Who am I Gonna be in 15 Years?
That's the title of the A4 sheet of paper I have next to me. I wrote this list about 8 years ago, when I was just 17. It has 10 things written on it and I've achieved 3 so far. Considering I still have 7 years to go, I'm doing okay but I think I need to re-assess and shoot a little higher.
Here's the full list...
Who am I gonna be in 15 years time?
Drives a Viper RT/10 [Not Done]
To be honest, I'm not phased by this one any more. I'd love to rent a Viper a few times a year and take it round the track a coupla times but I can hardly justify owning one. I drive our car maybe once a week and, most times, I need boot space.
Although, there's nothing wrong with owning one and keeping it for Sunday joyrides. Just don't know who'll take care of the kids while we're out. There's definitely no space for kids in a Viper!
(Kids?! What kids?! Relax! We don't have kids yet but read on ;))
Owns his Own Successful Company [Not Done]
Some people might argue that I've succeeded here but I really haven't. If I died tomorrow, my business would begin to die with me. There might be a little bit of money due to me but, without someone to collect it, that would probably never reach my wife so, really, I don't have a business, I just own my job right now.
Although... I do make R5,000 passive income a month from one of my web sites. That has to count for something. I should probably take a few moments to teach my wife how to take over that site. It's good money for the 1 hour a day I work on it.
It's still not a successful company, though. Just a good passive income.
What do I need to do to turn my current company into a successful company? Create a product I can sell (as opposed to the service I currently sell - my own time as a developer) and then create systems (advertising, sales-copy, autoresponders, procedure documents for employees, etc) that help me sell that product to hundreds or thousands of people. Employing people (although I'm scared-white of it) is probably also an important next step here. I can't sub-contract forever. Not if I want a company instead of just a passive income. It just doesn't work that way.
Is Married with Cute-Ass Kids [Half Done]
How about: Married to a cute-ass wife? Then I'd be able to tick this one off ;) I suppose the cute-ass wife guarantees me cute-ass kids, right? I mean, I was kinda cute and she's adorable so all we need to do is misplace the condoms :D
Although, on a serious note, I won't misplace any condoms until we've paid off our debt and actually feel like we could afford to have kids without moving back in with our parents or living in a trailer park!
I've still got 7 years before I need to get this done so I say we give it a shot in 2010 :)
Has a Beautiful House in a Beautiful Area [Not Done]
Not done but I have a good idea of what I need to do to make it done. I'm quite keen on living in the Centurion Golf Estate. Prices there range from R1,5m all the way up to R15m. I'm a modest guy so I'll happily call one of the "entry-level" (what's entry-level in a Golf Estate???) my "beautiful house in a beautiful area".
The trick here is that I could rent such a place for between R11k and R15k. That sort of money is a bit out of my grasp right now but not by much. But that would be cheating. My goals-list says nothing about "living" in such a house but "having" such a house. So I must buy.
Can it be done in the next 7 years? Quite easily I think. Probably within the next 3 years. Sooner if I can pay off my debt a bit faster and buy on auction or similar.
The interesting thing is that, when I wrote this list, I never really knew what "a beautiful house in a beautiful area" meant to me. I didn't even really like kids at the time. But I looked within when writing the list and now it all makes perfect sense to me and resonates with me in an absolutely divinely spiritual and higher-self kind of way. Hope that makes sense to you ;)
Doesn't Let Anything Stop Him from Getting What he Wants [Not Done]
I still let obstacles get in the way. Earlier this year I decided to attack my dreams with "persistence that doesn't recognise failure". That's a noble and wise thing to choose for yourself. It's also incredibly difficult because, unless you remind yourself of this choice daily, you will forget it and it's so easy to fall back into the slump of, "I failed, best I give up and do something else."
Someone important (I don't know who) said, "It's because you give up that you fail. Not the other way around". And that's profound. It's also self-evident to an extent...
If you don't give up when you fail, but you keep on keeping on, 1 of 2 things will happen. You will die trying (which is a life worth living!) or 2, you will succeed. But the moment you give up, you lose both options. And all you're left with is failure. And only because you accept it as all that's left. Because it's not. You can get back on that horse and try again, until you're beaten black and blue but also until you've succeeded or died trying!
Haha - I can't help think of Morpheus, "Isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for?" I say it is!
So, back to this goal on my list of goals I wrote 8 years ago. I still let things get me down but, by golly, I'm doing a lot better than I was doing even 6 short months ago! So it may not be done, it may never be done but it's worth pursuing till my last breath, so I'm okay with that :)
Earns at Least 6 Digits a Year [Done!]
Okay, so I've achieved this one and I'm damned proud of it. It means a lot to me not because it's a lot of money (I no longer consider it to be a lot) but because it used to mean "a lot of money" to me.
I'm still very much in the early 6-digits-a-year side of things. I hope to reach the middle or end of that scale by the time my deadline arrives for this list. Although, chances are good that, by that time, 6 digits a year won't be a lot of money any more. The fact of life is that we'll always want more and that's okay with me. Because having a list like this to reflect on will help me appreciate my achievements, even long after I've begun taking them for granted.
Is Disciplined and Balanced in his Lifestyle [Not Done]
I go through stages when I'm disciplined and balanced but the very fact that I've never completed a fitness program (and "complete" means achieved my fitness/weight goals) before giving up tells me I'm not disciplined. The fact that I've stuck with a fitness program long after it got boring and painful tells me that I do have this in me. Somewhere ;)
Balance is another problem for me. Being a Libra, I constantly seek this out but I do it in the worst way possible. I first over-indulge in something (coffee, food, work, relaxation time, whatever), then I completely cut myself off and then I find a healthy balance. However, each step takes months at a time so, at this rate, I'll never achieve this goal but it does help me live a healthier life and gives me insight to both sides of an obsession - be it over-indulgence or complete abstinence. I'm sure that will serve me many times in my life.
Has Released at Least One CD of Music Nationally [Not Done]
I'm quite excited about this one because, when I wrote this (2001), distributing music over the internet was still largely unheard of or, at least, not very common.
These days, you have big bands (Radiohead) releasing their music exclusively over the 'net and still making a profit. We're living in interesting times where a musician can make a living from his music and do it quite independently. I'm not talking about becoming a rock star here but making a few bob from my music would be great.
How far am I from achieving this? I'm satisfied with how well I play guitar but I'm useless at writing songs so I'd say I'm a good 4 years or so away from this. I need to learn some song-writing theory, learn how to play along with the song (instead of overtaking it with my noodling!) and then create something cohesive and pleasing to the ears.
The good news is that, by the time I'm ready to release my CD (or album, more likely), I'll have access to a huge group of potential fans through my online guitar community, www.guitarforum.co.za. That's very exciting. What's even MORE exciting than that is that I'll be in a position to teach other members of that community how to do the same thing and make some money from their music. And that, I think, makes up a large chunk of why I'm still allowed to be alive today - I'm here to eventually empower others and teach them how to do things they might not believe to be possible. Cool! :)
Has a Site that Generates at Least 150 Unique Hits a Day [Done!]
Not only have I done this one but I've plastered it. I've got a site that does between 900 and 2000 unique visitors a day. Not too shabby at all. It pays my rent but I must admit, it amuses me to think how fixed I was on getting that (small) amount of visitors and no where did I mention monetising that traffic. Back then, it would've been an achievement just to have gotten the traffic. Now I know how to get the traffic but don't always know how to maintain it and don't always know how to monetise it. Fascinating how we grow and our challenges grow with us!
Is Always Ready to Help Out a Friend When in Need [Not Done]
I'm almost ashamed to admit this but I'm still too afraid to be as helpful as I could be. I'm afraid of losing it all, I'm afraid of failing miserably, I'm afraid of not knowing what to do to help, I'm afraid of so darned much that I end up not helping the people who need me. The people who I could do so much for, if only I could recognise that I'm good enough to help them. That I have everything I need within me to do it, I just need to actually go out and do it now.
On the positive side, I'm growing in this direction. Since we've moved to Joburg, I've helped one or two people out in ways that I thought were impossible for me to do before. I've also promised my help to a few other people - again help that I would normally think is beyond what I can do.
I'm not Christian but I do believe that, "God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called". I believe it on an intellectual level, now I just need to move into believing it on an emotional, spiritual and experiential level. Getting there. At least I'm headed in the right direction. I've got to give myself points for effort there. I used to be very stingy with my time and now I'm better. (It's like a disease, I tell you ;))
Conclusion
You might ask yourself if achieving these things will give me a sense of fulfillment. I can tell you now that they won't. I guarantee that I will eventually take these things for granted once they ARE in my life (as I currently do). But what I also guarantee is that I will have learned the value of setting and (most importantly) working towards goals until you achieve them. I'm sure that that will be the most important lesson in my life and that, in the next 7 years, after I've achieved all these things (if I live that long!), THEN life will truly begin and then I will set life goals for myself that will be truly worthwhile.
The exception to this is, of course, the values I have set as goals for myself. Striving to live in a balanced and disciplined way, and to always be available for my friends and family when they need me, those things will stay with me till I die (I hope). And those are the things I hope to fill my next list with.
Sure I could start now but, right now, I'm still in a place in my life where the material stuff means too much for me to give it up. I believe there are 2 ways to learn how to look beyond the material....
