Outlandish Goals

Life is amazing. You get only one, and it’s essentially up to you what you want to do with it. There was a moment in late 2012 when I truly realized how profound that statement was, and I began questioning things. Steve Jobs once said,

For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something … Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

His words resonated with me, and over the past year, my wife and I began making some big changes—embracing minimalism, leaving my full-time job and setting out on my own as a freelance web designer/developer, being some of the biggest changes.

My List of Outlandish Goals

Here is my list of what I will call “outlandish goals”. Tim Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Workweek, says that unrealistic goals are actually easier to attain than “realistic” goals. That being said, some of these goals are actually quite realistic. However, a few on the list could very much qualify as “unrealistic”, and that’s exactly the point. I believe in the power of positive-thinking, and persistence.

Plus, I’ve never really been one to aim for the “realistic”. The real world is kind of overrated 😉

My reasoning for posting these goals is to hold myself accountable, and perhaps to inspire somebody else to make a list of goals or dreams they’d love to accomplish themselves. This list will constantly evolve, be added to and change over time. It’s also important to note that these goals involve my family and not just myself (specifically the travel-related goals).

Languages

  • Learn Spanish — I’m still learning this one, but I’ve learned enough to consider this goal accomplished
  • Learn French
  • Learn Italian

Travel & Adventure

  • Surf in Hawaii — Completed May 2011 & October 2013
  • Film myself Bodyboarding or Surfing with a GoPro Camera — Completed October 2013
  • Learn to Kiteboard
  • Visit every Hawaiian Island
    • O’ahu
    • Hawai’i (Big Island)
    • Maui
    • Kaua’i
    • Moloka’i
    • Lana’i
    • Ni’ihau
  • Travel the UK and Europe
    • Drink a real pint of Guinness in Ireland
    • Visit Dingle, Ireland and meet a Hussey
    • Drink Scotch in Scotland
    • Walk the Camino de Santiago, with my family, in Spain
    • Eat pizza & drink wine in Italy
    • Have a short conversation with someone en Français, in France
    • Eat real Greek food in Greece
    • Visit St. Pierre et Miquelon (A colony of France, only 20km off the coast of Newfoundland)
  • Visit Easter Island
  • Visit Costa Rica

Professional

  • Work for myselfBegan September 1, 2012
  • Have 50,000 students on Udemy – Completed March 2014
  • Have 100,000 students on Udemy
  • Make a significant monthly income from online courses — Online course sales accounted for 60% of my 2014 income!
  • Build a website focused on providing free & premium online coursesCodeCollege.ca
  • Publish 10 online courses — currently have 7
  • Win a web design award on awwwards.com or thefwa.com — submitted one website to awwwards so far
  • Write an eBook — Completed 2015
  • Write a real book
  • Have 50% of my income be passive income — Passive income currently accounts for more than 70% of my 2015 income
  • Achieve financial freedom and live entirely on passive income, and interest on savings & investments
  • Get featured on the Smart Passive Income Blog
  • High Five (or have tacos with) Pat Flynn
  • Speak at a conference
  • Have 10,000 YouTube subscribers — Achieved July 2015
  • Have 50,000 YouTube subscribers
  • Have 10,000 Twitter followers
  • Have 5,000 Blog subscribers — Achieved early 2015
  • Have 20,000 Blog subscribers — subscribe here!
  • Have 1,000 Facebook likes Achieved early 2015
  • Have 10,000 Facebook Likes — help me out my clicking “like” below:

Personal

  • Have a child
  • Speak at a TED or TEDx event
  • Send my parents on a trip of a lifetime
  • Own property somewhere tropical
  • Memorize the order of a deck of shuffled cards (I can do 26 so far!)
  • Write a folk album with Laura
  • Sell the folk album on iTunes
  • Start a charitable foundation

 

Keep checking back to see how I’ve been doing!

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