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The 50 by 50 Project: The Final Update

You might recall that toward the end of 2015 I shared my 2016 Word of the YearProgress – and followed up at the start of January with an explanation of a project I’d conceived to help me put the word into action in the new year. My introduction to The 50 by 50 Project was as follows:

The 50 by 50 Project is a list of 50 things I want to accomplish in the coming year: things I need to do, things I want to do, things I keep saying I’m going to do but never quite get around to it, things that will make me a better person, things that will get me out of the house more, things that will help me get my house in order.

Some of the things on my list are big, ongoing, and challenging while others are short, sweet, and easily accomplished. Some are serious, others are frivolous. Some are tedious, others are a delight. All are realistic, doable, and life-enhancing.

The intent of the project isn’t to somehow attain perfection by the age of 50 (if that were even possible!); rather, as Peter suggested when I explained the project to him, to hit the ground running when I reach that milestone, happy and healthy and ready for a vibrant, fulfilling life to come.

I wrapped up the post by committing to write a monthly “Progress Report” (usually toward the end of each month) with updates on how my 50 by 50 Project is progressing.

I shared my first progress report at the end of January and followed up with the second in February, the third in March, the fourth in April, the fifth in May, the sixth in June, the seventh in July, the eighth in August, the ninth in September, the tenth in October, and then… well, that’s pretty much it.

I DID stay on-track with many of my long-term (and some of the short-term) goals, but since it had become pretty obvious sometime in the fall that I simply wasn’t going to be able to achieve everything I’d set out to do by the end of the year, I kind of slacked off on posting about my progress.

But you know what? Even though I wasn’t able to cross everything off the list – even though, in fact, there are a whole pile of things that I didn’t even start – I still consider my 50 by 50 Project to be a success… not only because of all the things I DID accomplish, but because I didn’t give up (even though the blogging part of it wound down in October!) and stuck with the project throughout the entire year, getting done whatever I could manage.

Rather than re-post the entire list in all its incompleteness (you can always check out October’s post for the most recent update), I want to use this post to highlight a handful of the more memorable things I accomplished in 2016.

  • I lost more than 40 pounds.
  • I read 71 books.
  • I completed the training and became a Certified Zentangle Teacher.
  • I had a logo and new business cards designed and printed.
  • I created and launched my own business website.
  • I created, published, and began selling my own colouring book.
  • I taught nine Zentangle classes.
  • I designed, had printed, and sent out my own custom-tangled Christmas cards.

So I’m proud of myself, even if it’s not quite in the way I’d expected or hoped to feel when I started out a year ago, and very glad I tackled this project.

Now on to a fresh new year!

How was 2016 for you?
Please share!

Laurel Storey, CZT – Certified Zentangle Teacher. Writer, reader, tangler, iPhoneographer, cat herder, learner of French and Italian, crocheter, needle felter, on-and-off politics junkie, 80s music trivia freak, ongoing work in progress.