So this week I turned 45. There it is, a number out there for everyone to see. I promised myself when I was in my 20′s that I would never lie about my age. So far I’ve kept that promise.
I was one of those kids who just presumed I wouldn’t live beyond 30. I imagined people at my (so so sad) funeral talking about all my potential and how successful I could have been. It’s much harder to live up to potential than just ‘have’ it.
Last year I had my memorable wall of sticky notes to guide me though my goals. It gave me a focus (to go surfing) and helped me have lots of fun doing silly little goals.
Although it was a great relief to rip those post it notes down and have a white wall again, I must admit I miss having that visual reminder every day.
Life is too short just to see what happens. You have to create the life you want.
So enough with the pre-amble. I’m 45 and want this year to be packed with fun. I have decided to take on 45 challenges. The first will be to lose 45lbs. As for the others.. I would still love to milk a cow, visit a gospel chuch, and do some really stupid stuff for charity. (can you help me with those?)
Do you have any ideas for other stuff I should do? Things you want to do with me?
So I guess my challenge is to challenge you – come up with some ideas and lets get living!
ps. If you are the kind of person who reads blog posts but doesn’t comment, I challenge you to break that habit now.. Leave a comment – even if it’s just “wow 45 – you don’t look nearly that old” (LOL)
{ 57 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! I am inspired. I had a similar plan for when I turned 50 (almost a year ago now)… and then totally lost track of the idea. THANK YOU for bringing it back into the light for me. I have already thought of a couple of challenges for myself and will post them very visibly on the wall so I don’t forget to keep adding… Just in case you want to add them to your own list: EVERYDAY tell someone why I am grateful to have them in my life, ONCE/MONTH (or at least 12x in the year) visit somewhere I have never been before or do something I have not done before… it’s a start…
I look forward to reading more comments.
Barbara
When I put all my goals on the wall last year it had an amazing effect. Not only was I constantly reminded of them but everyone who showed up in my office would read them and offer to help. It was amazing. I remember being taught a line dance right then and there (one of my goals). Let me know how your plans go. You will keep me inspired too. Thank you
Aileen.
twitter responses:
blakelagneaux@thatspeaker hmmm. if we all join forces, our plans for you could be diabolical!
annaucoin@thatspeaker I say we hit up the gospel church this sunday
YOU’RE 45!?
I never would have thought that…you look fabulous:)
There’s lots of things you could do for charity down here in New Orleans like helping to fix up people’s houses (which you would be awesome at because you’re an amazing designer), and helping to save Charity Hospital! And of course, I challenge you to Friday morning coffee at Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter. You pick the date.
Hey You!
You constantly surprise me! I love the wall of post it notes. What an inspirational idea
and how powerful the result was.
Hey, I also didn’t know that there were other people out there who didn’t think they would live beyond 30. I just thought that was me. How selfish to claim that one just for me:)
Like you, since I thought I was not going to live very long, I listed out my 10 things to do before I die, and went of and did them one by one. The strange thing was that new things kept adding themselves mischievously to the list. It did however bring a kind of peace during that time.
In the next 30 days or so, I turn 40, so maybe its time to do it again.
But back to you. Ahem. Sorry:) Here’s something. I challenge you to clearly, coherently define how your new “third stream” project fits with your overall design for life. Also, how can you cross promote with and between your other two activities. There I said it. Over to you.
Aileen…
My Aunt and her kid’s raise cattle in S. Dakota… so if you ever go there let me know. You can swing by the ranch and milk some cows.
She is my most favorite aunt in the world. (Please dont tell any of the others that she is my favorite… they would be crushed.)
Anyway Happy Bday again and you know I will help you with any goals that I can.
Also I’m with you on the weight loss. I just told myself that this week and decided I need to make it happen.
Love ya..
Joe
you rock Megan.
Let me know of a good New Orleans project we can help with and I’m sure I can bring a posse. And yes, Cafe du Monde challenge is accepted. Will happen!
Craig
Challenge on the business plan accepted. You know me too well, and know I’ll just fumble along without a plan. It will be good for me.
I challenge you to make some goals for your 40th year.. It’ll be good to not think i’m doing this alone!!
Joe.
K… lets report to each other on the weight loss! (and anyone else who want to join in)… I’ve put it online now so it has to happen. S.Dakota.. hmmm I may just get there one of these days.
I challenge you to come up with 45 healthy meals to support your 45 lb. weight loss goal and the 45 challenges. It might seem like a daunting task but I bet it gives you something to look forward to at each mealtime and will completely change the way you eat for the better.
Brian
I accept that challenge… I may even put them all in an ebook.. who knows… thanks for the great idea!
Well, I’m in the midst of the weight loss thing. If you want a workout you can do at the gym and at home (which increases the consistency for me), try P90X )http://sn.im/gop90x.
Otherwise, I’m hoping to do the swim around Key West next year and perhaps another Ironman. You up for either of those crazy goals?
Happy Birthday Week!
I love the idea of 45 goals and I’m glad I’m a bit younger! No-one ever comes to the design loft, so the public posting of goals won’t be useful in that way, but it’s still inspiring.
You GO!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET LADY!!! You look GREAT and you know it!! So there!
Here’s all I got for you so far -> I’m turning the big …eeeeks, I can’t type it …yes I can ….I can do this, I can type it. Ok, I’ve pulled myself together – I’m turning 40 next May.
And I have one big goal for that event – I want to do a round off flip flop – or some may call it a round off back handspring.
And that’s that. You with me?
Happy Birthday Aileen!
Sending you a HUGE birthday hug.. I’ll give you the real one at #nams in january ’10 I LOVE your sticky wall… you may see one from me next year, inspired by this fabulous idea…
Here’s my fun idea for you… ride an Andalusian Stallion… (They’re the kind of horses they usually use for bullfighting) I have 12 in Texas so am officially inviting you to visit me there and I’ll help you with that challenge!
Maybe you can speak at one of my events at the Hacienda and we’ll make a whole event of it!
Love & Hugs!
Maritza
Maritza
This challenge has me shaking already. I’m fairly scared of horses (and most animals bigger than me).. but I’m saying YES to everything today (so far).. so YES. I’ll do it.. somehow.. (very short rope with a very large guy holding it)… I would love to speak at an event (that’s me in my element) so lets arrange it and make it happen.
Dan
I am going to be working out both at home and at cajuncrossfit (http://www.cajuncrossfit.com). I have just been challenged on twitter to run half a marathon (13 miles) – that seems forever to me.. I may need you for advice/support/to pretend to be me and finish it for me!
I knew you would say yes… because I knew as soon as I saw you speak that you are a Courage Rockstar!
We’ll talk and plan in January…. Maybe Jeff can hold the stallion.
(no I have a serious trainer who’ll hold the horse and we’ll put you on the nicest one!)
Love You!
Maritza
I tweeted, twitted, said, typed … Oh, you know what I mean … a challenge for you might be to run a half-marathon, 13 miles. I gathered from your tweets that you were getting fit with @Cajuncrossfit.
Of course after I tweeted, twitted, said, typed … Oh, you know what I mean … that, I knew you would challenge me in return. But YOU asked for the challenge, not me, so I thought about it for a nano-second, and gave you your challenge: Half-marathon. After-all you need 45 challenges, which could be a challenge in of itself to come up with.
However, if I can dish it out, I can take it, too.
I accept your challenge to run a half-marathon (even though I can’t run 100 yard right now).
I’ll need six months to train, which puts me/us at running a half-marathon in March 2010.
I’m starting to train on Saturday.
I’ll be at Girard Park with my wife and 5-month-old at 8 a.m. to walk around the track a few times. We’ll start at the pavillion by the basketball goals, hand-ball court. Lemme know if you ever want to meet to train, and if you want to run in the same half-marathon, which needs to be selected at some point.
