Hello again, Dear Readers.

I planned to write a post about how it felt to say goodbye to my life coach back in August. Those three months with her went by so fast! But after speaking with a friend who has a life coach on retainer for an entire year, I decided to ask Ashley how she felt about it. Imagine what I could accomplish with her help in a year! Thankfully, she thought it was a great idea.

So until September 2014, a life coach has my back. Whew!

My first task of the year was a daunting one. Ashley asked me to list everything that has to be done during the year–including my writing and freelance business goals, marketing, getting the house ready for sale, getting back in shape, and all the other personal goals I hope to achieve in the coming months.

I quickly realized I had to go farther than September 2014, as much of the work on the house will be done right before it goes on the market. So I made a timeline that stretches from now until September 2015, which is when–barring some unforeseen circumstance–I will be starting my new adventure and moving away from this comfortable little city.

It was exciting to have a firm date rather than repeatedly saying, “um, two years from now…”, but it also made it more real. Which is thrilling, but also scary. Seeing everything that has to get done before that date was terrifying. It plunged me into a state of inertia for a little while. To accomplish my goals, I’ll have to be the most productive I’ve ever been–consistently–for the next two years.

And to do that, I’ll have to be less self-indulgent and not curl into a ball for weeks whenever I’m feeling blue or unmotivated. I will have to, as they say, suck it up.

Have you ever plotted out a year of your life in this way? What keeps you on track when you have a daunting amount of work ahead? How do you stay motivated?

To give you an idea of what I’m facing, here’s a partial list from this month: