Life to me, is a sport…not a game – but a sport. Life is a sport because:
- In both life and in sport, there are rules, regulations, codes of ethics, appropriate behavior, etc.
- In order to do well in both, it takes a lot of hard work, determination, and sometimes a little bit of luck too.
- In both life and sport, when we’re ahead we feel good and are having fun, and when we’re behind we sometimes feel lost and bored.
- Mentors, coaches, teammates, parents and friends (aka. the people who we associate with) all contribute to the success or the failure of the individual and those who surround that individual in both life and sport.
- And lastly, in both life and in sport, there’s one thing that increases our chances of being successful and winning – scoring and achieving goals.
ABOUT GOALS
Goals are super important. They give us direction and allow us to plan a course of action.
Pretend you’re on a soccer team, and you and your team’s primary goal is to win the championship. You can’t win the championship without first winning enough games to get you to the playoffs…you can’t win games unless you put the ball in the opponent’s net…and you can’t put the ball in the opponent’s net unless you learn the necessary skills to dribble, pass and shoot the ball and have a game plan.
To me, life is exactly the same. First, you need to know what you want, then you need to know what it takes to get there, and finally you must learn the necessary skills in order to do exactly that and have a plan. Without knowing what it is you want, there is no plan…there is no action…and life is boring.
In an earlier post, I has previously said:
“You have to really think about it, deep down inside about how exactly you want your life to be like in the future.”
Many people can’t even get past this part, and that’s ok – it can be difficult, especially if you haven’t thought about it before. But, if you haven’t thought about such things, and you’re just living each day without a goal or a plan, it’s about time to start thinking about it. It just turned 2009, so why not take a few moments to discover yourself once again.
MY GOALS
I’d like to share some of my goals with you. Observe how my goals are broken down into smaller goals, which become part of the overall plan. My hope is that as I aim towards achieving these goals, I will document exactly how I proceed so you will be able to learn from my accomplishments and from my mistakes. If you just take away one piece of advice from my journey in life, I will consider this blog a success.
25+ Years from Now (The Championship)
- Be happily retired with my wife by the age of 50.
- Have successfully funded our kids’ education.
- Be totally debt free, including mortgage and car payments.
- Own at least two rental properties in California.
- Teach at the University level.
10-25 Years from Now
- Have 529 plans (education funds) in place for all of my children.
- Successfully take 3 vacations each year with the entire family.
- Be close to my wife and children.
- Write a book that I can see on the shelves of book stores.
- Earn my PhD.
- Own at least one rental property in California.
- Earn an annual income of at least $300,000.
- Finish a marathon.
1 to 10 Years from Now
- Pay off all education loan debts.
- Start and sell a company for at least $1,000,000.
- Partner with someone for an online venture.
- Earn my Masters Degree.
- Earn my Architectural License.
- Earn enough money so that my wife does not have to work if she does not want to.
- Raise 2 beautiful children with my wife.
- Stay healthy and fit.
- Have a top rated podcast show.
- Buy a house in San Diego, with a backyard big enough for a Golden Retriever.
The Year 2009
- Earn an annual income of at least $100,000.
- Correctly file my taxes.
- Get married to my fiancee, have a wonderful wedding and honeymoon, and fully furnish our brand new apartment.
- Start a podcast.
- Rewrite a new eBook for intheleed.com when the new version of the exam comes out in the summer.
- Start a blog similar to my intheleed.com blog in another hopefully profitable niche.
- Begin planning the launch of a brand new iPhone application idea I’ve had in my head for months.
- Write at least 365 new eHow articles.
- Have in place at least 10 profitable PPC affiliate campaigns up and running.
- Finish the MudRun at Camp Pendleton (a charity bootcamp-like race my friends and I entered).
- Raise/save enough money for a down payment on a home in San Diego.
- Successfully purchase, train and raise a puppy with my wife.
- Go on a cruise.
- Help a couple of my friends start their own online business ventures.
- Be cut like Bruce Lee and continue going to the gym and eating healthy.
January of 2009
- Find a CPA to help prepare my taxes and discuss the implications of my upcoming marriage in regards to accounts, taxes, etc.
- Launch the Audiobook version of my eBook on my blog.
- Finish wedding preparation.
- Go to the gym at least 4 times a week.
- Research Maltese breeders.
- Write at least 31 eHow articles.
- Begin to monetize this blog.
- Finish wedding preparation.
- Finish this post.
Of course, I could go into what I’m doing tomorrow, but I think you get the point. This is an exercise that I learned from a financial advisor I met after placing one of my business cards into a fishbowl at a Mexican restaurant. The free lunch was bleh…but the free advice was golden. The advisor asked me what my goals were first, and then developed a financial plan for me by narrowing down the goals as the time became closer to present day.
ONE LAST NOTE
A lot of blogs put up their New Year’s Resolutions or what they hope to accomplish in 2009. My intention in this post was to do the same, but put a spin or lesson on it. I hope it all makes sense.
I hope that you soon give some good thought into your plans for the future and what your goals may be. Oh, and since I’ve been into the “couples thinking together mood” lately…if you have a family or significant others, they should be a big part of your goals too. You should try and come up with some goals together.
I’m remembering a story from a book I read not too long ago, called Smart Couples Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Creating a Rich Future for You and Your Partner by David Bach.
There was an excerpt about a retired couple, married for 40+ years, who got divorced (correct me if I’m wrong) because they couldn’t agree where they would live together in retirement. Each didn’t know that the other persons idea of retirement was totally different than their own. Anyways, the point is – talk about your goals together with your loved ones.
All the best to you, and have a wonderful day!
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