Thanks for the challenge! (besides, I don’t have enough to do right now … hahahahahhaahhahahahahhahahaha, yeah right, not enough to do, hahahahhhahahahhahahahah!) Sorry, I was talking to myself in that last sentence. lol
Todd
“getting” fit would assume I have already started.. “going to get fit” is more like it.. Lets do it. We’ll find a half marathon around that time and complete it. I have just agreed to ride a stallion so this seems easy right now. I’m terrified of horses. I’m definitely up for the 13 miles.. (you did read the bit about me being 45 right?) LOL
OK, Aileen. As always, you continue to inspire me with your incredible ideas. My challenge to you is going to be one that you probably already do anyway. It is something I have thought about doing recently, but I am adjusting it to fit your “45″ theme (and making it a bit quicker to complete).
I have been wanting to meet a new stranger every day and learn enough about them to write a short blog post. It would be something simple. Maybe just a sentence or two. The blog posts would sometimes include photos, advice from the person or just a fascinating story about them.
I want to do this for 365 days, but I can’t get motivated. So, if you get started and meet 45 people in 45 days, maybe I will be inspired to live out this goal. Thoughts?
Reed
Wow.. what a great, creative idea.. scary but so much fun. YES I’m in. I’m going to have to sit down next week and plan so that my year is full of these goals or I’ll try and do them all at once. I will definitely include this. Lets do it together – how about the 45 days before Christmas? – that would give us a great ending! What do you think?
haha. I’m 42, about to turn 43. And, you did read the part about how I can’t run 100 yard right now right? lol. And, no, you can’t ride the horse in the half marathon. It must be run/walked.
BTW, I’m dead serious about this. I encourage/challenge others to join us, even if you/they are out of shape now, like moi.
Todd
I feel the same. Anyone else who wants to join in this challenge step up. Imagine what it will feel like to know we have done this!
Lisa
wow.. what a great thing.. can i do it on a trampoline? I’ll need to look up what it is but I’ll give it a go.. lets flip into May!
Happy Birthday Aileen! Seriously, I would have never guessed you were 45, I would have thought maybe 35 at best. I think it’s the smile
Smiling keeps you young!
I’m in, especially with the Christmas tie-in. It will be great to start with a mini version of this project. And I’m certain I will meet some interesting characters along the way.
Oh Aileen, you never cease to amaze me. You are passionate, honest, motivating, and committed, and that makes you a star in my book. So, you know I can’t just be sweet and move on…I HAVE TO participate in this challenge business. So I’ve been thinking about how your challenge could not only impact you, but also the rest of your world (or a small part of it) because I know that as selfless as you are you’d want to be a part of something bigger than yourself. So, I’m challenging you…(drumroll please) to take the BE YOU brand to the streets. I’m challenging you to take this amazing concept to all of Lafayette. I’m challenging you to help people find some pride in who they are and realize that they too are amazing – and that our home, Lafayette, is also amazing because of the sum of its parts. We’ve joked about a city-wide BE YOU event(s) where people can show up as they are and be photographed. And I’m sure there are a gagillion graphic artists, photographers, and people with publically accessible spaces that would volunteer their time and resources to make this happen. So build a BE YOU brand for Lafayette…you can do it, and we’ll all help! Love you!
Anne – lets start by setting up a BE YOU day at LEDA ? are you in?
Sure! Think of some dates and we can book the room and spread the word.
First off, I challenge you to be ageless. Because as much as 45 might scare some people, in reality, it’s just the ages 4 & 5 hanging out together & those were 2 of my most productive years. & in spirit of that, I suggest we get together & do something you loved to do when you were that age but haven’t done it in a while, unless it involved bodily fluids…
Second challenge: I love doing crazy random acts of kindness. Especially around Christmas because it makes me feel like I’m in a movie, don’t ask. Let’s brainstorm some fun things we can do with a group. This can be your charity thing…
Abi
Such an Abi answer – I’m going to remind you of that when you are twice the age you are now! I love random acts of kindness – they make me smile for days. I try and do them all the time, but have never had a partner in crime… cool. I’m in.
ps. when i was 4 and 5 I loved sitting in coffee bars drinking Americanos (believe me?)
