Category: Goals & Growth

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Martin Luther King Jr Service Quote

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I hope Dr. King’s legacy has inspired you to serve today or soon to make a difference in your community.

I had the chance to serve with Capital Cause this weekend in support of the US Dream Academy. This organization is doing some great things to ensure at risk children in the DC area (and other major cities) are empowered to reach their dreams through academic, social, and values enrichment.

Financially FearlessAlso to catch you up on what I’ve been doing in other realms… Two weeks ago I had the chance to head to sixth&i in DC and hear Alexa von Tobel (@alexavontobel) the Founder and CEO of Learnvest.com speak. It was a great talk on finances from her new book Financially Fearless and it was also wonderful to hear someone who is really passionate about getting people to be “financially fearless.” I left there feeling empowered and ready to take my budgeting and saving to the the next level. I even decided to join their financial planning program which offers advisors for a monthly fee. So we shall see how that goes.

Last week I had the chance to participate in a twitter chat with Travel Noire and Black Enterprise. The chat was about travel and focused on the #ZeroBaggage challenge which encouraged travelers to take a trip in the month of February with no bag. This goal of the challenge is to empower people to “pack less and live more.” I know from personal experience that too many bags can hold you back in the travel process. This challenge shows that you can travel bag free and be ok. I am going to do the challenge (still deciding on destination) for a weekend and will definitely blog about how it went. The chats are continuing throughout the month of January every Tuesday at 1pm EST. So follow the #ZeroBaggage hashtag to participate and keep up.

Christen McCluney

This post covered A LOT. Which means I need to write more often. Next post will focus on creating your vision! I’m working on my vision board and am thinking about hosting a gathering so others can create them as well.

Also here are some of my blog articles from this month:

Until next time…

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Hello world. Since my last posting I have started a new job and switched industries (from government to private) so when I’m not at work learning new ways of doing things, new terms, new thought processes and new rules, I’ve been trying to enjoy my social life and well be social.

Doing so I realize how much I use social media to share what happens in my every day life. It could be a tweet, Facebook message or posting a picture on instagram. Recently I started to realize just how connected I was and tried to implement days or times when I was device free. I realized even though I may not post I still would go on those sites and browse and I wondered what it would be like to be completely social media free.

Interestingly enough I came across this article Baratunde Thurston Left The Internet For 25 Days, And You Should Too.

It was a really great read and it shared just how much he really experienced life when he wasn’t so connected. I’m trying to figure out how I can do something similar, which is a tad bit hard seeing how I manage social media for a company. Perhaps baby steps like the weekend or on vacation could be a great start. While “googling” I even discovered there is a camp for adults that does this. Have you ever tried this? What were the results? 

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Happy New Year! Yes I’m a day late. But I’m very excited for what this year has to offer. One of my biggest things to do at the start of the year is to create my quarterly themes. These themes are birthed from areas in life that I want to focus on and become better in.

For example last year I decided I want to step out the box more when it came to creativity at work. As I reflect I was VERY creative in a lot of areas including implementing a HUGE social media plan at a major conference with over 2000 attendees; I  also put together some unique brown bag presentations teaching people how to communicate and use social media; and I  helped an organization I volunteer with start to brainstorm on creative ways to entice volunteers.

A personal theme was to be better when it came to fostering friendships. By saying that out loud and writing it down I exceeded my own expectations in that area. I saw my friends (both near and far) more in 2012 than I have in YEARS. I did all sorts of craziness to make it happen including just this past weekend going to North Carolina Friday and Saturday and then driving back to DC to wake up Sunday morning to head to New York for brunch with friends. Was I tired? Yes, but the time with friends was well worth it.

Because I’ve been so busy I’m still hashing out this year’s themes. Because I’m a HUGE list maker I do have some ideas brewing. While brainstorming late last night I did come up with my overarching theme for the year which is to recognize my own greatness on a daily basis.

That isn’t meant to be conceited or self-serving but it’s really to make a better me which then makes me a better employee, communicator, writer, friend, servant of the community and the list goes on.

When you feel great about yourself and remember how much you offer to world you can make such an impact. Then that is reflected when you work with clients, or deal with your co-workers, or have a tough situation at work. It gives you the boost to say I can get through this. I have the ability to make change because I know I’m great and I’m great at what I do.

I found an article while researching on a site called the DailyOm called “The Greatness in Others, Recognizing our Own Greatness.” This solidified my overarching theme and will be what I turn back to as a resource throughout the year.

So I challenge you instead of making resolutions, try a theme for the year. If you can find an article that inspires you in that area, even better! I didn’t realize how much of a difference it made until I reflected back on my accomplishments of 2012.

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As the year comes to an end many people are trying to come up with resolutions and goals for the upcoming year. Some people make resolutions to lose weight, eat better or do more. Others create a list of goals they would like to accomplish. Other’s create vision boards so they can see what they’d like to accomplish and some people just like to go with the flow. I am a combo of all of the above. 

No matter what approach you take make sure that you are SMART with your method.

smart goal setting mccluney

Just seeing this method really made me think about how my approach is when it comes to creating plans and setting goals. I realize sometimes I make things to broad when they can be more SPECIFIC. Other things I never know when they are done or if they can be done because they aren’t MEASURABLE. I don’t believe that a goal is unATTAINABLE but I do think that you have to know what you limits are and if they are RELEVANT to you current situation and TIME frame.

The next time you are setting goals for the future this method may prove to be helpful.

How do you go about setting goals?