My Goals for the Next Two Years

I'm dreadful at setting goals. Personally and professionally, I drift to whatever takes my fancy.

Planning what I want to have for dinner in the evening is an unfathomable prospect. I can't comprehend how friends can have calendars showing every meal for the week in advance. To me, that's a crazy, OCD-esque level of organisation.

I am simultaneously bemused and full of admiration for people like SpaceKate - she has goal to get to space in the next 10 years.

Comedian - and blogger for 9 years! - Richard Herring has asked readers what their goals are for the next two years, saying:

I will put it in tomorrow's blog and then you can update me in two years and let me know if you've done it. Doesn't matter if you fail. Try again, fail again, fail better.

I struggle to imagine what I'll be doing two weeks from now. I'm dreadful at organising my own birthdays - and I have at least a year to plan for them.

But two years.... That's sufficiently far away that I don't really have to think about doing anything about them for a long, long time.

So, here goes. My hyper-exciting "To-Do" list for the next two years...

Personal List

• Give Blood
  • I've several friends who give blood regularly - yet I've never done it. I'm lucky never to have needed blood before. I don't even know my own blood type. There's no real reason not to have done so; I've not got a crippling fear of needles.
  • Likelihood: 5/5
• Learn Chinese Again.
  • I studied Mandarin Chinese at University and did rather well at it. I'd like to get back to the stage where I can read and write at a GCSE sort of level.
  • Likelihood: 2/5
• Visit China
  • A long international trip may be expensive, but I think it would be worth it. It would also spur on my re-learning of Chinese. Yes, I know they have an appalling human rights record - and that flying releases tons of CO2. But... errr.... No, I have no other real defence than "I want to."
  • Likelihood: 3/5
• Not have children
  • Look, I'm sure your children are lovely, but I don't want any of my own. Like Bruce Lawson, I was considering having surgery to ensure I remain child-free (not child-less) - but I'm not sure about the side effects.
  • Likelihood: 5/5 of no kids. 1/5 for having the snip. 4/5 if Ultrasound proves successful.

Professional List

• Speak at more conferences
  • This is the easiest item on the list. I've already got a few lined up for this year and next. But it does require me pulling my finger out and start pursuing more opportunities.
  • Likelihood: 5/5
• Do more consulting
  • Since I started consulting, I've already bagged a few big companies and a few small businesses. Even if I do take on a full time role, I hope I can keep advising people about mobile related things.
  • Likelihood: 4/5
• Write A Book
  • I've been faffing around trying to write up my Mobile Badvertising posts as a (free?) eBook. I'd like to get that finished and (self?) published.
  • Likelihood: 2/5
• Maybe, perhaps, think about a Masters Degree
  • I have a Bachelors Degree (2.1 since you ask) - but by the end of studying, I really didn't enjoy the degree experience. Since then, I've tried taking formal courses in other fields (marketing, programming) but I've found them unsatisfying compared to informal study. I don't know if I have the discipline to do a part-time course, but I'm achingly aware that many of the roles I look at seem to require a Masters.
  • Likelihood: 0.25/5

What Else

These lists are crap. I know that. I've always lived without goals. I wait to see what opportunities present themselves and then I take them without much consideration of the next six weeks - let alone six months. Is that normal? Is that good?

Do you set goals? Do they make you feel happier? Do you feel that goals help you achieve more? Is there any thing else I should be doing? Do let me know in the comments.

I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar!