Since moving home the number one thing people have asked me is, “So…what is your plan now?” The answer is that I simply do not know, which is so unlike me.

If you have known me for a while, you know that I love—make that need— to have a plan.  But the problem is that life rarely goes as planned. I first learned this lesson when receiving acceptance letters to colleges. I wanted to go to UC San Diego. Badly. I had my major picked out, visited the school, and had friends that wanted to go there too. It was all planned out in my mind. When letters came in from the UCs, I had five acceptance letters, and UCSD was not one of them.

So I learned a lesson that everyone learns in life: plans get disrupted. But more than that, I learned that sometimes it is for the better! Having my first option taken away forced me to take a hard look at my second choices: UC Santa Barbara or UC Davis. As you know, I chose Davis, and thank goodness I did! I started college as a Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavioral Sciences major (yes, that is one major. We called it NPB).  I wanted to do medical research post-graduation, so I started an internship at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience doing hands-on medical research on Parkinson Disease patients. It was a fascinating internship and I learned quickly that a career in medical research was not for me! If I had been accepted to UCSD, I would have never had the opportunity to do exactly what I wanted to do as my life career while in college. This Parkinson Disease study was happening at UCD, and only UCD. So I have witnessed first hand that when life does not go as planned, you just have to make the best out of your situation. And more so, that it might be the best situation for you.

So let’s apply that principle to my current situation. When I was packing up my life I sat down and made a plan for what I wanted to get out of my time in LA. What I decided is that I wouldn’t have a plan at all…I would have an idea. An idea of what I wanted to do, try, and see while taking a step back.

Here is the list I came up with, in no particular order:

1. Put my family first
2. End up somewhere unexpected
3. Further my friendships
4. Exercise 3 times per week
5. Learn a new skill
6. Study for the GMAT
7. Help people think big
8. Apply for MBA programs
9. Do something that scares me
10. Learn to live with less
11. Create something special
12. Make 3 new friends
13. Give something up
14. Let the weather determine the day
15. Live authentically

Quite a list, right?! Just because I am unemployed doesn’t mean that I don’t keep busy! So how is this list going? Let’s break it down.

1. Put my family first
   From dinners, to movies, to taking my dad to doctor’s appointments, this has been “achieved”. Now I just need my brother to come home!
2. End up somewhere unexpected
   This hasn’t really happened too much yet (except for a surprise concert I was invited to! Read about it here.), but it’s in the works! I have a trip planned to New York City in November and Dallas in December! Both trips came out of nowhere!
3. Further my friendships
   Yes, achieved! Between dinners in Hollywood, going to museums, and planning trips to see old friends in different states, I can confidently say that this goal has been easy to work toward!
4. Exercise 3 times per week
   This has been off and on honestly. I have been good about hiking, but have had some shin splint flare ups (always fun). What I really want to do is join a yoga studio, but have been putting it off. No excuses, I just need to do it.
5. Learn a new skill
   Well, I really didn’t know what I wanted this new skill to be. Turns out, it was learn how to create a website, although I am still learning. Another thing I have wanted for a long time? To learn to play the piano.
6. Study for the GMAT
   My least favorite goal… but hopefully it will be the most rewarding! I am finding that I don’t like making time for things that I don’t like doing…And that ends the boo-hoo for Tess party, thank you for attending!
7. Help people think big
   Maybe this blog will inspire someone? Life is what you make of it.
8. Apply for MBA programs
   I need to accomplish #6 first…one step at a time. Let’s not get overwhelmed here.
9. Do something that scares me
   Not sure at all what this will be! Get a tattoo? Skydive? So far, the only thing I have in the works is to fly to a different state to visit an old friend, someone that I have not seen or talked to in over 9 years! That is scary! But, everything you want is on the other side of fear.
10. Learn to live with less
    Needing to fit my life into two cars really helped kick start this goal. I am such a consumer; so I am really trying to reduce my worldly possessions and keep only things in my life that really have meaning to me. My bank account thanks me for this! Also, a very effective way to avoid the mall is knowing that you don’t have an income!
11. Create something special
    Will I write a novel, poem, or song? Paint my masterpiece? Who knows… But I have time and the desire, and something will come of that.
12. Make 3 new friends
    I have yet to meet a new person and become friends with him/her. Sadness. But I have reconnected with two people from my past, and that is a start! If you want to get together, send me a message!
13. Give something up
    Well aside from my job, relationship, and life in Northern California, I haven’t really given anything up! Suggestions??
14. Let the weather determine the day
    If it is a gorgeous day, get outside and enjoy it. If it is cold and rainy, curl up with a book and sit by a fire. This is harder than it sounds. It is so easy to get sucked into work, social media, or Netflix. Be better than that.
15. Live authentically
    Another hard one. To me, this blog helps me keep this goal in mind. This blog is me, Tess Meyer, fully and wholeheartedly. Everything that I write I believe and support. This is my perspective, straight from my own brown eyes.

If you made it this far, I applaud you. Those are 15 things that I am working on while reevaluating my life. Cheers to goals of self-improvement, dreams of empowerment, and hopes of overcoming fears.

-TM

If you had all 24 hours in a day to devote to yourself, what would your goals be? Let me know.