What a weekend I just had. I took Thursday and Friday off to complete some work around the house. I cleaned out the entire basement, prepped wood for the winter, cleaned and organized the yard, finished some side tables my dad had made me, painted our front deck, roughed in the fireplace, and many other small random jobs. I also had a roofing contractor in putting a new roof on the house (finally!). I could not really be much more happy about that. My dad also came out for the weekend and helped me with some projects that had backed up from my summer in the field. We finished putting in the new fireplace (well, new for me anyways and finished framing in and dry walling the new skylights. It feels amazing to have that stuff finalized and completed. So the little cabin is starting to feel more like a house now, its almost done.
The greatest thing about completing all of these intermediate goals is that I will finally have a little more time for training and enjoying the simple things again. The things I have been missing for the past little while. I know that there is really no super rush to have these projects completed, I put this pressure onto myself. At the same time, it feels so good to have them out of the way so I can move on to the next big job (or small jobs....).
Jobs and tasks take allot of time to complete. As I look around my property, I see more and more little jobs and tasks that I would like to complete. It seems that the older I get, the faster time seems to pass. I am sure that this is not a phenomenon strictly limited to my little world, I am sure most people suffer from the same fate. As I get older and time passes, I constantly wonder if I will have enough time to accomplish/see/experience everything that I conjure up in my mind? Which is the right choice and/or path in life? How is one to know?
I do have major goals in all parts of my life. Take climbing for example. The only goal I ever had (when I fist started) was to climb 5.12. The whole purpose of this goal was to open up more climbs to me while visiting other climbing areas. I have basically achieved this goal, so my climbing world is a happy and enjoyable one. Now I can participate in climbing as an activity with nothing to prove to myself or anyone else.
I also have many other personal goals or life goals I suppose. The most interesting thing is that my career does not often creep into these life goals. I wonder why? Does this mean I am not following the proper path in life? I don't necessarily think that is the case. I do, in fact, love my career (for the most part, it does have its downfalls). The one major goal is total self sustainability. What does that mean.
When I say total self sustainability, I mean total self reliance. My ultimate goal to to build my dream home. Now my dream home is pretty far from the average persons dream home. It would be small (just large enough as is required). The ultimate goal would look something like this:
- straw bale construction (amazing R-value)
- green energy production (wind, solar, micro-hydro)
- possibly power creation from WVO (waste vegetable oil)
- geothermal ground source heating (horizontal or vertical loop depending on geography)
- passive solar design features
- passive solar air heating
- back-up wood cooking appliances (wood burning oven and stove)
- in-floor radiant heating (for high efficiency of power use)
- composing toilets
- grey water system
- organic garden and fruit orchard
- herb garden
- fishing nearby
- Electric car for commuting purposes, run off of the solar and wind power
Goals are funny things. I strongly believe that one will never accomplish, realize, or see anything to fruition unless it is first conjured up in the mind. At the same time, one can certainly dream too much or dream un-realistically. I think that my ultimate goal of living off grid in an environmentally friendly home is actually achievable. I have come across too many people that dream up these crazy idea that will (very likely) never be realized. Maybe that is the point to this sort of goal setting, a sort of fantasy goal setting ritual. I find that I don't really work all that well with that type of approach. Dream big, but dream real.
Life is nothing but a series of goals, reach one at a time. Some peoples goals are huge and others are small. Some people have to set many many intermediate goals to accomplish their main goal. I believe that this is an excellent approach and will enable you to experience small successes along the way, which will boost the confidence and give you more drive to keep fighting for the end purpose.
What is success then? I once read a quote that has stuck with me for my entire life. "Success is the progressive realization of a worth wile dream". I don't think that there could be much more truth spoken in a sentence when talking about goal setting. Success is strictly determined by the individual. You see, climbing 5.12 means absolutely nothing to 85-90% of society. There are also many average goals (money, big house, cars, large screen televisions, etc...) that I just cant possibly understand the value of. If the dream seems worth while to you, then you must pursue it with everything you have.
I think that everyone sets goals on a daily basis, whether we all realize it or not. If we make a more conscious effort to make and achieve goals, I think our lives will be allot happier and more full of the feeling of achievement. Like I said earlier, achievement is in the eyes of the individual. Each and everyone of us will see achievement differently. I suppose the most difficult part is excepting that each of us has their own version of success and achievement.
I have taught myself to live everyday to the fullest (what a cliche). We have all head that before. But how do we actually accomplish that. I believe that we cannot waste any amount of time spent on this earth. Each and every second is precious and we need to learn to see the beauty in every moment, no matter how small or big. In a world full of negative influences and people, this can be incredibly difficult. We need to learn to associate ourselves with positive influences that will empower us to accomplish the goals we have set out for ourselves.
So, get out there and set some goals. Work towards them and enjoy the journey just as much as the destination.
Peace,
Ryan
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