How to Achieve Anything: A Traveler’s Guide to Life and Goals

How do you achieve what you want? How do you create something from nothing - something that only exists as ideas that live in your head? How can you do this in an abstract (repeatable; reusable) yet actionable manner?


How do you travel to a place, or in a direction, that you've never traveled before?

 

NEWS FLASH: If you don't make it happen, it's not going to happen. You can endlessly hope that your dream life will land in your lap. Has it happened to some people? Sure. Can you count on it happening? Hell no.

If you passively let life happen, others may exploit your energy while you drift without direction.


You get to pick what you want to do and where you want to go.

 

See below for:

I want to travel to a specific location (goal-oriented; specific, measurable outcome)

I want to travel in a "specific" direction (growth-oriented; nonspecific, immeasurable outcome)


 

I want to travel to a specific location (goal-oriented; specific, measurable outcome)

1. Pick a location you want to travel to

2. Divide the journey into manageable parts and conquer them one-by-one

3. Assess your current state

What do I control? What can I contribute? What are my guiding principles?

4. Identify what you lack

What do you need to be successful. What will it take? Do you need anything to support you?

5. Get started

6. Assess "Have I arrived?" on a regular basis

YES? Great! You've arrived. What would you like to do next?

NO? Repeat 1-6 regularly


 

 

I want to travel in a "specific" direction (growth-oriented; nonspecific, immeasurable outcome)

1. Pick a direction you want to travel in

2. Assess your current state

What do I control? What can I contribute? What are my guiding principles?

3. Identify what you lack

What do you need to be successful? What will it take? Do you need anything to support you?

4. Get started

5. Repeat 1-5 regularly

 

Since you are going in a "direction" with no "end goal" then you will be perpetually in motion, moving hither and fro. Be mindful of picking positive directions to point yourself toward.

"Do yourself a favor and at least point your ship in A positive direction."

 

 

We're here on this giant rock flying through space. Whether you believe there is some universal "meaning" to life or not, we will all get up tomorrow morning, just as we did this morning, and as we will the next morning.

Even if you believe that life does NOT have meaning beyond "randomly existing" - it is difficult to deny that you DO have control over what you do this moment, and the next, and the next.

 

So, where do you want to go?




Disclaimer: I used ChatGPT to provide critiques and feedback on this writing and incorporated some of the suggestions into the final product.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's in a gamertag?

What does your gamertag mean to you? Did you pick it or was it chosen for you? Do you see it as you or is it a descriptor of you? I've worn many tags. sh0ck, Sedkuh, Tomoto, Reekow, germany-boy, Y2S Big Bird, and countless others. Sedkuh is the merging of my gaming and professional self. Tomoto is my healing-focused self. Reekow is my action-focused self. germany-boy is my premature mature self. Y2S Big Bird is my social-focused self. But sh0ck is the name I most associate with. I picked it in early college. It was originally aftersh0ck, but I eventually shortened it to just sh0ck - or "ix sh0ck xi" if you're talking Xbox Live gamertags (the x's, i's, and 0 are/were important to me). In my IRL life I tend to be quiet and reserved. I'm thoughtful, but not action-forward. I observe, watch, and only act when/as needed. But sh0ck - sh0ck is a go-getter. He's the guy out in front. He's daring, stoic, and experimental. He's the "speak softly but...
Read more

"New Year, New Me"...is bullshit (but there's still stuff we can learn)

It IS a new year But you are still the same you. And I'm still the same me. Now actions? Those can change. Mindsets? Those can change too. It's easy to get lost thinking about being someone new or different. Running from your past into a future sloughed of your mental and emotional snakeskins. Burying your failures, writing your successes in stone, and resting on your laurels. But who you are, and who you will become, are all direct functions of who you were and where you came from. ------ A quick aside - a history lesson and thought experiment: The Ship of Theseus An ancient story and philosophical paradox/thought experiment. Imagine you have a ship made of wood called the "Grand Miss." Now, imagine that the Grand Miss is old and needs fixing. So you take her to the port and ask your favorite shipbuilders to handle the repairs. The shipbuilders meticulously, piece-by-piece, replace EVERY board on the ship with a new board. They start with planks on the side of the...
Read more