{"id":741,"date":"2008-05-26T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2008-05-26T17:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/26\/my-goals-for-life\/"},"modified":"2019-05-06T01:48:58","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T09:48:58","slug":"my-goals-for-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/26\/my-goals-for-life\/","title":{"rendered":"My Goals for Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spend a lot of time writing about goals. But I realize I haven\u2019t shared many of my own. Although I wouldn\u2019t consider my dreams to be unique, I don\u2019t know too many people that share them. Most of my friends are caught up in the mythology that you need to get a good job, settle down and chain yourself to a retirement package for the rest of your life.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m purposefully avoiding details such as deadlines and plans in this entry. Although I\u2019m a big believer in writing out your goals and setting plans and deadlines, that isn\u2019t useful here. I want to share the broader vision for my life, not the grittier implementation details.<\/p>\n

Goal #1 – A Completely Digital Life<\/h2>\n

I don\u2019t plan on downloading my brain into a computer. By a digital life I mean that all of my income will come without a location. This will probably mean the internet, but it might mean something completely different in ten years as technology continues to expand. This means I will be able to live anywhere I can bring a laptop.<\/p>\n

I plan to make use of this freedom and I might easily be a wandering vagabond for most of my 20’s. I want to be in a position where I can say, \u201cHey, let\u2019s live in Spain for 6 months,\u201d without needing to worry about quitting a job or abandoning a physical business.<\/p>\n

Progress:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This website is my primary income source right now. Although I\u2019m not yet at a point of complete financial security, I\u2019m fairly close. If things continue as they are now, I consider it likely that I\u2019ll have achieved this dream before my 22nd birthday.<\/p>\n

Goal #2 – Financial Freedom, Not Being Rich<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not a materialistic person. I don\u2019t like buying things and I have very simple tastes. I like eating simple foods, living in simple houses and keeping simple items. Owning more stuff doesn\u2019t make me happy and I place far more value on the things that can\u2019t be bought.<\/p>\n

As a result, the idea of being rich interests me, but I\u2019m not driven by it. If I had a billion dollars, I\u2019d be living almost the same way I am today. Perhaps I\u2019d travel more and worry less about financing necessities, but my life wouldn\u2019t change.<\/p>\n

My true goal is financial freedom. This means never having to worry about money because my lifestyle is far below my means. With this freedom I could start a new business, without worrying about losing the money from an old venture. I want money to be removed from my life.<\/p>\n

Progress:<\/h3>\n

This one is much further off. I think it will probably be at least 10-15 years before I completely reach this point and it may be longer. But it is all a matter of degrees. My next step is setting up an investment account and trying to build an emergency fund of at least 1 year of income.<\/p>\n

Goal #3 – Learn Everything<\/h2>\n

This is a goal I\u2019m never going to be able to realize. However, I\u2019ve made a lot of progress. Self-education is something I will keep doing for the rest of my life. With each subject I learn more about, three more opportunities branch off. There are few subjects I\u2019m completely uninterested in and too many I\u2019m fascinated by.<\/p>\n

Progress:<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve read close to 300 books in the last several years and I\u2019m always trying to read more. Books are a good way, but projects and classes are great for learning ideas that books can\u2019t cover. A few of the things on my To-Learn list:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Read the collected works of Shakespeare.<\/li>\n
  • Read the Bible, Dao De Jin and Upanishads.<\/li>\n
  • Study more advanced computer programming topics.<\/li>\n
  • Read a few books on Bayes Theorem.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Goal #4 – Marathon Running and Physical Fitness<\/h2>\n

    I\u2019ve made a lot of improvements in my physical fitness over the last few years. But a few of the individual fitness goals I have:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Run a marathon.<\/li>\n
    2. Be able to do 10 one-arm push-ups with each arm (5 was my previous max)<\/li>\n
    3. Benchpress 200 lbs (I\u2019m stuck on 185)<\/li>\n
    4. Run a 5 minute mile.<\/li>\n
    5. Do a \u201cSuperman\u201d pushup (a pushup from a handstand position)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I don\u2019t do all this fitness stuff just to be healthy. And it\u2019s way too much work for the point of looking good (buying nicer clothes is way easier). I just have a lot of fun working out. I\u2019ve never been great at sports, but I really enjoy the incremental goal setting of lifting weights, running and staying in shape.<\/p>\n

      Progress:<\/h3>\n

      The most I\u2019ve ran before is 17 km. I would like to do a marathon next year. In most aspects of physical fitness I\u2019d say I\u2019m above average. Flexibility is something I\u2019d like to spend more time on since it is neglected by my current routine.<\/p>\n

      Goal #5 – Relationship & Social Success<\/h2>\n

      As someone who wasn\u2019t very outgoing as a kid, this is an area that required more work to get good at. My ultimate goal here is to be able to easily make new friends and relationships in any place I go to.<\/p>\n

      Living a digital life and traveling the world can create a whole new batch of problems. One of them being that you can\u2019t rely on a workplace environment to provide your social contacts. This is doubly true if I plan on traveling to many different countries where language and cultural barriers will add an additional challenge.<\/p>\n

      Progress:<\/h3>\n

      I think most the people who have met me in the last 2-3 years would say I\u2019m outgoing. I\u2019m always happy to meet new people and I have a large group of friends. Last week I went with my roommate to knock on doors in our building to introduce ourselves. I don\u2019t think anyone would say I\u2019m shy.<\/p>\n

      But there is still a lot more I need to learn. It\u2019s easier to build connections when you already know a few people. I\u2019m trying to master the ability to quickly make friends out of a crowd of strangers.<\/p>\n

      Other Goals and Thoughts on Life<\/h2>\n

      This list is in constant flux. It wasn\u2019t the list I had two years ago and it probably won\u2019t be exactly the same in another two years. I don\u2019t expect it to remain constant. I\u2019m constantly seeking new experiences, so I need to be prepared if those new experiences change the aims I have in life.<\/p>\n

      Achieving these goals won\u2019t make me happy. I don\u2019t expect them to. Most of them are simply issues of comfort, they aren\u2019t critical to the quality of my life. Working on challenging and meaningful goals accounts for 90% of my happiness. Only 10% is based on my comfort with external factors like money and location independence.<\/p>\n

      These goals are important to me. But I already have everything I want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      I spend a lot of time writing about goals. But I realize I haven\u2019t shared many of my own. Although I wouldn\u2019t consider my dreams to be unique, I don\u2019t know too many people that share them. Most of my friends are caught up in the mythology that you need to get a good job, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,680],"tags":[26],"class_list":{"0":"post-741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-goal-setting","7":"category-nc-productivity","8":"tag-goals","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMy Goals for Life - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I write a lot about goals and goal setting, yet I haven\u2019t shared mine. 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