Improve Yourself! Week 2: Baby Step Your Way to Success
I hope you had an awesome first week in meeting your goals through the Improve Yourself! 2010 challenge! If you are not already signed up for the challenge, you have unfortunately missed the deadline and won’t be eligible for the awesome prizes that are being given away this time around. However, I trust that these weekly posts will offer value to anyone looking to improve their life and their marriage, regardless of whether you are officially part of the contest.
If you are a participant, you must leave a comment below giving an update on your personal progress. Please do so by Tuesday, January 12th at 11:59 p.m. central time to be eligible for this week’s giveaway. If you are not signed up, feel free to leave a comment anyhow and give your thoughts on this week’s post or your own progress…you just won’t be winning any prizes.
Baby Steps are Huge
If you have heard of Dave Ramsey and his financial advice, you are certainly familiar with his Baby Steps for Financial Freedom. My wife and I followed this plan to pay off $58,500 in debt, and we continue to apply these principles in our family financial planning.
Improve Yourself! Week 1: Set SMART Goals!
It’s time to set our goals and get started with Improve Yourself! 2010. I am a huge fan of goal-setting and believe it makes a profound difference in the level of success we achieve in our lives. Based on my own experience and lots of reading on the topic, I encourage you to follow the SMART Goals approach to setting your own specific goals for the challenge and in all areas of your life, including your marriage.
What is a SMART Goal?
Specific – What are you going to do? Why are you doing it? How will you accomplish it?
Measurable – Establish concrete measures of your progress. Your goal must be quantifiable.
Attainable – Challenge yourself, but be realistic.
Relevant – Be sure your goal fits into your overall lifestyle and greater desires.
Time-Bound – Every goal needs a completion date associated with it.
I will document my own goals for the 8-week Improve Yourself! challenge in the comments below. And I expect you to hold me and all of the other participants accountable for meeting these self-imposed expectations! By the way, for those of you focusing on fitness like me, there is a free SparkTeam on Spark People that was created just for the challenge (thanks Carrie!). Sign-up and you’ll have a convenient way to measure and track your progress.
Improve Yourself: Prizes, Prizes, Prizes!
The “Improve Yourself! 2010” challenge is simply going to be awesome. I am really excited to announce the line-up of prizes that will be given away to the participants and to give praise to our fantastic line-up of sponsors. If you have not signed up yet, you really need to get in on this challenge by stating your intentions in the announcement post.
The Line-Up of Prizes
First of all, I want to say that the list below represents the minimum prizes that will be given away in this year’s challenge. We have some amazing sponsors, but if we get additional support the prizes will get even better! If you’d like to contribute to the cause, please contact me.
The books below will be shipped to each winner with the goal of helping you to Improve Yourself! Most will be new, while some will be gently used versions that have already blessed the lives of another.
Week 1 Kick-Off: The Happiness Project
Unclutter Your Life in One Week
The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
Week 2: The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
Want an Exceptional Marriage? Stop Living in the Valleys!
Climbing a mountain is hard. It requires an incredible degree of dedication and unyielding determination. There is rarely a sense of relief or a time for relaxation. Instead, there is simply more mountain, steeper slopes and further challenge.
In his incredible book about a disastrous expedition on Mt. Everest, Into Thin Air
Apparently, when conditions turn extreme, inexperienced adventurers notoriously turn toward complacency and seek a sense of comfort. Feeling that they have already come so far and doubting their ability to finish the climb in harsh conditions, a climber may seek rest and relief. Unfortunately, the decision to rest in a valley rather than pushing ahead up the mountain is too often the on-doing of less experienced climbers. Once they get comfortable, it seems they can no longer muster the motivation to get out of the valley.
Announcing “Improve Yourself! 2010″
Improve Yourself! 2010: Your Goals, Your Actions, Your Results
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Would you like to start the new year with a purpose and accomplish some concrete goals quickly?
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Would you like to jump-start your success in 2010 and do more than pay lip-service to your New Year’s Resolutions?
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Are your ready to make a real commitment to yourself and your family and be held accountable for your progress?
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Are you ready for some fun and great prizes?
I am excited to announce a little friendly competition that I’ll be holding here at Engaged Marriage as we welcome 2010. As I looked at some of the goals I want to will accomplish in the new year, I was reminded of how easy it is to resolve to improve ourselves on New Year’s Eve and then slowly (or quickly) abandon our plans a couple weeks later. I knew what I needed was some accountability and some encouragement from others who hold themselves to a high standard.
Why Here?
And then it hit me. We have built an incredibly supportive and inspired community here at Engaged Marriage, and I know that many of you face the same “buzzkills” as I do when it comes to sticking with a plan for personal improvement.
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I'm Dustin, the guy behind Engaged Marriage. I'm living and loving the crazy life of a young husband and Dad.
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