1. Is to have nothing and find happiness, peace and joy in that.
2. Is to have everything and find happiness, peace and joy in that.
Because neither offers fulfillment by itself. You have to REACH that stage and then look beyond it to find happiness, peace and joy. At least, that's what I choose to believe right now.
Here's the full list...
Who am I gonna be in 15 years time?
Someone who:
Drives a Viper RT/10 [Not Done]To be honest, I'm not phased by this one any more. I'd love to rent a Viper a few times a year and take it round the track a coupla times but I can hardly justify owning one. I drive our car maybe once a week and, most times, I need boot space.
Although, there's nothing wrong with owning one and keeping it for Sunday joyrides. Just don't know who'll take care of the kids while we're out. There's definitely no space for kids in a Viper!
(Kids?! What kids?! Relax! We don't have kids yet but read on ;))
Owns his Own Successful Company [Not Done]
Some people might argue that I've succeeded here but I really haven't. If I died tomorrow, my business would begin to die with me. There might be a little bit of money due to me but, without someone to collect it, that would probably never reach my wife so, really, I don't have a business, I just own my job right now.
Although... I do make R5,000 passive income a month from one of my web sites. That has to count for something. I should probably take a few moments to teach my wife how to take over that site. It's good money for the 1 hour a day I work on it.
It's still not a successful company, though. Just a good passive income.
What do I need to do to turn my current company into a successful company? Create a product I can sell (as opposed to the service I currently sell - my own time as a developer) and then create systems (advertising, sales-copy, autoresponders, procedure documents for employees, etc) that help me sell that product to hundreds or thousands of people. Employing people (although I'm scared-white of it) is probably also an important next step here. I can't sub-contract forever. Not if I want a company instead of just a passive income. It just doesn't work that way.
Is Married with Cute-Ass Kids [Half Done]
How about: Married to a cute-ass wife? Then I'd be able to tick this one off ;) I suppose the cute-ass wife guarantees me cute-ass kids, right? I mean, I was kinda cute and she's adorable so all we need to do is misplace the condoms :D
Although, on a serious note, I won't misplace any condoms until we've paid off our debt and actually feel like we could afford to have kids without moving back in with our parents or living in a trailer park!
I've still got 7 years before I need to get this done so I say we give it a shot in 2010 :)
Has a Beautiful House in a Beautiful Area [Not Done]
Not done but I have a good idea of what I need to do to make it done. I'm quite keen on living in the Centurion Golf Estate. Prices there range from R1,5m all the way up to R15m. I'm a modest guy so I'll happily call one of the "entry-level" (what's entry-level in a Golf Estate???) my "beautiful house in a beautiful area".
The trick here is that I could rent such a place for between R11k and R15k. That sort of money is a bit out of my grasp right now but not by much. But that would be cheating. My goals-list says nothing about "living" in such a house but "having" such a house. So I must buy.
Can it be done in the next 7 years? Quite easily I think. Probably within the next 3 years. Sooner if I can pay off my debt a bit faster and buy on auction or similar.
The interesting thing is that, when I wrote this list, I never really knew what "a beautiful house in a beautiful area" meant to me. I didn't even really like kids at the time. But I looked within when writing the list and now it all makes perfect sense to me and resonates with me in an absolutely divinely spiritual and higher-self kind of way. Hope that makes sense to you ;)
Doesn't Let Anything Stop Him from Getting What he Wants [Not Done]
I still let obstacles get in the way. Earlier this year I decided to attack my dreams with "persistence that doesn't recognise failure". That's a noble and wise thing to choose for yourself. It's also incredibly difficult because, unless you remind yourself of this choice daily, you will forget it and it's so easy to fall back into the slump of, "I failed, best I give up and do something else."
Someone important (I don't know who) said, "It's because you give up that you fail. Not the other way around". And that's profound. It's also self-evident to an extent...
If you don't give up when you fail, but you keep on keeping on, 1 of 2 things will happen. You will die trying (which is a life worth living!) or 2, you will succeed. But the moment you give up, you lose both options. And all you're left with is failure. And only because you accept it as all that's left. Because it's not. You can get back on that horse and try again, until you're beaten black and blue but also until you've succeeded or died trying!
Haha - I can't help think of Morpheus, "Isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for?" I say it is!
So, back to this goal on my list of goals I wrote 8 years ago. I still let things get me down but, by golly, I'm doing a lot better than I was doing even 6 short months ago! So it may not be done, it may never be done but it's worth pursuing till my last breath, so I'm okay with that :)
Earns at Least 6 Digits a Year [Done!]
Okay, so I've achieved this one and I'm damned proud of it. It means a lot to me not because it's a lot of money (I no longer consider it to be a lot) but because it used to mean "a lot of money" to me.
