personal ones, too. Want to learn how to be a better cook? Reach out to the best cook you know and ask them about it.

An informational interview is the reason why I landed my first full-time job.

I graduated from college in 2009, a.k.a. the worst time in our country’s recent history to be looking for a job.

Almost one year prior to applying for what would be my first full-time job, I had done an informational interview with a career advisor in what would become my future office. She told me all about her career path, which turned out to be very different than some other folks I had spoken to in this field; learning a unique story was refreshing and comforting…I learned it was ok if I did not take a direct path.  

About one year later I was working part-time in the box office at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and also as an intern at Ivy Tech Community College. Ivy Tech was growing, and my boss was extremely helpful in putting a good word in for me. As a result, I had 9 interviews in about 4 weeks…and I got turned down every. single. time. I had also just found out I was denied admission to the master’s program I applied to. It was a rough time.

I knew I wanted to be in higher education, so I checked local university job openings almost daily. One day, I saw a position in career services that I knew I wanted, which happened to be in the office my informational interview contact still worked in. I reached out to my contact I had chatted with a year prior, just to let her know I was applying and to thank her again for her time speaking with me. Like I had secretly hoped, she responded and said she would let her director know I was applying.

Because of that kind gesture, I got an interview. I was one of ten interviews to be exact. Job openings were so competitive during this time that I was one of a couple hundred applications; had I not met with her, I am convinced I would not have gotten an interview.

To this day, that is the best interview I have EVER had. Remember the 9 I had just done and failed at? Turns out they were wonderful practice. I got the job, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I learned that an informational interview will most likely not get you a job, but it can get you a much needed foot in the door – it’s up to you to take care of the rest. I also learned that doing an informational interview shows someone that you have a willingness to learn, you have initiative, and you are resourceful; all things a potential employer will most certainly like.

Since then I have never stopped reaching out to people to ask them questions. When I became an academic advisor I did one with my boss at the time, just to learn about what it was like to be a director of an advising office. I wanted to know if it was something that interested me, and if so, what kinds of things I should be doing over the next few years to position myself for a role like that. I ultimately decided that’s not what I wanted to do; I’m grateful that as a result I didn’t spend the next several years moving down a path just because it was what I thought I was supposed to do.  

I have also done informational interviews to determine where I want to volunteer next, whether or not I want to be on a young professionals board for an organization, and more. And I did eventually get into that graduate program the following year after I was denied…because I did an informational interview with the program director to find out what my application lacked.

Still not convinced?

But wait, there’s more!

If you are feeling concerned in any way, the BEST part about doing these is:

People ALWAYS say yes.

Think about it. If someone emailed you saying that they were potentially interested in doing what you do for a living and they wanted to buy you a cup of coffee to learn more about your career path…you would definitely say yes, right? It feels great to share your story and be able to give advice to someone at earlier stages than you.

If nothing else, what’s the worst that can happen? They might say no. Will you look like a nerd? Possibly. But my experience has shown that people truly enjoy talking about what they do and their passions.

So give it a try!!! And as you do, consider this:

Who do you know – or who do you need to meet – that can provide you the insight you need to achieve your goals?

Leave a comment below sharing your informational interview stories or any questions you still have! Maybe a fellow blog reader is just the person you need to talk to next :).

In preparing for this post, I reflected on the goals I have achieved so far in my life, and so far it’s been a pretty decent success rate. I can confidently say that in my 20s I achieved all of the things I set out to do, both personally and professionally. I earned my master’s degree, got married, popped out a kid or two, and traveled to some new places.

That’s a good thing…right?

Maybe, maybe not. I’m starting to realize that it may be time to ask myself some tough questions:

Have all my goals been ones I knew I would achieve? Have I ever really pushed myself?

Yikes…if I am really honest with myself, the truth is I have probably been playing it pretty safe. That’s not a bad thing per say, but what might the possibilities be if I opened myself up to risker goals?

Let’s break down a small, real-life example of mine from last fall. I set a goal to read 4 books for fun during the fall semester, and I ended up reading 6. That’s pretty good. I love crossing books off my list, so it felt pretty good.

