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Updated: October 21, 2019

222 Comments

Share Your Biggest, Most Ridiculous Goal (I’ll Go First)

So I’m thinking we have the makings of a pretty nifty community here at Disrupting the Rabblement. These past few months have seen more and more of you fine readers chiming in with comments, and I’m conversing with an ever-growing number of you via Twitter, Facebook and email.

Through all of those channels, I’ve been able to hear some very cool stories about what big goals and adventures you’ve all got going on. And it’s inspiring stuff. In fact, connecting with all you fellow rabble rousers online has been something of a lifesaver for me here in Spain, where I’ve found it difficult to meet free-thinking proactive types, especially with the language barrier. I imagine I’d be one depressed and frustrated hombre right now if not for all the support and positivity I receive via the big web machine. (Muchas gracias!)

Now here’s what I want to do today: Introduce you fine folks to one another.

In a minute I’ll ask you to go leave a comment, but I don’t want you to leave just any old comment. Nope, I want you to really dig deep and hit me with your biggest, most lofty, audacious and ridiculous goal. You know, the one that’s likely to draw laughs and eye-rolls from all the old folks back in the village and all the lads in the pub. Except you don’t have to worry about such reactions here at Disrupting the Rabblement, because we’re all about thinking big and tackling the impossible, screw the naysayers and dream-slayers.

I’ll get the ball rolling by announcing a perfectly unreasonable goal that’s been brewing in my mind for the past few weeks. You already know of my intention to spend 3+ years circumnavigating the globe without flying, but this is something different:

The Five Tongues of Awesome

Don’t worry, it’s not as kinky as it sounds πŸ˜‰

The Five Tongues of Awesome is what I’ve dubbed my dream of becoming fluent in the world’s five most widely-spoken languages. Those five would be (as measured by number of native speakers, according to Wikipedia):

  1. Mandarin
  2. Spanish
  3. English
  4. Hindi-Urdu
  5. Arabic

Being fluent in those five languages would mean I’d be able to communicate effectively with approximately 1/3 of all people living on this big rock we call home. Which methinks would be pretty damn cool.

And I don’t just mean conversationally fluent. I’d be aiming to reach a level of fluency that would allow me to deliver a clear and effective speech in front of at least 100 native speakers of each language, and be comfortable handling Q&A afterwards.

Now every goal needs a deadline, so I’m going to give myself until the age of 40 to achieve this. As of this writing, I’m 29 years old. I’m already pretty handy at the auld English and I’m almost three months deep into learning Spanish (steadily approaching conversational fluency). I know nothing of the other three languages on the above list, other than they look and sound funny.

I figure with at least two years of consistent study and practice at each of those languages, together with some healthy doses of immersion, I should be able to achieve my goal, while having plenty of adventures along the way πŸ™‚

Your turn!

Alright, over to you. Let me know of your biggest, craziest goal via the comments. Put it out there, make it that bit more tangible. Let’s all see the legendary company we keep by reading this blog.

P.S. Even if you don’t feel like sharing, be sure to check out the first comment below for details on a special offer for DtR readers.

About The Author
Niall Doherty – Founder and Lead Editor of eBiz Facts Born and raised in Ireland, Niall has been making a living from his laptop since quitting his office job in 2010. He's fond of basketball, once spent 44 months traveling around the world without flying, and has been featured in such publications as The Irish Times and Huffington Post. Read more...

222 thoughts on “Share Your Biggest, Most Ridiculous Goal (I’ll Go First)”

  1. Hey Niall!

    HereΒ΄s my life goal: After finishing my bachelor I want to do the first bycicle journey to every capital in the geographical borders of Europe, starting in Valleta and finishing in Lisbon. The trip will take about one and a half years and I will document everything with cameras. After that IΒ΄m going to make a documentary and give some talks to people. While doing the trip I want to collect money for the german equivalent to WaterAid.

    Now this will just be the beginning. If this project will bring me enough followers and is working out fine I want to keep going. For example IΒ΄m thinking of cycling the whole planet or doing something else like walking or hitchhiking the world.

    For that I need a really good blog. I never was a very good writer so my aim is to make the blog as funny and honest as I can. I love making fun of myself. ThatΒ΄s why I already wrote down some stories of my previous trips and called it TravellingByFailing.

    How about you Niall? Did you make any efforts with your five tongues of awesome?

    Keep up the good work,
    Simon

    Reply
    • Hey Simon,

      Wow, that sounds epic! Thanks for sharing.

      And hey, if you want to improve your writing, just keep writing. Worked pretty good for me πŸ™‚

      As for my progress, I’m back learning Spanish again, getting ready for spending much of 2014 in South America. I should be pretty fluent by the end of the year if I keep up the practice.

