Tangible Goals for 2006

January 12th, 2006 · Comments

One of the many things that Dallas has taught me is that it’s beneficial to have measurable goals in life. Whenever she would ask me about my goals, I would always with something vague or abstract, such as “To make those around me happy” or “To be a better more compassionate person”. I’ve been thinking over the last few weeks about what kind of measurable goals I can make for 2006. When 2007 rolls around, I’ll be able to review this entry and see just how well I have done. Some of the measurable goals I’ll keep to myself, of course. Here goes:

Pay off my car loan ($10k left)
Learn at least one new programming language that differs significantly from those that I already know, such as LISP or IO.
Work no more than one weekend a month
Take the kayaks out at least 4 times
Go on at least 3 VW Bus campouts
Learn how to ride a motorcycle
Learn how to drive a stick shift
See at least one US state that I have not seen hitherto
Visit Bloomington, Boston, Raleigh, and South Florida at least once (hopefully more!)
Hike at least 15 miles in a single weekend
Get involved in a major open source project
Visit a Buddhist temple at least once
Redesign this poor website, including the photo galleries
Volunteer at least one day this year
Attend at least one technical or computer related conference
Cook at least one day a week (and I don’t mean using the microwave)
Make at least two new friends that I meet up with on a regular basis

What do you guys think? Are there any goals I’m missing, or any that you would like to share that you can check back on next year?

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Dallas 01/13/2006 09:53 PM 1 point
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I feel so proud. Those are great objectives - technically speaking. You're now ready to be an instructional designer. :)

I need to post my goals, but its good to see that there is some overlap there...like 5, 8, 9, 14, and 16. And I won't even ask about your plans for our relationship.

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http://www.sallad.net

thomas 01/13/2006 07:30 PM 1 point
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Sounds good to me :)

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http://human.io/

John 01/13/2006 07:23 PM 1 point
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You should add

"Take 24 hours and be completely greedy with it. Doing anything I want with little regard to my responsibilities."

I'm telling you. One good day of doing something wasteful like playing Doom3 or Civ all day followed by a nap and then watching your favorite movie on the couch once a year keeps at least one month of the year off your age =)

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thomas 01/13/2006 04:34 PM 1 point
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It sure does. I still like my intangible goals, but at least with these well defined goals I can go back on Jan 1st 2007 and grade myself objectively.

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http://human.io/

gorski 01/13/2006 08:34 AM 1 point
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I think both her kind of goals and yours are good--hers are things that I'd describe as "goals", and yours are more what you expect in your own life... both are important.

The thing about medium-term goals is that they'll all either be accomplished or obsoleted sooner or later, and it helps to have more of an idea of where you are in your life and what you want out of it, lest you sort of drift along from one goal to the next. Of course, if you have these ideals and no actual goals towards which to progress, it's very easy to mumble about compassion, happiness, and the like without >doing> anything about them.

Does any of that make sense?

peace,

--me

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Georgy 01/13/2006 04:11 AM 1 point
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Yay! Come to Boston, then we can go to Rhode Island or Maine or somewhere and knock off the 'visit a new state' thing :-)

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http://www.leadpencil.net

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