Here is the apocryphal tale of how I came to create my list of goals and dreams. In 1986 I read an article about Chuck Yeager, the famous pilot. As a kid he had made a list 74[?] things he wished to accomplish. He completed the list at the age of 74. Unfortunately, in this age of the internet, I can find no record of this. Did Chuck Yeager really set 74 goals? Did he really accomplish them? Can anyone help me? Or did I dream it all?
Another inspiration was the following quote; from which I have taken my life motto: Specialization is for insects. For a time my online moniker on The Heinlein Forum on Prodigy was S.I.F.I. Rob.
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
— Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
Well, however I got the idea, at 19 I created a list of 50 goals. Over the years I have been gradually adding to it. Some of the items on it have been retired as goals or dreams. Some are impossible if time and physics work in the way we think they do and magic doesn’t exist. Many of them I have worked toward and some of them I have accomplished. I need to go back and figure out what I have accomplished and update it with new items! For now, here they are. Use them as you will. I have borrowed liberally from many sources. Feel free to borrow from me. If it’s something you’re serious about. Make it a S.M.A.R.T. goal and set about it. If it seems unrealistic, make it a D.U.M.B. goal and let it sit out there to inspire you.
- Go into space
- Make an album
- Perform live in front of 10,000 people
- Fly a plane faster than the speed of sound [learn to fly first]
- Run for political office [and win]
- Act in a motion picture
- Act in a television show
- Meet Robert A. Heinlein
- Improve swimming abilities past survival level
- Design and build my own home
- Take off and land on an aircraft carrier
- Fly a helicopter
- Search for Atlantis
- Search for Mu
- Become an expert scuba diver
- Become an expert marksman
- Become an expert archer
- Become an expert on self-defense
- Gain 20 pounds of muscle [125 lbs + 20]
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Russian
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Italian
- Learn how to speak, read, and write French
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Latin
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Greek
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Hebrew
- Sail from the U.S. to New Zealand
- Climb a mountain above 10,000 feet
- Become an expert swordsman
- Read all of Robert A. Heinlein’s books
- Learn how to play chess well
- See the pyramids of Egypt
- Learn to play the piano
- Fly in a hot air balloon
- Parachute out of a plane
- Ride the Grand Canyon rapids
- Learn to ride a horse
- Read the bible from beginning to end
- Make [earn] a million dollars
- Visit 25 countries [6]
- Pan for gold in Alaska
- Hike the Pacific Crest Trail
- Travel back in time
- Travel forward in time
- Live off my own resources in the wild for a week [Maybe longer]
- to walk on my hands
- Drive a Lambourghini Countach
- Have a wonderful family
- Meet Lazarus Long (goes with #8]
- Exceed the speed of light
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Spanish
- Raise a chimp
- See the Nazca lines
- Visit the high Incan plains
- Learn to control my lucid dreams
- Learn to hang-glide
- Read the complete works of Shakespeare
- Write and publish a science fiction novel
- Open my own business
- Own a set of Robert A. Heinlein books
- Help coach a high school wrestling team
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Chinese
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Japanese
- Land on another planet
- See the Aurora Borealis
- Become an expert skier
- Become an expert photographer
- Direct a play
- Write a play
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Finnish
- Earn an Associate of Arts degree
- Earn a Bachelor’s degree
- Earn a Master’s degree
- Learn sign language
- Learn to ballroom dance
- Write Science Fiction stories for children
- Be a conservationist without being a fanatic environmentalist
- Learn to budget successfully
- Set foot on the moon
- Learn to play the guitar well
- Learn to play the saxophone well
- Reestablish good friendships without losing others
- Learn how to speak, read and write German
- Learn how to speak, read and write Arabic
- Learn how to speak, read and write Portuguese
- Become a better correspondent
- Start a letter writing campaign to control college costs