But what if I had set a stretchier goal of reading 10 books by the end of the semester? I may have fallen short, and still only read 6 – that’s the same result, which is still pretty good. Or, I may have read 8, or 10. Or even more. I realize now that I picked 4 because I knew I could do it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it did not really help me grow, nor did it force me to change the way I do things at all.

We could also point to the example of the half marathon I ran. If you read my previous post about it, you know that I really hated that experience. But what if I had approached it differently? What if instead of setting the goal of just finishing the race, I set a scarier goal to finish in a certain amount of time? I might have actually pushed myself and accomplished something even greater. I probably still would have hated it, but it’s a fun thought experiment!  

Ten years ago I remember reading a post in one of my favorite blogs, Life After College, called “Big, Hairy, Scary Goals”. The author, Jenny Blake, challenged readers to think of one of your biggest life goals, say it outloud to yourself, and then say it outloud to someone else. Each small step would make the goal more real, and by making it more real, it becomes tangible.

She’s talking about the BIG goals we all have. Some might be at the forefront of your mind, some you may not even dare to say. Perhaps you want to write a book, travel the word, live in a different city or country, quit your job, go back to school, start a business…the possibilities are endless.

My “Big, Hairy, Scary” goals include things like becoming a published author, earning a PhD, visiting all 50 states and all seven continents, and more. They sound exciting, and I work toward them every now and then when I have the time, money, and energy. They are the types of goals that stay with you year after year, but something – perhaps a life event, whether good or bad – always seems to get in the way. Goals like these can easily fall to the wayside, being replaced with your daily routine and short-term goals.

Don’t get me wrong – focusing on your short-term goals is incredibly important! But every now and then, shouldn’t we put aside some time and energy for something really big?

Heck, the big goals I just mentioned could even be bigger! For example, what if instead of visiting every continent I visited every country? Or learned a new language? These things sound waaaaay scarier…so maybe that’s on the right track.

My favorite section of the book, Better, Smarter, Faster was a story about what is now my all-time favorite stretch goal example. The book tells the story of the creation of the first bullet train in Japan. It was just after WWII, and Japan was searching for ways to boost their economy; a high speed train would be crucial for people to be able to travel between cities for work and leisure. 

In 6 months engineers presented a prototype which would go 65 mph, which would make it one of the fastest in the world. But that wasn’t good enough for the head of the Japanese railway system – he wanted 120 mph. The conversation between the engineers and their boss went something like this:

Engineers: “That is not realistic. At those speeds, if the train turns too sharply, it would derail.”

Boss: “Why do the trains need to turn?”

Engineers: “There are numerous mountains between the cities.”

Boss: “Why not make tunnels, then?”

Engineers: “The labor required to build them is too costly.”

Boss: “Find a way.”

So they went to work and created a new prototype at 75 mph. Frustrated, the head of the railway system explained that 75 was better, but not enough to transform the nation. He replied,

“Incremental improvements would only yield incremental growth.”

So over the next two years the engineers continued doing experiment after experiment. They rebuilt some gears here, reinforced the rails there…each small change added a few more miles per hour to the overall speed. Finally, in 1964 the world’s first bullet train left the station, travelling an average speed of 120 mph. Now, to travel between Osaka and Tokyo would take roughly 3 hours instead of 20. Talk about transforming a nation.

And thanks to one of the world’s greatest technological advancements, Nick and I got to see this amazing country for ourselves:

The moral of the story is that to accomplish something great, you need to change the way you do things. As Thomas Jefferson once said,

“If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.”

Essentially, the stretch goal becomes more about the process in which you do things rather than the goal itself. If I want to change my goal to visiting every country in the world rather than just every continent, it means I might have to change the way I save money, or earn extra money, or have a job that was conducive to me travelling more often, and who knows what else.

I’m not necessarily saying we should all quit our jobs and travel the world. But what I am definitely saying is that we should at least open ourselves up to the possibility.

And on that note, a thought experiment:

What would you be capable of if you stretched yourself? If you had no constraints, what would be possible? If you allowed for a major change to take place, how might that be for you?

I was 8 years old when I got my first diary. It had pink and blue pages, a lock, and was given to me as a parting favor at a friend’s birthday party. I thought it was the coolest. thing. ever.

I just knew I was going to fill this entire thing up with memories, insights proving I was wise beyond my years, and obviously, the latest details on my crushes.

For your reading enjoyment, here is an actual excerpt from little Lizzie Freedman circa age 10 (note: names have been changed to protect innocent people who don’t deserve to be associated with this):

“Dear Diary,

Something great happened. Tim likes me, and I like him. His little brother called me and wanted to know if I wanted to talk to him. I said no. Then he said do you want to talk to him about the D.A.R.E. dance? I said yes! Then Tim popped the question. Do you want to go to the dance with me? Then he said who should Chris go with? I said Lisa. He said she already said no. And so did Teresa. And Kim. I have a boyfriend!!!”       

       -Lizzie Freedman, 5th grade

How did I not realize my calling was to be a writer 20 years ago??? Am I right???

Well, needless to say, that diary was not the profound experience I thought it would be, but I never completely let go of wanting a personal place to write down my thoughts. Many times since then I have tried to keep a journal, only to become inconsistent, and then stop altogether.

That said, I still believe journals are great for documenting memories and key moments of one’s life, and they allow me to “think out loud” before jumping into a major decision or conversation.

There are so many good reasons to do it, but I really didn’t want to start something, not finish, and felt like I had failed.  

My only successful one is a journal I share with a friend who lives in Houston; we each keep it for a few months to write about what’s going on in our lives or in the world, and then we mail it back to the other. I’m not going to lie, it’s super cute.

But how will I keep up with a journal that’s just for me? “Perhaps a bullet journal is the way to go”, I thought.

If you have been on Buzzfeed or Pinterest at all in the past few years, you probably already know these things are HOT right now.

Wow…so beautiful…such straight lines…so detailed…perfect doodles….I’m…in love.

But I’m also busy. And not interested enough in learning the skills needed to create these works of art. Who has time for anything that requires multiple pens and a ruler?

But the months went by and I kept coming back to the idea of starting one of these. Then, while perusing free classes through Barter School Indy, I noticed a class about bullet journaling for beginners.  

The opportunity to attend this class aligned with another goal of mine, which was to do something for myself every now and then – and not feel guilty about it. So I signed up for that class, as well as another one for women interested in writing.

The class was adorable. There we were, all with our newly purchased notebooks and fun pens. The instructor was wonderful; she did a great job giving us plenty of ideas in a very down to earth, manageable way.

But despite that, I still left that class thinking:

Nope. I’m still not going to keep up with this.

So I let the idea go; instead I decided to bring my new notebook to my women’s writing class a few weeks later. The class was called, “Wonder Woman Writes”. I felt empowered already!

In class we did four free-writing activities. Still having my bullet journal class fresh in my mind, I realized that I may want to keep what I have written long-term, so that I can look back at it. Perhaps there were seedlings in this work which could be nurtured later on. I did all of my writing a few pages into the notebook so I could have space for a table of contents, should I decide to go that route.

Best. Decision. Ever!

Now, my non-journal has all kinds of pages in it:

• Book reports (more posts on these to come!)
• Favorite quotes and song lyrics
• Simple moments with my daughters I don’t want to forget (i.e. the brief phase they went through where every night after dinner they’d take off their socks and ask to have their feet wiped)
• Lists. So many lists!
• Habit trackers (i.e. tracking spending)
• Notes from informational interviews
• Mind maps
• Questions I come up with randomly throughout the day (i.e. if 20/20 vision is measured in feet, what do they call it in the metric system?)
• And of course, my goals.

I actually have my non-journal to thank for the Year of Liz. Writing it down there was where I felt the most comfortable starting. It was important for me to think through all three parts to the Year of Liz before telling anyone.

Right there with writing the goal itself and creating an action plan, I could now write down steps for visualizing obstacles, include inspirational quotes, and insert mini habit trackers:

Now I have the freedom to write something I would put in a journal if I want to, but I can also write a list of which of the 50 states I have been to (I have a goal to visit all 50 before age 50; shocking, I know). I can brainstorm ideas for the coffee table book I want to write, and also deep thoughts on politics, parenthood, and life in general. There is no pressure, and no limits. 

And I suppose the next time someone asks me to a dance I’d just have to write that in there, too.

On that note, thought experiment time:

How do you currently keep track of your ideas, questions, goals, memories, hopes (and any other random stuff) that comes to mind?