Yesterday, after a pretty dodgy day at work where there were too many things that I didn’t understand about my job and I wasn’t feeling the best, these goals sprouted from somewhere inside of me.

I surprised myself as I wrote them because I’ve never really had concrete goals.  I’ve always been driven but I’ve been driven towards abstractions like ‘Always be happy’, ‘Aim to be successful’ and ‘Always do what I love.’  To me the aspirations that I’ve written below are the most specific goals I’ve ever had and I’m pretty proud of them.

You’ll notice that I’ve even developed a relationship goal which is included at the bottom of the list.  When the idea of a relationship goal was first suggested to me it seemed like a pretty strange concept to think about (“What the hell is a relationship goal?”). but I’ve spent a while considering it and if you have read my previous posts regarding my fears over having children and the ways I use writing in my relationship when I should perhaps be talking, you’ll understand where my goal came from.

General life goals:

1. To write a kids book that adults will fall in love with also.

2. To write an adults book.

3. To keep learning and writing about myself through blogs, books, articles (really any medium I can get my hands on).

4. To take my parents out to many many dinners now that we’re all grown ups.

5. To remain confident that imagination is valuable and can always remain part of my career (no matter how many times I’m told that that it doesn’t contribute to or change anything tangible in the world).  Always hold onto my belief in the power of perspectives when offered up to others.

Career goals:

1. Never be a manager.  I don’t think I’m very good at managing people (their expectations or their actions).

2. To define my success by my capacity to teach people.

3. To become an engaging public speaker.

Relationship goals:

1. Free myself of any preconceived notions (both mine and other people’s) of where I thought I’d be in a relationship.  Let go and completely trust my experiences.