While sorting through my important papers I came across a list of lifetime goals I made about 10 years ago. It is rather sad to see how little progress I’ve made towards those goals. I plan to make much better progress on them in the next 10 years.
- Run a marathon. – This is the only goal I’ve actually completed. I’ve run 4 marathons since then and plan to add more. I like the idea of running a marathon in every state and D.C. but not enough to make it a goal at this time.
- Write a book. – I wanted to write a novel back then but I’d like to write a non-fiction book now. I have an idea for a non-fiction book (not personal finance) that I should write a proposal for but I’ve never gotten around to it.
- Visit all 50 states.- I’ve visited a few new states since then. The states I have left are AK, CT, DE, ID, LA, ME, MD, MI, MT, NH, NY, ND, OR, RI, SC, SD, VT, WA, and WI. I’ll knock out a few of them when I hike the AT later this year.
- Visit 20 foreign countries.- At that time I had been to three foreign countries-Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico. I’ve visited all of them again since then but haven’t added any new countries. I’ll be in Maine for my hike. Maybe I’ll take a side trip to Canada and 0ne more country to my total.
- Be able to retire at age 40.- That didn’t happen. It doesn’t look too bad for 50 though.
- Learn Spanish or another foreign language.- This one I put quite a bit of effort toward but didn’t make much progress. At one point I had some basic Spanish skills and could carry on a simple conversation with a patient Spanish speaker. I never did develop close to the fluency I wanted though and my Spanish skills have diminished in the last few years from lack of use.
Although it has been 10 years these are all still goals I would like to achieve. Check back in 10 years and I’ll let you know how I did. 🙂
Sounds strangely familiar to how I progressed on my list! You have inspired me to write a new list and take action now! No more procrastinating; I have a lot of dreams to fulfill!
If you need any help with your spanish, I’ll be happy to help!
I speak the European version, though. ;-D
Great post, by the way.
Saludos!
hustler- good luck.
Crisitna- Thanks for the offer. When I last stayed in Guatemala I talked with a girl from Spain frequently and I didn’t notice much difference between the versions. Although that was probably because I didn’t know much of either version.