It’s important to have goals, to set bars for yourself, why? So that you know just where it is you’re going, and how best to plan getting there. Sure, you could go through life without setting goals, writing them down, etc… But, I have a feeling unless you have a great memory and a lot of drive, those goals, dreams, and aspirations will be forgotten. Writing your goals down is one thing, making them public is completely different. When you write a goal down it becomes something separate from yourself, it becomes real, not just in your head, sharing those goals with others is the next step in making that goal real. Making it independent of you. When a goal is something real it hangs over you more, it creates guilt, and despite what your therapist tells you, guilt is a great motivator, it can and is a good thing (especially in this instance.) Some place you can go to make your goals public? Well your own blog, your journal, a club or organization you belong to, or if you don’t have any of those go to 43things.com.
So here are my goals, set into 3 groupings, 1 year from now, 5 years…, and 10 years… This list will grow and shrink, I’m sure as my life changes, priorities rise and fall, and I go through the business of, you know, living. But here it is now, and I’m dedicated to crossing off every single one of them, so that in 10 years time I can make a new list and begin working on it. I’ve printed this list out, signed, and dated it and it now looks at me everyday, posted on my bulletin board, a not so subtle hint to be working on crossing things off of it!
My goals, To Be Done in:
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1 Year:
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Start Career in politics
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Scuba Diving License
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Be enrolled in graduate level program
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Be engaged
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Submit work(s) for publication
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5 years:
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Be married
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Have graduate degree
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Run for office
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Be published
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Be Debt Free
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10 years:
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Have a family
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Own a home
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Have a retirement plan in place
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Be a force for good in politics
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Continue to be published
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I commit myself to reaching and overreaching on these goals I’ve set for myself.