What are your goals?

[Kia Zi Shiru]

I'm not sure if I should post it here or on the Writers corner, but okay.

What is your goal in 1, 2, 5 and 10 years?

I've been thinking about my life lately and decided to set myself a goal. Mostly to improve myself but also because setting a goal means that I get to have a point to work towards and that I won't be 'lost' in life.

my goal for 1 year

write 100.000 words, meaning up to a 1.000 in 3 days.

For me this can be fiction, poems and articles, but work for school(project reports) doesn't count. Outlines and research do count, story writings for school do count. for counting I'll be usings Simon Haynes' software (http://www.spacejock.com).

my goal for 2 years

have a piece of work published in a book/paper/magazine.

Doesn't have to be big as long as it's good.

my goal for 5 years

Finish uni with a master in Writing and possibly get a teachers degree.

Does have to do with writing but not immediately.

Complete at least one NaNoWriMo

my goal for 10 years

being able to (at least partly) live of the benefits of my published writing, either from books or otherwise published material.

Quite the goal, I know, but I will be working up to this for the next 10 years. And I'll be working hard for it.

Most of my goals revolve around writing, but that doesn't have to mean it will be like that for everybody. So what are your goals? Please do share.

[The Pecman]

Jesus, my goal for all of those is: have a job and stay alive and healthy... in that order. (As you get much older, your priorities change!)

I'm happy to say that, after more than 6 months of endless job searching, I finally have a freelance position that's helping me pay the bills. But things are very tough out there, especially in California at the moment.

[Kia Zi Shiru]

Jesus, my goal for all of those is: have a job and stay alive and healthy... in that order. (As you get much older, your priorities change!)

This used to be my goal but only December last year I finally realized that that is exactly what made me prone to depression and why I didn't seem to be able to get out of my deep depression. (and don't pull the 'older' card on me, makes me lose respect for someone real fast)

But having and keeping a job you like seems a good goal right? And it seems that you did get that. Gratz on that!

[Cole Parker]

In our culture, having a job helps us define ourselves as a worthy individual. Take away a job, and we often feel worthless.

I was out of work for short periods of time on a couple of occasioans during my working years. It felt simply awful, like I was a failure. So I feel for you, Pec. Six months is a really long time to be looking.

Glad you found something. And you're right: CA is no place to be out of work and looking. I'd say it's a good thing you have very special job skills.

C

[Trab]

Your goals Yr. 1 and Yr. 5 are personal goals, and as such under your control, although I think setting such high numbers for Yr.1 is unrealistic and might actually cause a backlash as you try to push the inevitable 'writer's block'.

Your Yr. 2 and Yr. 10 are my concerns for you. They are dependent on OTHERS. Having your material published is not a 'bad' goal, but it is not under your control, and as such it is not a good goal. Making a living from published material is also not a good goal. It is pretty much 100% out of your hands, and as such it is (in my view) recipe for disaster.

It is no more realistic than aspiring to having an Academy Award by such and such a date. The odds are against it, and nothing you can do can really change that. Please, I implore you, pick goals YOU can control directly, with your own efforts and enthusiasm.

[Kia Zi Shiru]

Your goals Yr. 1 and Yr. 5 are personal goals, and as such under your control, although I think setting such high numbers for Yr.1 is unrealistic and might actually cause a backlash as you try to push the inevitable 'writer's block'.

Your Yr. 2 and Yr. 10 are my concerns for you. They are dependent on OTHERS. Having your material published is not a 'bad' goal, but it is not under your control, and as such it is not a good goal. Making a living from published material is also not a good goal. It is pretty much 100% out of your hands, and as such it is (in my view) recipe for disaster.

It is no more realistic than aspiring to having an Academy Award by such and such a date. The odds are against it, and nothing you can do can really change that. Please, I implore you, pick goals YOU can control directly, with your own efforts and enthusiasm.

Yr2 and Yr10 I actually chose with care, cause how am I ever going to push forward if I don't try to go for the best? I might fail in either of them but at least I tried my best and didn't go for less.

Yr1 isn't that bad and writing 300 words a day isn't that much if you think about it... I prob write up to 800 words on a daily base on the web, so diverting 300 of them towards my (shitload) of unfinished stories at least gets them out. A couple of years ago I wrote up to a 1000 words a night on one of my stories, I know I can, I just have to do it and schedule time to do so.

Over all, if you don't ask the best of yourself and aim for the highest, how serious do you take yourself?

but I am curious, what are your goals?

[Cole Parker]

I think making goals is probably more a young person's activity than an older one's. Perhaps that isn't how it should be, but my feeling is that's the way it probably is.

