Have you heard of Project 50? It is one of those trends that the kids are doing, and I have decided to get on board. I’ve had a pretty rough start to the year thanks to sickness (not COVID) and basically re-quarantining (thanks Omicron). I started the year off with a new word of the year. This is one that I haven’t chosen before and I’m hoping Project 50 will help me re-embrace that word: intention.
The backstory
Since I moved to Lexington in 2019, I haven’t had the chance to live in an intentional, thoughtful way. At first, I was trying to get a handle on my job and how to get to and from work without spending 45 minutes in traffic (spoiler: I had to move to do that). I made a few friends, but mostly I binged on foods I hadn’t eaten in a while and stressed about work. 2020 was going to be the year I found my place in the city and then COVID happened and then 2021 came and we had vaccines and I was on the Library Board and then Delta showed up and then my gall bladder tried to kill me.
Here I am nearly three years later and it feels like I haven’t had the chance to find my place or create my truest sense of self. The past three years have helped me figure out who I am personally. I’ve learned a lot about how I thrive (around people even if I don’t know them and my dog), how I handle crises (lots of sarcasm and doom scrolling), and what is important to me (too long to list). I’ve begun to get more involved in my community and have found pockets of the city I love. Unfortunately I still don’t feel like my best possible self and I want to spend this year honing in on her.
Something that has always helped me achieve more is by setting up a framework for myself. I like habits and routines because they help me feel settled. Is that lame? Probably but it doesn’t make it any less true. So when I saw Project 50 come across my Instagram it really gave me pause. It was a chance for me to embrace that intentionality that I desired this year. It would allow me to fall into habits and routines that set me up to finally take care of my physical and mental health, intentionally engaging in the community, and growing into that best self.
What is Project 50?
Project 50 is advertised as a framework for a better you. It is similar concept to the Hard 75, but in my opinion, a bit less aggressive and more focused on intentionality. There are seven “rules” but they can be altered to accommodate your needs. For example if you have a late night at work and don’t get to sleep before 2:00AM, the goal is to get 8 hours of sleep, not wake up before 8:00AM. You obey these rules for 50 days.
My plan is to try to take snapshots throughout the day to capture what I’m doing and how I’m accomplishing the rules. For exercise, I’ll be joining a local Pilates studio and taking classes there in addition to walking the dog and doing at home work outs the other days. I read quite a bit already, but I’m going to challenge myself to reading 10 pages of non-fiction books each day. The new skill I’m going to be focusing on coding and posting on here regularly. My goal is to have a weekly summary up every Monday.
I’ll be starting Monday, February 28. So look for that first summary March 7!
