Where you want to be in 5 years?

[Daniel]

Have you thought about it? I am. I'm 50 years old. And in 5 years I will be 55. A lot can happen in 5 years.

I recently read an article about writing one's goals down. Seems that those who write down them down are more likely to achieve them that those who don't. I did this years ago. And it now seems time to do it again.

I also just finished reading an interesting book with a quip-ish title: Talent is Overrated. The thesis, which is backed up by research, indicates that the hours of deliberate practice one puts into any given activity is what matters. Example: a world class violinist differs from a second-tier violinist because of the hours put into practice that is undertaken with a high degree of awareness. Timing is important too. The earlier one starts, the better.

So- I am thinking about how I want to use my time. The time I have left. Have some ideas. Have had them for a long time. Time to concretize them onto paper and create deliberate practice to achieve them.

So much for talent.


http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/21/maga...tune/index.htm

A number of researchers now argue that talent means nothing like what we think it means, if indeed it means anything at all. A few contend that the very existence of talent is not, as they carefully put it, supported by evidence. In studies of accomplished individuals, researchers have found few signs of precocious achievement before the individuals started intensive training. Similar findings have turned up in studies of musicians, tennis players, artists, swimmers, mathematicians, and others.

Such findings do not prove that talent doesn't exist. But they do suggest an intriguing possibility: that if it does, it may be irrelevant.

[Rick336]

Daniel,

I have also read that the time put into the practice of an activity is time well spent. And that when personal goals are written down and reviewed daily that this increases the chances of the goals being achieved.

In five years my goal is to have my book finished. I've been working on a book about my gay rights days in Minnesota for some time now and hopefully it will be finished by 2014. But I know that writing a book takes a lot of discipline and "practice" which means I probably need to spend less time on the internet.

The book you mentioned, Talent is Overrated, seems like a book I could benefit from.

Rick

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by Rick336

In five years my goal is to have my book finished. I've been working on a book about my gay rights days in Minnesota for some time now and hopefully it will be finished by 2014. But I know that writing a book takes a lot of discipline and "practice" which means I probably need to spend less time on the internet.

Great minds think alike. I am working on a book too. Non-fiction. It's about my bag- singing- from a historical perspective. Lots of research went into it. That was the fun part. The hard part? The actual writing. Which brings to mind a saying heard in a writing class a few years ago (I made myself take 4 in a row): first drafts are shitty drafts! So true. Getting one's thoughts onto the page can be a trip!

I've made progress in fits and starts. So I'm working with a writing teacher to whom I have to be accountable. It's put some fire under my butt.

Deadlines. Deadlines. Deadlines.

Excruciating, but necessary.

I just hope the process is going better for you!

Memoir

1. An account of the personal experiences of an author.
2. An autobiography. Often used in the plural.
3. A biography or biographical sketch.
4. A report, especially on a scientific or scholarly topic.
5. memoirs The report of the proceedings of a learned society.

Sounds like you have a very interesting tale to tell. I think it's very important that your story be told. So much of gay liberation is known only to those who lived through it. And you are such a person. As such, I think it is very important that this knowledge not be lost to the sands of time.

Less time on the internet. I hear you on that!

[Jennifer5]

Is this a wish list or a realistic list?

Well, I suppose that that's a bad attitude, I need to make the wish list realistic. So, by 2014 here are some of the things I would like...

Well, I'll be almost 23.

• Done or almost done with school, depending the degree I end up going after.
• I would like to have traveled to at least a couple new places.
• I'd like to have participated in at least one more Soulforce event.
• I'd love to have an active roll in helping with local human rights (including using what I know about ASL, which I will have learned).
• I want to continue to have a good relationship with my family.
• I would love to keep a couple specific friends and not let the time and differences pull us apart.
• I would love to have a least one BEST friend that I can share anything with.
• I want to be living in an area where I am happy, although I don't have a specific place in mind.

It really is an interesting thing to think about, because a lot really can happen in 5 years. I'll still be just a kid though and still just figuring things out, it's nice to think about how much time I have.

[Daniel]

Get specific!

Like where you'd like to live. What a good friend looks like. A degree that you'd like to have. The places you'd like to travel to.

It's not about making things perfect, but having the audaciousness to want. To acknowledge one's desires.

Desire is the fuel in the engine. No desire, no motion.

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by Daniel

Get specific!

Like where you'd like to live. What a good friend looks like. A degree that you'd like to have. The places you'd like to travel to.

It's not about making things perfect, but having the audaciousness to want. To acknowledge one's desires.

Desire is the fuel in the engine. No desire, no motion.

If you may be so bold? Do you know how grateful I am for this place, where I am told when I am not on the right track?

Some things need to be put in your face, so that you can address them the way that they need to be addressed.

I will come back in a few minutes, I will make this more specific!

You're right Daniel and I know it. I needed to be told that.

[dsdrane]

(Damn you, Daniel.)

This post has me staring into the abyss.

I'm currently an architect. This sounds cool until you learn I'm unlicensed and have no desire to be so.

Oops!

Where do I go from here?

I don't quite care. And that's a blessing.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by dsdrane

(Damn you, Daniel.)

This post has me staring into the abyss.

I'm currently an architect. This sounds cool until you learn I'm unlicensed and have no desire to be so.

Oops!

Where do I go from here?

I don't quite care. And that's a blessing.

Sounds like this is a rubic's cube that you are turning round and round.

So- to cut to the quick- how about making a plan to get licensed- if that is what you need and want? Oh...it's hell I am sure. But once you have it, you have it, even if you don't use it.

And if you really don't care, then you are free to dream large. Start something new.

Win win either way.

[KevinS]

Hey:

You are absolutely right that writing down your goals helps make them a reality. Just last month, I looked back to Jan 1, 2008 at what I had hoped to accomplish in that year. I wanted to come out to my family and friends; I wanted to leave my marriage of 17 years in a non-destructive manner; I wanted to find a loving partner. I rarely reviewed that list - it seemed like too much to hope for.

Looking back from Jan 1, 2009, I was amazed to realize that the impossible dream all happened. I left my marriage, but in a good way - we are keeping the house together and sharing custody of our 3 kids from there. All my family and friends know I am gay - some are supportive, some are not, whatever! And I met the most wonderful man, Blake, and we are planning to get married next summer or fall (it's so nice to be Canadian! )

I also looked back a little further to 2007 - when I decided at 40 years old that my goal was to go back to school and do my MBA. Now, I am over half way through - doing it in part time in the evening. The best part is that I had no idea how I would afford it when I wrote down the goal - it was impossible. But my employer stepped to the plate and is paying 100% of it! Who knew??

Write your goals down no matter how impossible they seem. I don't know what it is, but somehow things start to align themselves when you have a focus.

Kevin.