My Wildest Vision of Success: ‘Gotta Get’ Goals
Blog meme’s are all the rage these days, and even I’m not immune to viral temptations. I’ve caught the “Gotta Get goals” meme.
Here’s the deal: Alex Shalman provided a list of the goals in his life that he’s just “gotta get!” in order to say he’s achieved his wildest dreams. Then he tagged a whole bunch of bloggers, and challenged them to write out their 5-10 “best, most over the top, most exclusive” goals, too. They’re supposed to tag other bloggers, and so on.
No one tagged me, but I wanted to play. I fired up the trusty time machine, projected myself into a blissful, satisfied and successful future, and looked around. These are the goals I came back with:
- Find financial independence. My future vision wasn’t really clear how I’d done this, and if I was stinking rich, it didn’t show. But I’d need to be wealthy enough to be comfortable without worry, to be able to hire in help when I want it, and to help my friends when they need it.
- Write at least one fiction book. Surprisingly, it doesn’t seem to matter if the book is a best seller or self published.. or even if it is published at all. Just the image of a complete manuscript, bound and finished, gives me a sense of satisfaction. Huh.
- Publish a book of my own artwork, accompanied by my own writing. In my imagination, it feels really good to run my fingers across the glossy photos and read my title on the binding, all legit and everything.
- Be (and stay) in beautiful shape. My grandmother has always managed to pull this one off. At 86, she looks 70 - and she dresses better and younger than I do. To really feel successful, I need to live up to her example. I’ve struggled a lot with my weight and appearance in the past few years.. but in my blissful future, I’d gotten it under control.
- Be part of a family. This is a tough one for me. I don’t have children, and at this point, I’m not likely to - but more and more lately, I’m feeling isolated and cut off from future generations. Family can mean a lot of things - community involvement that creates ties extending through generations fits the bill just fine.
- Be an inspiration: model grace and dignity for others. I already do this, to an extent.. in the future, I’d have my grace and dignity all polished and shiny, and I’d wear it on my lapel.
- Be recognized for what I do. I’m capable of altruism - and I don’t need an Academy Award or Nobel prize. But I’d like to know that what I put out into this world reaches its target - that my involvement and modeling and inspiring others actually works. Recognition is a good thing.
- Be involved with a band. This is totally selfish. Music is a real passion for me, but I have no training and little innate talent. I always wanted to be in a band. Not a great band. Just a band. Hell. Maybe even Karaoke would do it.
- Travel, Experience, and Indulge in Cultures, including my own. I love people, and their cultures. I love subcultures. I love my own. I love the cultures of others. I dont want to spend my life isolated and insulated, I want to immerse myself in the world around me.
- Leave room for where the journey takes me
- … and unknown, undiscovered goals. (Yes, I’m still an overachiever in the future, too)
I usually hate meme’s, and goal-setting exercises break me out in a rash. But the presentation of this one actually worked for me.
Some of what I learned surprised me:
Art is only mentioned tangentally, as part of a book: there are no gallery shows, museums or large commissions on this list. I really feel like I could stop painting, right now, and not miss out on much.
There’s no mention of romantic partnership: no doubt a temporary response to current confusions and circumstance.
The list seems rather modest, for an admitted overacheiver… apparently the future me has learned I can be happy with a lot less than I’d have thought.
It’s all quite doable. Me? Reach my own idea of success? Who knew!
So who else wants to play?
….. if you’re still reading this? TAG you’re it!
Make sure you check outAlex Shalman | Gotta Get Goals for the original rules. Please post to my comments here to make sure I know about your participation.
If you don’t think this fits with your blog (this means you, Rich) just post in the comments. It breaks the meme, but I’d rather see the results than build traffic. Now go get dem goals!
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
You never told me about THIS blog… I saw another one, but I would have been an avid reader if I had known earlier about this! Wow. Cool… I love it here!
I take up take your challenge, and we will see what I come up with.
This is probably going to look like a laundry list of stallions I’d like to breed to and a few places on Earth I’d like to go.
F
Re: Above
Typo city!
Preview Is My Friend :X
F
(Note from MT — I fixed your typos!)
Dear F..
My apologies for not having brought you on-board sooner, but I do suffer from a little diagnosed disorder, known as Privaticus Neuroticus. Fortunately, with treatment it is managable, and eventually my friends and family find out what I’m up to : )
Glad to see you here, and I’m anxiously awaiting your results.