I hope I don't offend anyone by missing someone, and I don't really know, but I think there aren't many young people that come here consistenly. I can think of you KZS, Colin and EleCivil that I know are young, and that's it. So perhaps you three have goals. I don't know how many of the rest of us do.

Mine aren't formulated at all, but if I were to do so, it would be simple. Be happy, stay as healthy as possible and try to reduce the stress in my life. That would be it.

C

[The Pecman]

Amen to that, Cole. Trust me, Kia, after you hit 50, you get so crazed just trying to maintain the status quo, everything else is secondary.

I have at least 8 friends of mine who are in my industry and have been unemployed for many months. The guy I'm now working with told me he was out of work for almost 2 years! I do think it's a good idea to set a goal, but maybe an important additional one is:

Always have a Backup Plan.

Find a way to be comfortable, get a roof over your head, have reliable transportation, and be located in an area close to friends and amenities. It doesn't have to be a palace -- just some place where you're safe and secure. Once you got that, everything else is icing.

[Trab]

At 61, I confess to having few goals. I've already taken early retirement, so that's no longer a concern, unless my pension plan goes all askew.

Help organize a major national car rally is one goal (had a setback this year, and this is postponed). See my 88 year mother through her dotage is another (ongoing but no idea of time needed). Drive to Maine (from the west coast of Canada) and slowly work my way south to see all the autumn colors, but that has to wait till mom has passed on. Meet some of the authors at AD; one date for early September '10 has already been set. Lose 70 pounds and 8 inches off my waist (not likely before September, so be warned) (working on this with more exercise, and cutting 90% of my carb intake). Edit about 15 hours of raw footage video into a nice package on a DVD; vacation shots from several trips to New Orlean, Colorado, and all places in between (researching someone who can take the Hi8 and SVHS tapes and put them on disc or HD to allow me to edit it). Organize my neighbourhood into a cohesive emergency unit in case of the 'big one' (taking courses every other week and talking to neighbours about this, as well as to emergency coordinator).

[DesDownunder]

My goal is to be reincarnated as one sexy dude who still likes dudes, and who sexy dudes want (to be sexy with.) That would be Awesome, but this is a long term goal, I hope.

[JamesSavik]

I'm guessing getting the hell out of Mississippi isn't the sort of goal you are thinking about.

[DesDownunder]

I'm guessing getting the hell out of Mississippi isn't the sort of goal you are thinking about.

It would be for me if I was in Mississippi.

[colinian]

Here are my goals:

1 Year:

A) Complete the first half of my Masters in Computer Science program. My technical area is Human-Computer Interaction Studies majoring in Context-Aware Computing with a minor in Perceptual Interfaces. It may take an additional half-year to complete my program.

B) Begin a job evaluation study to determine what companies are doing human-computer interaction software development and evaluate their objectives and product marketability.

C) Schedule informational interviews with leading companies that have projects in my field.

D) If possible get a summer internship with one of these leading companies.

2 Years:

A) Complete my Masters in Computer Science program. Note: it may take an additional half-year to complete my program.

B) Complete a study of what research and projects will be developing in my field of interest over the next few years.

C) Complete a job search with companies that have projects in my field, and obtain a position.

5 Years:

A) Have a job doing human-computer interaction software development.

B) Recognize that the computer field has a very high rate of change. A position that I might have in five years may be in a field of computer hardware and software that doesn't exist today.

10 Years:

Because the computer field has a very high rate of change, it is highly likely that a position that I might have in ten years will be in a field of computer hardware and software that doesn't exist today.

Because I'm still attending university, many of my goals are and will be dependent on the economy, the job market in my field of interest, my personal expertise, and other outside influences over which I have no control. However, just sitting back with no goals and "going with the flow" is impractical. I have an overriding goal to remain flexible, observe industry trends, and be aware of options. On the other hand, as I've indicated in my five and ten year goals, I'm in a field that's constantly changing and has a short technology horizon, so I understand that I can't set firm goals that far out.

You've probably noticed that I haven't included any personal goals. That's something I'll have to sit down with Doug and we'll have to work on those together. We'll do that after our degree programs are close to completion and we begin our job searches. There is one personal goal that we both have: obtain jobs in the same geographic location. That's the same objective most married couples have to consider; we consider that we're the equivalent of a married couple, and that's our objective as well.

Colin

[Bruin Fisher]

And may you and Doug reach all of your goals, while still finding time to have a life(!) and enjoy your relationship. As a (relatively) oldster of 54 it's heartwarming to read of your mature, well-thought-out plans and goals.

