Twelvish Year Plan

Lately I have been working on the Twelvish Years Plan. Not to be confused with Elvish years. . . I haven’t read LOTR.  There are so many contingencies to the number twelve in my plan that I cannot possibly hold that number down, but the twelvish is the number of years I can somewhat anticipate being a mostly-stay-at-home mom with kids who are younger than first graders. What are the contingencies? The number of kids we have, how far apart they are, fertility issues (miscarriages, surprise babies), the many assumptions of having healthy kids, Joey and I remaining healthy ourselves, and having relative financial security, etc. A lot could change this time frame and this plan. However, goals do not wait for you to know all the answers about your future. If you do not set goals, you will never accomplish them. Enter the twelvish year plan. At the end of this time I might choose to go back to school for a PhD, teach more, or any number of things including. . . deciding I should still be a mostly-stay-at-home mom.

While the actual number could just as easily be 10 or 14, I like the number 12 because it works out conveniently with the number of months in a year. So if I think of doing one thing towards a particular goal per month, it ends up being 144 things at the end of 12 years.

Like if I were to read one book per month (though I hope to read many more), I would read 144 books in 12 years. One book a month doesn’t sound like very much. . . but 144 books? That sounds significant. The more I read per month the more that number multiplies. 5 books per month = 720 books in 12 years. I could go on, but I am sure my readers can do math. 

While reading books is for myself, what if I were to do particular acts of service once a month? Like give out an average of one meal a month to a family in need (due to new babies, sickness, etc.) That could be 144 meals in 12 years. With one temple trip a month, that could be a lot of work done for others. 

I don’t yet know what I want to set for all my goals, and I am sure they will evolve over the years, but I like the motivation the plan brings as I see how small things build up to become big, significant things.