HI Aileen, Happy Birthday again
I remember a conversation we had at NAMS in August about passive income. Here’s my challenge for you:
Come up with 45 different ideas of things you could do to generate more passive income. Then pick one of them and get to work on it before NAMS3.
Susanne – I love this one, mainly because I could already have claimed to have done it – but not quite… Making myself come up with 45 ideas will be great discipline. Thank you. Are you going to do the same?
My bigger challenge will be not to come up with 45 new ideas, but instead focus on improving and tweaking 4 or 5 of my existing ones. Can’t wait to hear about your ideas in January.
Aileen I will turn 45 in June and I love your idea of listing 45 things I want to do. I think I’ll get a head start on crafting that list so it is ready by June.
And I can’t wait to see your finished list.
As for the weight loss, are you going to do the Fat Loss Quickie Challenge? It starts in a few days. Transform your business, fitness, & life. http://bit.ly/4uyrXS
I turn 45 on the 28th of this month. I love the challenges idea and that you have opened it up to others’ suggestions. I’m always challenging myself to do something bigger.
I’m thinking I’ll do this right along with you!
Ta-Dah!
Terri
Linette
It will be great to have other people doing this – will keep me motivated.
I have my fitness plan in place but will also enjoy watching the weight loss quickie stuff – it’s awesome stuff
Terri
Welcome aboard. I’m delighted not to be alone in this.. opening it up to others was probably my first challenge. I’m a bit of a control freak. LOL. I’m already worrying about the fact I probably won’t be able to do a back flip and I’ve always been a bit afraid of horses. I guess that’s why these are called challenges!
There is no way you are getting off the hook that easy. If I have to phone your mum to get the answer, I will…
Sean, what’s her #?
You know what else you need to do, woman? You need to geocache! I just bet you would LOVE it!! Go to geocaching.com and check it out! I have a blast doing it and even did it three times while we were at NAMS2!!!
Lisa Marie
I have just checked out the site quickly and it looks fascinating… I will go back later today when I have time. Thanks!
Aileen – I think it would be amazing to find 45 people who have touched your life in a positive way and let them know that they have done so. You know, the folks who have helped to form the genius that stands (and blogs) before us today.
Also, I’ve noticed that, for me, the day tends to be filled with lots of noise – maybe meditate in complete silence for 45 minutes each day? Three times a week?
-Blake
Blake
I accept both of those challenges with a huge smile on my face – I have been meaning to meditate for a while, I know it would re-energize my world. You rock!
I can help you with the cow, the gospel church (although I’m now
Catholic…. don’t tell my grandma… she’ll come back to get me),
and diving with sharks
I guess my challenge would be to develop the habit of taking
immediate action on any project that you’ve decided to actually
DO.
Willie
Happy Birthday, girl. 45, huh? You’re gaining on me.
. It just keeps getting better!
I challenge you to figure out how we can Joint Venture a ton of fun and maybe even money. Put your thinking cap on and I will too.
-Chris
Willie.
All these challenges will certainly help me develop the right actions to make things happen (not that it’s a weakness of mine).. so you have me intrigued “diving with sharks?” really really really ? That has me jumping up and down with excitement.. lets make that happen!
Chris
Yes to the joint project. yes yes yes.
Aileen,
45?! You are like a Colt 45 pistol, Girl! A sharp-shooting fine instrument! ha!
I have a few challenge suggestions:
FUN STUFF:
Apply for Leadership Lafayette!
Take a belly dancing class.
Two words: tat pact…suggestion: BE YOU. teehee!
STUPID CHARITY STUFF:
Dress up like a Junior Achievement pyramid at the JA Golf Classic on Friday, November 13th and convince golfers to hand over their extra funds to teach kids work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy (or anything else for JA! I’m sure we could brainstorm some fun and goofy ideas that would be win-win situations).
Love ya!
Stella ;^)
Stella
I accept the JA Golf tournament dress-up challenge.. you have a costume? I love being a mascot!