Life Direction Goals

For the last 20 years, at the beginning of each decade, I have taken 2-3 weeks to get away and re-evaluate my life and set goals for the next 10 years. I'm a little late with this as I usually start the process in November of the year before the decade begins. I have been thinking about not doing it this year, since I do not have, nor can I afford professional help who has, in previous decades, guided me through the process.

I decided that this time of true reflection and deciding where to go from here is still important, as it has guided me through a lot of hard times within the last decade which was one of the hardest.

It kept me focused through three tough deaths: My Father in 2002; My Mother in 2004; and my best friend of 30+ years in 2006. During this time I also lost three friends I went to High School with, nine good friends to aids, my roommate from a Doctor's error in medication Rx, and two loving pets. I had to claim bankruptcy when my business went south in 2003.

My social life has also taken an unforeseen change. The first part of the decade was working on my High School Class' website and 30th reunion, a labor of love. At the beginning of the decade I went out... even though I had to force myself, I did go out to Bingo 2-3 times a week, partied at the bar and had friends come over for morning coffee or for evening dinners followed by cards/board games. Now, all of that has been replaced digitally: Pogo, Facebook, Twitter and Blogging.

Ten years ago, I was using my computer for email, chatting with family and friends not living in town, researching and making my living on it. Now, except for chatting with friends and researching, I do not do any of that. While these activities may be fine, I feel stagnate and useless.

So, here I am, left at my own devices at home, alone, to decide whether to curl up and die, or face the world and do something new. I've decided the latter.

The process calls for me to be frankly honest with myself and to exclude all outside distractions that may superimpose negative feelings or ideas into my evaluation and goal setting. It also calls for me to set ten(10) goals for the coming 10 years. These goals must be more than just resolutions that people set forward for themselves every New Year's Day and once broken are not visited until the following year. They must be challenging, knowledge building while reaching each goal and ultimately rewarding when completed. The best part of any goal is the learning process along the way.

Everything you do in this evaluation must be handwritten on real paper and kept until the next decade. They must be available, but put in a safe place in case you move. You cannot change them once they are set. All worksheets and lists are private and should never be shown to anyone. A goal, while private, can be shown to someone, if it helps you keep focused on the goal and assists you in reaching the goal, however, no one but you should know the entire list.

The time starts when I wake up tomorrow, January 29, 2010.