(Re)Defining My Goals

I've always known what I wanted and for the most part, I've always gotten it.

In high school, my goal in life was to be Ambassador of the Philippines to... wherever. The thought of representing my country to others mesmerized me, ergo step 1 had to be land a course on International Relations. Got that, AB European Studies, AdMU 2003.

College, though, introduced me to marketing. Yes, I was in Euro Studies, but I took the International Business track as opposed to the Political Science directive. So we took up the many basic management courses and Marketing 101 was one of them. I fell in love with the dance that happens between buyers and sellers, with the power and authority brand men and women had over sales, logistics, purchasing, HR and consumers. Ambassadress was out the window, overtaken by the power hungry marketeer. I wanted to be the neck that turned the big gun's head, all towards making the wonderful plans in mine happen.

I became a marketer. Turns out, though, being one isn't as powerful as we were led to believe back in class. Or not at first, at least. I've made my own way "up" the corporate ladder. I've achieve some level of authority, and command a certain degree of respect. It wasn't the easiest, nor funnest of all climbs and I'm sure there's still a length of a way to go to the top but as any growing individual experiences, I've gone thru another bout of changes and getting to the top of the corporate ladder isn't one of my goals anymore.

I'm actually in the very strange place of not having a goal. My chant nowadays is "... a job is just a job is just a job." I do what I do because of two simple things:
1) To earn my keep and help my family juggle the household expenses,
2) and to save enough for the next destination paradise or the quick beach getaway.

But Chris Guillebeau's latest blog entry rang yet another bell in me. His "out-there" question for the day was "Are goals necessary?" and he's gotten many a great feedback from AONC readers. However, only two lines from his entry struck me most. The first is his favorite comment: "Goals are simply chosen destinations that we’ve decided are worth the trip." said Barbara Winter. I have yet to explore her site but her book title looks mighty exciting. The second line is from Chris himself, "My view is that the odds of life passing you by are much higher if you have no plan for life itself."

Now, tell me, are those two lines not enough to stir the longing of goal-setting in anybody? I've always been the girl with the goal, yet I've also always understood that my journey towards the goal is oftentimes more important than the actual goal itself. So for me to learn from the journey, I must choose my destination and start the travel towards it, because I don't ever want to wander thru this life aimlessly.

Y@H is one goal. I have no idea how I'll start it or what it's going to look like. All I know "Young @ Heart" will stand for exactly what it's named for. It'll be FUN, creative, colorful, loud in places it needs to be loud and quietly serene it places it needs to be serene. Y@H will be my legacy in this mundane industry of never-ending meetings, up-tights and screw-overs. And truthfully, Y@H will be my excuse to not work in the workplace.

My bucket list is another. Thus far, I've ticked one item off: I've conquered my mountain. The marathon, although not on March, will be next. I will, however, try to put the Komodo Dragon and Blue Iguana experience as far back as possible. I wrote my bucket list to get me excited about life. I think I'll go thru it again to re-energize my deadened senses.

Writing down these goals, I realize I've always had them. They've always what I travel towards everyday since I first wrote them here in my blog. I guess I just kind of lost my way a bit somewhere in the latter part of 2010. It's just Feb 2011, not much time was lost. I've got my whole life ahead of me to make these goals happen, and I joyfully look forward to the amazing journey ahead of me to get 'em.