Five in Five Update: Date #5 ... DONE!

Two major news stories came out of Brisbane at lunch time on Friday...

Story #1: I completed Date #5 of the Five in Five Charity Dating Challenge!!

Story #2: The Queen Street Mall was evacuated as dozens of heavily-armed police took down a shirtless gunman. 

Hard to believe isn't it!? Date #5!!! ... which means... It's all done... or is it?... More on that breaking news headline later...

The week in review:
I have to say, up until this week I had been going great guns with this Five in Five Charity Dating Challenge. But in the last few days, with no 5th Date scheduled by the challenge deadline, I was feeling a little under the gun. Failing the Five in Five challenge had never been an option... I thought I'd dodged a bullet when a friend agreed to be my 'Date #5 backup plan' but he was struck down with a bad case of the man flu. 

When I first told my colleague Gai about this challenge, she went downstairs, all guns blazing, and hit up one of our colleagues for a date. He said no. And that was that. But with only 3 days until the end of the challenge and no Date #5, I decided to bite the bullet and send him an email. Would he stick to his guns?? 

At the 11th hour, he appeared in my office and surrendered. The date was scheduled for later that day.

At 12 noon Date #5 arrived to collect me from my office and we ventured over to our local cafe for a cuppa (well away from the siege in the Mall). We spent the next hour chatting about our roles at work, plans for the weekend, home renovations, holiday destinations, investing, meal planning, tax, dating and future goals. It's amazing how you can work with someone for over a year but not know anything about them. That is, until a charity date forces you to actually get to know each other.

" I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn. And we are led to those who help us most to grow if we let them, and we help them in return." (quoted in the Broadway Show Wicked)  

The people I have met through the Five in Five charity dating challenge have been no exception. In fact, I might even go as far as to say that I have learnt as much about myself during these 5 weeks of dating as I have on intensive yoga and self-inquiry retreats in the past. 

In sharing his own goals, Date #5 made me realise that it's time for me to re-visit my vision and goals and start taking some action towards them... NOW! 

When I first signed up for this Five in Five Charity Dating Challenge I was doubtful I could find 5 dates within the 5 weeks. Anyone will tell you there is a man drought in Brisbane! But by being excited about the challenge, putting it out there as a S.M.A.R.T goal and enrolling everyone around me in that goal, I not only reached my goal... I SMASHED IT! 

What's a smart goal you ask? 

S.M.A.R.T goals are:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable (50% of the time... you gotta give yourself a challenge!)

Realistic

Timley

For example:

I will go on five dates with five kind, easy-going, smart and irresistibly good-looking eligible bachelors by Friday 8th March 2013 and raise $200 for charity.

Did I achieve my SMART goal?! YES! 

In fact, I went on 6 dates in 3 weeks and made $325 for charity. That is the power of setting goals...and sticking to them!

Now it's your turn. Grab a pen and write down your answers to these questions:

1. In 30 seconds or less, write down the 3 most important goals in your life right now?

2. What would you do if you won $10 million?

3. What would you do if you had 6 months to live?

4. What one great thing would you dare to do if you knew you could not fail?

5. What is the legacy you wish to leave?

Now that you know what's important to you...

Turn those answers into SMART goals.

E.g. If your answer to Question #3 was: travel to Spain with my family... your goal is:

I take my family to Spain for 2 weeks by December 2015.

Then you get to fill in the steps to get you there. For example:

• How much money do you need to save each week to get you there?
• What action do you need to take today to be able to achieve that goal? (e.g. make coffee instead of spending $5 a day to have someone make it for you)

Anyway...I digress... Back to Date #5.

So after having a coffee and almost getting hit (slight exaggeration) by a fresh produce delivery van, Date #5 walked me back to my office. We were greeted by Cupid Gai who took the photo to prove the date happened... 

And here's where we are at:

• $325 in the donation kitty.  Donate here and get me to $400 so I can go on some 2nd dates!
• Five Dates in Five Weeks COMPLETE! - Thank you to Date #5 for saving the day

It may be over...

Or maybe, this is just the beginning...?