Well M.T. …you got me! I have been tagged and I cannot pretend I did not read this. You know I read you every day!
My list is complete and posted. Hope I did it correctly.
Wishing you a wonderful day! Thank you for including me in your list of tagged bloggers. I have to say, I did enjoy myself when writing the list.
Jackie
[...] Although, I have to jump out of my comfort zone for this. MindTWEAKS has tagged me! I read M.T.’s writings every day. I could not pretend not to have read My Wildest Vision of Success: and ‘Gotta Get’ Goals. [...]
Not sure my goals can compete with what I have read here, - I don’t breed stallions (I think that is some kind of horse), can barely spell “art”, and not sure if my goals can be posted without a rating. Having said that I am in and will have them up soon.
Mike
HA! I just read your comment about “Privaticus Neuroticus”. Hmm…I don’t help much with that do I? Re: Nominating you at Bloggers Choice Awards.
O.K. M.T. I have taken up the gauntlet and posted my goals on Elemental Truths.
http://elementaltruths.blogspot.com/2007/04/developing-lifetime-goals.html
I invite you to visit, look them over and share your thoughts.
MT - May not be the most altruistic goals, but they are posted.
Thank you all for playing along! I really appreciate it, and learned a lot both from my own process and reading about yours.
Mike, I don’t think this sort of thing is meant to be altruistic at all. This is about your idea of what will make you feel “successful”, which isn’t much altruistic, really : ) But.. glancing at your goals — be honest.. you cant really think that your success hinges on whether or not I paint your gas tank.. LOL!
ok I did it both private and personal goals up. I know the first will drive MT nuts as it is posted in the form of a letter to my SO who is completely insane and he even admits so himself…The second has some nice horsie pictures in it tho, and Mike can find out what stallions are (Its a boy horse who isnt neutered. Most boy horses rarely get to keep their nuts on.)
I even wrote an introductory post about why I became a blog slacker. Those voyeuristic enough to want to look can also peruse the pain and anguish of the last few months of my life leading up to my silence.
personal favorite post is: 5/18/05 Spring Fever. Please forgive me for being a blog whore and suggesting that to find out what I am like when not freaking on my personal life, you read that one first. Taken together it will make my personal success posts make more sense.
F
You’re a brave girl for facing this, Flora.. thanks for playing along!
I was over at Technorati earlier to see if Union Review was being picked up. It was surprising to see it there — and that it was not “claimed.” I learned a lot about that site tonight over a glass of beer and a cigarette, a pleasure I afford myself at least one evening a week.
In reviewing the various links on or about Union Review I found a the site mentioned by a blog called “Mind Tweaks,” and thought — oh no, a union buster. Truly, I have no idea who you are - but I am pleased that I was asked to join this goal-setting game. I am not certain that the “Rich” you mention in your note is me, but it would be difficult for me to write a list of personal goals on a site that is mostly about other people — though we are all individuals, we come together in on big union (um, at least out here in blog-world).
That said, since I am here — allow me to share my goals - both personal and otherwise:
(in no order)
* Move from where I live and return to where I came.
* Continue to publish poetry and fiction
* Organize workers
* Deliver information to/for/from the working class.
* Be a bridge over the seas that separate labor media and mainstream news.
* Visit London, Spain and Italy.
* Change somebody’s mind.
* Visit Havana and Venezuela.
* Sit with a sangha at Plum Village (France)
* Have the Employee Free Choice Act be put into law.
How was that? Perhaps a little too random? Either way, thanks for helping me get to my own clarity in this exercise.
With peace,
-Richard / Union Review.
Ohhh the joys of anonymity!! Now *this* is fun!
Maybe if I stuck a set of antlers onto my anonymous self portrait http://tinyurl.com/393can you’d recognize me as the “Jane” Doe who helps you with web design and blogger issues, Rich.
Great goals list, thank you for participating : )
I am laughing! Aside from the idea that I want to visit Havana and Venezuela, you knew all this stuff — didn’t you?
[...] M.T. - Mind Tweaks [...]
[...] author of Mind Tweaks challenged me (M.T.) to identify and post my personal goals. I realize to most folks that does not seem too daunting a [...]