New Year’s Resolutions never really work for me, but I do want to change and improve my life before I turn 30 on May 23rd. I had a list of things that were mostly fun that I wanted to do before I turned 30, and a friend pointed out (shamed me) that they were more-or-less things I could do in a day and that I should do things that challenge me. So I started thinking about what I want to do and who I want to be before I turn 30.

My personality lends itself to having loads of ideas and no follow-through, it’s something that’s bugged me since I graduated and then I get this fortune cookie…

The biggest thing for me is to not care if something is good or not. Picasso supposedly said, “The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.” The best estimate is that Picasso created 50,000 pieces, so he knew a thing or two about getting stuff done. So for the next five months, I don’t care if any of these things are actually good or even totally finished. I just want to get them done and out there.

Honestly, things I don’t think are great get made and are either popular, make money or both, so who am I to say what’s good anymore? It’s just my job to make it.

Other things I’m hoping to gain from this is to figure out what I actually like to do and to spend less of my downtime consuming and more time creating.

Some of the list items are to finish creative projects I’ve been working on and some of them are things to challenge me to get outside of my normal way of thinking.

Here’s my list to complete by the end of May (I’m giving myself an extra week):

1. Write 30 songs (at least five different genres)
2. Write 30 pages of a screenplay or 30-minute (technically 22-minute) television pilot.
3. Write 30 pages of a musical
4. Write 30 pages of a novel
5. Write 30 stories from my life or family member’s life
6. 30 posts (by me or other people) on wordfromyourmothers.com.
7. Write 30 jokes/sketch ideas
8. Complete 30 visual art projects (painting, hand-lettering, tattoo designs, sewing, etc.)
9. Release 30 minutes of a podcast to the public
10. Post 30 Etsy listings
11. Write 30-minute “Ted Talk”
12. Record and post 30 one-minute pep talks.
13. Watch 30 shows (both live and recorded performances)
14. Read 30 well-researched articles about unique subjects
15. Broadcast for 30 hours on Twitch
16. Work on/give feedback on 30 projects that aren’t mine
17. Have 30 significant one-on-one conversations with 30 different people
18. Resist 30 impulse purchases
19. Get rid of 30 items
20. 30 days of unique outfits (not repeating anything in my closet, minus underwear and maybe shoes)
21. 30 days of wearing outfits from the same 15 items
22. 30 meals I’ve never tried
23. 30 different kinds of exercise
24. 30 small acts of service
25. 30 seeds planted
26. 30 projects I haven’t been putting off around the house done.
27. Learn a phrase in 30 different languages
28. Learn 30 new phrases in Italian
29. Learn 30 new words in English
30. Do 30 things that make me say, “I’m scared, but I’m going to do this anyway.”
31. Do 30 push-ups
32. Play trombone for 30 minutes

Other things:

Write 30 minutes a day.
30 minutes of self/spiritual care a day.

I’ll be documenting this on my Instagram @theseriallover to hold myself accountable. Feel free to follow along.

Some people think this sounds like a lot, but, honestly, if I was in school I’d be writing/creating way more so I think it’ll be good.