I’ve been intending to start this for awhile…but it’s the New Years Resolution that’s taken a month already.

Several years ago, I attempted to get my life to where I wanted it to be. Specifically, I had four areas of concern. Faith, physical, professional and financial. I didn’t finish my challenge at that time, but it’s been something I’ve been working on — here and there — for awhile now. But, this time it’s different. I’m sure we’ll get into that later.

Last year, I started my diet. Eh, hate that word. It was my “new way of living.”

Woo-hoo! Isn’t that inspiring?

Since April 2007, I have lost 40 pounds. Most of that (30 pounds) was lost by August 2007. Then I stalled out, fell off the proverbial wagon and wandered in the desert. Er, dessert. I wasn’t horrible….but managed to bounce around with ten pounds.

At Thanksgiving, I rededicated myself to this cause and have now lost 20 pounds since then. I’ve even started exercising! Me! I HATE exercising…or so the meme went. I started out doing Pilates, then went on to Walk Away the Pounds. First the one mile, then then two mile and now to the three mile DVD.

Now, you don’t know me but that is HUGE. I have never exercised like this. In fact, when I did the 3 miles DVD last week, I actually started crying. My body was doing things that I had no idea it could. The thrill of being able to complete it was just…overwhelming. And, as I’ve heard about all of my life, yes, addicting. I just want more and more of that…accomplishment!

So…that’s where I’m at physically. I am in no way prepared to type in my actual weight right now. Maybe that will come later. Hopefully that will come later.   It’s been a lifetime in getting here and I know that I have all kinds of baggage to deal with before I hit my goal weight and have any hope of having a normal relationship with food.

Let’s see, faith. I am a born-again, evangelical Christian and I desire to know God in a deeper way. I know that it is a daily journey for me and I resolve to do it that way.

Financially. Yes, financially. Over the past few years, I have dealt with my personal credit card hell and paid off a lot with even more to go.  Maybe someday I’ll reveal those amounts.  But not today.  It has meant a strict budget for me…but the thrill of using the cards is gone, and the thrill is now in making those monthly payments. More than anything else, I have come to realize that the overhanging debt has meant in my life. It has tied me down more than I’ve wanted to be tied down. Paying off those debts will be a new-found freedom for me. I want to get to the point that I’m not only out of debt but I’m building toward having a freedom to move on, take chances and get the most out of life.

And, finally, professionally. I ned to examine where I’m at, where I’m going, what my goals are…and how to get there. I’m currently in a high-stress job, but intend to make a major move – somewhere – next spring. I just want to be prepared, well-examined and moving in the right direction from here.

So. On a daily basis, I intend to set mini-goals for myself…and move toward the attainment of these goals by spring of 2009:

Faith – grow closer to my Lord on an ongoing, daily basis
Physically – lose the rest of the weight and get in shape to be the best me
Financially – be out of debt and have a bigger nest egg
Professionally – know what i want to do when I grow up

So, why have I called it Consistency101? Because I’ve come to know that this is what it’s going to take. Every day, I need to remember these goals. At the end of the 14 or so months, I hope to be able to say that I have attained these goals. And then set new ones!

But, in a more amazing way, this word keeps coming up for me this week. Consistency. I had the opportunity to meet Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) in Park City, UT last weekend and asked him about his “5 Laws for staying lean” article in Men’s Health Magazine. He said the most important thing is “consistency.” The woman from the Sunday School class mentioned that the key to developing her relationship with the Lord is “consistency.” And I read an interview with, oh, can’t remember now who it was, but they said that their biggest key to success was consistency. All in one week.

So, consistency it is. 101.