- Support the space program
- Teach Spanish
- Teach Russian
- Teach Drama
- Help my
wife(partner) in all she does - Start a letter writing campaign to control Environmental spending
- Become an excellent student
- Become a thrifty, frugal and creative person
- Write a musical
- Teach a Science Fiction class (After #57)
- Write & produce plays with meaningful themes and challenging roles for young people
- Buy a large Victorian farmhouse with a barn on a medium sized piece of land
- Learn how to speak, read, and write Korean
- Maintain a journal
- Write about past experiences while I can still remember them
- Visit 25 more countries (Added to #39)
- Own a 1969 Boss 302 or Mustang Mach I
- Have one of my plays produced
- Be involved in an archaeological dig
- Learn to lay brick
- Become a good makeup artist
- Become a good set designer
- Sell one of my songs
- Scuba dive Bikini Atoll
- Follow the Lewis and Clark trail
- Follow the Nez Perce Trail
- Become a decent gardener
- Write a sonnet
- Become a good cook
- Become an amateur astronomer
- Learn to wrap a turban
- Become certified to teach History
- Teach History
- Learn about Buddhist teachings
- Write poetry in the Haiku form
- Write poetry in the Tanka form
- Learn to play the harmonica
- Go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans
- Go to Carnival in Rio
- Go to Argentina
- See the Great Wall of China
- See the Great Mayan pyramids
- Learn to make paper
- Learn to cross country ski
- Teach English
- Become a good jack-leg carpenter
- Lay linoleum
- Do laminate countertop
- Lay carpet
- Visit the Parthenon and Acropolis
- See the Claddaugh Lighthouse
- Learn to read write & speak Gaelic
- Learn to do leaded glass
- Climb in the Grand Tetons
- Visit Castle Blarney
- See and use the baths at Bath
- Sell poetry
- Write short stories
- Sell short stories
- Have writing appear on television
- Write a television episode
- Write a screenplay
- Sell a screenplay
- Have one of my screenplays produced
- Swim with Orcas
- Learn Tai Chi
- Become a regular blood donor
- Become a plasma donor
- Vote consistently (Every election)
- Write a biography
- Create a names database
- Design a ring
- Become a good canoeist
- Learn to kayak
- Publish a biography
- Sell a non-fiction article
- Design a website
- Get my picture taken by Hollywood sign
- Meet Spider Robinson
- Own a 1967 Porsche
- Visit all 50 states [32]
- Teach in an Alternative H.S.
- Write a fantasy novel
- Sell a fantasy novel
- Write fantasy fiction for Young Adults
- Go to Disneyland
- Paint my house
- Build a fence
- Design/Create a Zen garden
- Teach Creative Writing
- Floss my teeth regularly
- Eat more health consciously
- Learn Yoga
- Improve my organizational skills
- Write everyday
- Make my own yogurt
- Record with Petty or Springsteen
- Climb Olympus Mons on Mars
- Build a hovercraft
- Be in a Star Trek movie or episode
- Receive a patent for an invention
- Market a patented invention
- See a Space Shuttle launch
- Lower my blood pressure
- Drink 1 liter of water each day
- Exercise 20 minutes or more 3 times per week
- File paperwork as soon as I get it or am finished with it
- Clean up my credit/Get rid of extra credit cards
- Visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall in D.C.
- Make excellent Cheesecake
- Perfect my pizza dough/sauce
- Visit an Anasazi Village
- Learn Tae Kwon Do
- Gain my Blue belt
- Learn to throw pottery on a wheel Learn to throw pottery on a wheel
- Become a successful grant writer
- Learn to cook with minimal salt
- Earn my National Board Teaching Certificate
- Learn to cook asian cuisine
- Lose 20 lbs (from 168 lbs.)
- Learn Java
- Learn to program HTML, Java and SQL with Cold Fusion
- Get my teeth fixed
- Take and pass a Calculus class (WD 2X at GHC 85-86)
- Learn to make Stained Glass
- Design and create beaded jewelry
- Earn my Purple Belt in TKD
- Travel to Italy/see Rome
- Learn to lay tile
- Learn to lay hardwood floor
- Build a pizza oven
- Build heirloom furniture
I think it’s pretty cool that you were inspired by his list and made your own. I too, have my own bucketlist of things that I one day hope to do myself. I’m really looking forward to getting more of them done, and I’m busy doing some already. Hopefully you can one day achieve all of these too :3 It was interesting to read about them 😀
Yeah, it’s been a few years, but I think it’s time to do some reflecting… Only been thinking about writing goals.