I'm still very much in the early 6-digits-a-year side of things. I hope to reach the middle or end of that scale by the time my deadline arrives for this list. Although, chances are good that, by that time, 6 digits a year won't be a lot of money any more. The fact of life is that we'll always want more and that's okay with me. Because having a list like this to reflect on will help me appreciate my achievements, even long after I've begun taking them for granted.
Is Disciplined and Balanced in his Lifestyle [Not Done]
I go through stages when I'm disciplined and balanced but the very fact that I've never completed a fitness program (and "complete" means achieved my fitness/weight goals) before giving up tells me I'm not disciplined. The fact that I've stuck with a fitness program long after it got boring and painful tells me that I do have this in me. Somewhere ;)
Balance is another problem for me. Being a Libra, I constantly seek this out but I do it in the worst way possible. I first over-indulge in something (coffee, food, work, relaxation time, whatever), then I completely cut myself off and then I find a healthy balance. However, each step takes months at a time so, at this rate, I'll never achieve this goal but it does help me live a healthier life and gives me insight to both sides of an obsession - be it over-indulgence or complete abstinence. I'm sure that will serve me many times in my life.
Has Released at Least One CD of Music Nationally [Not Done]
I'm quite excited about this one because, when I wrote this (2001), distributing music over the internet was still largely unheard of or, at least, not very common.
These days, you have big bands (Radiohead) releasing their music exclusively over the 'net and still making a profit. We're living in interesting times where a musician can make a living from his music and do it quite independently. I'm not talking about becoming a rock star here but making a few bob from my music would be great.
How far am I from achieving this? I'm satisfied with how well I play guitar but I'm useless at writing songs so I'd say I'm a good 4 years or so away from this. I need to learn some song-writing theory, learn how to play along with the song (instead of overtaking it with my noodling!) and then create something cohesive and pleasing to the ears.
The good news is that, by the time I'm ready to release my CD (or album, more likely), I'll have access to a huge group of potential fans through my online guitar community, www.guitarforum.co.za. That's very exciting. What's even MORE exciting than that is that I'll be in a position to teach other members of that community how to do the same thing and make some money from their music. And that, I think, makes up a large chunk of why I'm still allowed to be alive today - I'm here to eventually empower others and teach them how to do things they might not believe to be possible. Cool! :)
Has a Site that Generates at Least 150 Unique Hits a Day [Done!]
Not only have I done this one but I've plastered it. I've got a site that does between 900 and 2000 unique visitors a day. Not too shabby at all. It pays my rent but I must admit, it amuses me to think how fixed I was on getting that (small) amount of visitors and no where did I mention monetising that traffic. Back then, it would've been an achievement just to have gotten the traffic. Now I know how to get the traffic but don't always know how to maintain it and don't always know how to monetise it. Fascinating how we grow and our challenges grow with us!
Is Always Ready to Help Out a Friend When in Need [Not Done]
I'm almost ashamed to admit this but I'm still too afraid to be as helpful as I could be. I'm afraid of losing it all, I'm afraid of failing miserably, I'm afraid of not knowing what to do to help, I'm afraid of so darned much that I end up not helping the people who need me. The people who I could do so much for, if only I could recognise that I'm good enough to help them. That I have everything I need within me to do it, I just need to actually go out and do it now.
On the positive side, I'm growing in this direction. Since we've moved to Joburg, I've helped one or two people out in ways that I thought were impossible for me to do before. I've also promised my help to a few other people - again help that I would normally think is beyond what I can do.
I'm not Christian but I do believe that, "God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called". I believe it on an intellectual level, now I just need to move into believing it on an emotional, spiritual and experiential level. Getting there. At least I'm headed in the right direction. I've got to give myself points for effort there. I used to be very stingy with my time and now I'm better. (It's like a disease, I tell you ;))
Conclusion
You might ask yourself if achieving these things will give me a sense of fulfillment. I can tell you now that they won't. I guarantee that I will eventually take these things for granted once they ARE in my life (as I currently do). But what I also guarantee is that I will have learned the value of setting and (most importantly) working towards goals until you achieve them. I'm sure that that will be the most important lesson in my life and that, in the next 7 years, after I've achieved all these things (if I live that long!), THEN life will truly begin and then I will set life goals for myself that will be truly worthwhile.
The exception to this is, of course, the values I have set as goals for myself. Striving to live in a balanced and disciplined way, and to always be available for my friends and family when they need me, those things will stay with me till I die (I hope). And those are the things I hope to fill my next list with.
Sure I could start now but, right now, I'm still in a place in my life where the material stuff means too much for me to give it up. I believe there are 2 ways to learn how to look beyond the material....
1. Is to have nothing and find happiness, peace and joy in that.
2. Is to have everything and find happiness, peace and joy in that.
Because neither offers fulfillment by itself. You have to REACH that stage and then look beyond it to find happiness, peace and joy. At least, that's what I choose to believe right now.
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