old goals

You are not here merely to make a living.
You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply,
with greater vision,
with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.
You are here to enrich the world, and
you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.
~ Woodrow Wilson

I found an old goal list while shuffling some paper piles today. (I try to truly organize my files but some papers just don’t want to be sorted at times…)

My 2007 goals were (in preparation for buying a home):

1. Increase my monthly savings amount
2. Pay off student loans
3. House-hunt
4. Exercise regularly
5. Either write a story or go on a writer’s retreat

If journaling and letter-writing counts as writing stories I achieved all my goals in 2007.

Decide what you want,
decide what you are willing to exchange for it.
Establish your priorities and go to work.
~H. L. Hunt

That same year, I set 3-year goals:

1. Pay off additional debt to become debt free except mortgage
2. Invest in retirement fund
3. Find a husband to have children with
4. Be recognized in my line of work
5. Travel

2010 was the year I had enough savings (through some windfalls) to take a sabbatical. I was recognized in my line of work from 2008-2010 and I traveled to Europe in 2009 and 2010. Didn’t find the husband, but I spent time trying.

Before you begin a thing, remind yourself
that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead.
If you could see them clearly, naturally you could
do a great deal to get rid of them but you can’t.
You can only see one thing clearly and that is your goal.
Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.
~Kathleen Norris 

My 10-year goals for 2017 were:

1. Work from home
2. Own a dream cottage
3. Write a book/be artistic
4. Learn spanish
5. Add music to my life (playing and singing)

It is nice to see that although I missed goal 3 by 2010, I have already achieved goal 1 of the 10-year plan and it involves being artistic (#3). The book is still simmering, I know I’ll write one someday and that inspiration for it is gathering in my brain now.

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except
by those who dared believe
that something inside them
was superior to circumstances.
~Bruce Barton

Currently my goal-setting is based around the business. With all the marketing tools out there it is hard to figure out the best plan, and it is easy to develop inertia and stall on the Business Plan. But this 2007 list is helping me reframe what it is I truly want to achieve outside of all the steps workshops and webinars instruct us to follow. Those action steps are necessary to move things along, but simply acting on instinct can generate momentum too.

 We find no real satisfaction or happiness in life
without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve.
~Maxwell Maltz,
Communication Bulletin for Managers & Supervisors, June 2004 

The list also shows me that my priorities change over time. I was investigating lyric writing at the time. Now my focus has shifted to art-making, and I’ll leave the singing to my musician friends. It is fun to use these old notes as guide posts of where one has been.

Did you think you would be where you are now five years ago? Take a moment to reflect how far you’ve come since then, in personal growth, in your career, with family and relationships. Remember that every day adds to your lifelong journey, and what we encounter today could be a significant source of inspiration later on.

How am I going to live today
in order to create the tomorrow I’m committed to?
~Anthony Robbins

Even if you haven’t achieved everything you set out for, remember that your wishes are valid, and don’t lose heart in your efforts to achieve them.

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start,
anyone can start from now
and make a brand new ending. 
~Author Unknown