I left school in a daze, the whole education process had been traumatic and involved no career guidance whatsoever, and my parents gave no help either (they were both teachers and should have known better, but that's another story). I knew one thing that I liked, and that was photography. So I was going to be a photographer. I discovered that a University degree would be useless as a stepping-stone to a career in photography, that any potential employer would be wanting experience rather than paper qualifications, so turned down my place at University, and went out to get experience.

Although I have worked on the periphery of photography (large-scale plan reproduction to different scales using photographic techniques, and later photocopier maintenance, and a brief spell as a home-visiting portrait photographer), I never did get to be 'a photographer'. I failed to reach my goal, but looking back I don't feel too bad about it - the odds were stacked against me and I've found other ways to pay the bills, while continuing my interest as a hobby and occasional earner of pocket money.

I wish at your age I'd had your maturity, wisdom, and the support of good advisers (and a husband!). I hope you will forgive me for being vicariously happy for you, because I am delighted that you have such fine prospects and a life ahead of you in which you will be able to shine and grow, and most of all, to enjoy.

I don't feel so bad about having failed in my goals when I think of you.

May you and Doug live long and prosper (Vulcan salute, can't find a smiley for it!)

[Trab]

One of my goals in 2nd year college was to be in a career of microwave radio system designs within a couple of years. At the end of that period I was taking retraining at company expense in computer repair (yes, the first generation computers, each as big as a house (nearly)). I never got to work on radio at all.

All I'm saying is that goals are often based on our conception of external developments, and often those don't go the way we think they will. Lofty as Colin's goals are, he might well be working on a space station doing genetic research in 5 years. Strangely, and some might say 'tragically', although that would certainly not be me, the vast majority of my 'career' (working life) was in the post office, ending up managing an office before my early retirement. My personal goals changed just as much as my career goals, and so long as you are willing to let go the old and welcome the new, you'll be just fine.

It is your satisfaction with yourself that is most important, and if others appreciate what you are doing, so much the better. And if you can do all that while not hurting anyone or anything in that process; best of all.

[colinian]

Bruin,

Thanks for your comments about my goals. When I read your post I was blushing big-time (I know when that's happening because my ears turn red and get hot).

I have to give credit to my undergraduate advisor who demanded that I write down some goals so I'd know what I'd be looking for in the future. They weren't as organized as in Kia's approach, but they were a start and got me thinking seriously about my future.

When I read Kia's post I outlined my goals using his 1-2-5-10 year approach and had Doug and Chris read them. I included some of their suggestions in what I'd written.

I like the 1-2-5-10 structure. The 1 and 2 year periods were a slam-dunk because for me the next two years are very well defined. The 5 year and 10 year goals were tough to complete. That's a long time into the future from today, and I don't have much working experience yet. I'll have enough forsight to fill out 5 year and 10 year goals around year four when I've had a job (or two or three). To guess at goals for the 10 year period today would involve alchemy, magic, fantasy, necromancy, and use of a set of twelve-sided dice to actually come up with something. Kia, ask me again in four or five years.

Trab,

I agree with you about letting go the old and welcoming the new. That's why I included my overriding goal to remain flexible, observe industry trends, and be aware of options. That includes the option of changing careers, moving out of the San Francisco Bay Area (something Doug and I do not want to do), and having to go back to school to reinvent myself.

I remember my grandad telling me about an experience he had when he was working for a huge conglomerate. A young hotshot HR guy came out from Connecticut to interview everyone in the San Leandro office. After introductions he asked "What will you be doing in five years and ten years from now?" Granddad was working in computers, and he answered "I can't answer your question because what I'll be doing hasn't been invented yet."

I love that answer. While I am planning to stay in the computer software field, I used my granddad's answer as the seed for writing my 5 year and 10 year goals. And if necessary I'm going to be flexible enough to accept, as Monty Python would say, "and now for something completely different" and make a major career move.

Colin

[Camy]

Goals? Other than writing a musical and getting it staged somewhere - oh, what the hell, if you're going to fantasise you might as well do it properly - in the West End and on Broadway, I want to write a fantabulous novel of great angst and stuff.

[Merkin]

At my age,

Goal #1: Breathe in.

Goal #2: Breathe out.

All else follows.

James

[DesDownunder]

At my age,

Goal #1: Breathe in.

Goal #2: Breathe out.

All else follows.

James

How very Zen of you, James.

[Cole Parker]

I want to write a fantabulous novel of great angst and stuff.

Don't we all, Camy. Don't we all.

C

[Trab]

Des, James' goals sound more like asthma than Zen.

[Lugnutz]

Words to live by. If I can wake up and still suck air, then everything else is secondary.

At my age,

Goal #1: Breathe in.

Goal #2: Breathe out.

All else follows.

James