Photo Credit: Bryan Wintersteen
Yesterday morning I was thinking about the difference between a bucket list and life goals.
I have a bucket list which includes tons of things I would like to do before I die. But life goals are different. To me, life goals are the handful of big things you really want to achieve in your life.
Karen’s 6 Life Goals:
In no particular order of importance…
Find My Soulmate:
I’ve been single most of my adult life. While I’m not unhappy being alone, it’s not what I want. I want to meet someone who shares my core beliefs and goals, and build a lifelong relationship with him.
A Few Good Friends:
I’m not so good at friendships. I have a lot of people I call friends, and who would say I’m their friend. But I have a hard time turning those friendships into the deep emotional friendships reserved for just a few. I don’t need dozens of best friends. I just want 2 or 3 people who totally get and accept me. I want to be the first person they call when something good or horrible has happened in their lives. I have a few people already in my life who could be these kind of friends but I haven’t done the work to make these friendships what I want. I need to work on that.
Travel the World:
Travel is the one thing that inspires me the most. I want to go everywhere. In no particular order. I know I won’t be able to go to every country and every city, but if I keep traveling with at least 1-2 trips a year, I should be able to look back when I’m 90 without regrets about where I’ve been.
Future Expat:
I love St. Louis and will always think of it as home. But St. Louis was the home I was born into… I didn’t chose it. I realize I could have moved away after I finished college, but family was too important and I wanted to be around for my grandparents later years. I don’t regret my decision, but I’ve always yearned to spend some time living abroad. I don’t have a country picked out and hope that I’ll stumble on a place or 3 where I want to live during my travels. I’m not really thinking of settling in one place for good, though it might be a good way to live out retirement years cheaply. But I don’t want to wait until retirement… I want to immerse myself in a foreign culture as a resident as soon as I can find someone to go with me.
Retire No Later than 65:
I like my work, but I don’t want to work up until I die. At least not full-time. I want my last 20+ years to be spent travelling, spending time doing what I love and enjoying friends & family. Not taking care of clients or punching a time clock.
Financial Freedom:
I don’t need to be rich. But I do want the freedom to order what I want when I go out to eat or to get a new car when the mileage is creeping up on the old one. I want to be able to travel where I want without worrying that the trip costs too much. And I want to be able to retire without worrying I’ll run out of money.
Life goals won’t just happen. They need to be achieved. I’m taking steps to try to make each of my goals a reality.
What about you?
What are your Life Goals?
