Day 21 - Constructing a Life List
Constructing a Life List
7/31/2023
Today I am challenged to create a life list, putting goals and dates or ages that I expect to accomplish them. I am going to start my list with achievements that society expects me to fulfill. I will later add to this list the goals and accomplishments that I have already met and / or achieved if I struggle to come up with something.
Here is my basic starter list of expected life events:
Graduate from high school. I completed this at the traditional 18 years of age.
Graduate from college in four years. It took me 6 years to finish college but I did it.
Get a full-time job after getting a college degree. What I didn’t understand when I started working in a professional industry as a young college graduate is that the job I take will define who I am because our society tends to assigns us value based on what we do for money, not how we show up in the community. I had conformed to this societal expectation for the past twenty years, but I have untangled myself from this old perception. I can appreciate that my personal value as a human comes from existence, not employment. I will be starting a new job in two weeks, and I commit to maintaining my evolved perception of self while also being a committed employee.
Get married. I got married as a teenager (earlier than is traditional) because I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with my spouse. I’ve got a wonderful husband. He is a great partner and I’m thankful for him every day.
Buy a house and become obligated to make a monthly mortgage payment. Our first mortgage is paid in full, but we have approximately $20,000 in Home Equity debt.
Buy a car and become obligated to make a monthly automobile payment. Both my spouse’s and my vehicles are paid in full. We bought our cars new, which wasn’t advised but we have kept them for over a decade each.
Have children. I knew that I wanted to wait until I finished college to have any kids and that I didn’t want to endanger my body or a child’s development by having a baby after the age of 30. I have one amazing school-aged kiddo. My heart is full of unconditional love for him; he is enough.
This next list of items are future and ongoing goals I have set for myself. This list will no doubt grow as I continue through the Hello, Fears Challenge.
Write a book to completion (including edits and publication) before I turn 42. I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo several times and after I hit my word count, I close the document and never go back to review it. I want to see my book and see it sitting on a shelf at a local bookshop. I’m working on draft two of a book now.
Be strong. Super vague, I know. I have been infatuated with bodybuilding since I was ten years old and saw T2. First, I learned as much as I could about Arnold Schwarzenegger (Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day), after that Joe Manganiello (True Blood), and then later Stephen Amell (Arrow). I have finally come to a place in my life where I accept that I won’t ever be superhero strong, but I decided when I turned 40 to sign up a martial art. I began attending Tai Chi classes last autumn and it has built up my strength.
Present at a leadership conference. I have published leadership articles and participated as a subject matter expert for an online leadership panel, but I have yet to be a facilitator/presenter at a conference. I have not set a date for this, but I’d like to work toward meeting this goal in the next 3 years.
I would like to craft a witty closing for this post, but my laptop battery is nearly drained, and I do not have a charger nearby. I will end by saying that setting unrealistic deadlines can create frustration, so I am giving myself permission to push targets when they no longer align with my expectations.
Stock image provided by Unsplash.