      I’m not so sure anymore about the other languages I listed. After visiting India for example, I don’t feel any strong desire to spend a lot of time there again in future, so learning Hindi would be a bit redundant. Same with Arabic. I didn’t much like spending time in Muslim countries. Way too sexually repressed for me.

      That said, I do want to continue learning multiple languages. I’ll likely get started on Portuguese this year as well, as I have a feeling I’m going to like Brazil a lot.

      Reply
  2. Hi Niall,

    I just came across your page! IT’s great. You are an inspiration. I Wish I could do what you do. But I too suffer from adult shyness and live my life looking forward to the weekend so I can go out and consume! My craziest goal is to be a DJ. There is nothing in the world that makes me happier than mixing music, experimenting with different sounds and creating something. I love listening to a track where I focus on different elements of it and listen to the different combination of sounds together and separate. It’s amazing to me. And I wish I could create that. But I’m 24 and it seems this is a man’s world (or industry) and it’s too late to do it. I’ll just do it once I have some money to buy the equipment and play by myself. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  3. Aah… I don’t have a ‘fixed’ goal as such, but I do know I want to bring about a change in my country. I’m from India and there’s so much that needs to be done.
    I love your goals though!! Thanks to my mother tongue, I can check two of those 5 off my list!

    Reply
  4. There are many bashful goal achievers here, Niall. My goal is in progress. Started a securities account with $1000 and now trade only stock options with it. Up to $5800 and my obscene goal is to parlay this into 1M within 5 years. I plan on traveling and need a daily, good internet connection. Spend 2 hours or less per day on this. Will be retired in January of 2014. Writing a love poetry/prose book entitled, “Love Me With the Lights On!”….”Or Off!” Hope to perform selections in clubs in Europe as a multimedia show backed by music. “Hola & Adios.”

    Reply
  5. I love this, but here is my most ridiculous goals

    – Write novels and stories (hopefully get them published)

    – live off the money I get from my writing

    – travel to anywhere I would like to visit

    If I could have those three things, I would be the happiest person. I am already almost done with my first draft for my first book, so i hope that maybe soon I can publish it.

    Reply
  6. I love this post. Unfortunately, I’m not sure what my big crazy dream is anymore. I used to know but it got lost somewhere among the day job and the commute and the bills and the grocery lists. Perhaps I left it on the top of my car with my latte that spilled that one day when I was really late to my I’d-rather-not-be-here job. Who knows? All that matters is that it’s lost and I should probably start looking for it. Lost and found fliers? Soul searching? This wonderful Rabble Rousing blog? All great places to start. πŸ™‚

    Thanks for your wonderful writing.

    Reply
  7. When I was younger my biggest Goal used to be … get a good job and a wife and raise a family…

    I am living that dream now!

    My latest goals is to build two things…
    1. A Mobile app to help people become happier, this is on my short term list

    2. A AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) system to help people manage their online lives.

    Both of my latest goals seem to keep getting put off because I prefer be apart of my kids lives especially in their current formative years.

    I know I will start #1 soon… #2 is something that excites my imagination….

    Reply
    • Hey Mark,

      Glad to hear you’re already living your dream πŸ™‚

      Your goals sound good, but I’m thinking you’d need to come up with specific starting steps to help you get the ball rolling. The more precise your goal and the more you break it down into actionable steps, the easier it is to chip away at it.

      Reply
  8. Hey Niall,
    Great post and love the mention of the lads having a laugh in the high chair back home in the local. Those are the guys who will be in th eexact same situation in 10 years as they are now while the rest of us live the life we desire and have trials and tribulations in business…

    You got me thinking…

    Long term goals –

    > Travel to 100 countries (minimum)

    > Make lots of money

    >Give all the money away

    >Make some more…

    > Visit Ireland more often and my family

    > Have a circle of only positive and influential people

    > Build a successful online brand

    > Write a self help/ business book

    > Speak at TBEX

    > Give a lecture in an Irish college on entrepreneurship

    > Have loads of babys

    > Make people happy

    > Be happy all the time

    > Sail around the world

    > Own a bar in the Caribbean

    > Win a Muay Thai fight in Thailand

    > Have a coffee with Richard Barnson

    > Become fluent in Spanish

    > Buy a condo in Thailand – No Morgage

    > Build a mud & hay style economical house in Ireland

    Short Term

    > Get back playing electric guitar and play with a band

    > 1,000 Facebook Fans

    > 1,500 Twitter Followers

    > Get my blog to PR 2/3

    > First Associate check from Amazon

    > First Adsense check from Google

    > Get training Muay Thai again

    > 2 Niche websites that make $500 per month in affiliate sales

    >TEFL – for the craic, and to help my writing and grammar

    Felt good writing all of those goals.. Working on achieving them every day.

    I get home from the 7-5 construction job and get my head into my laptop to work on my travel blog, freelance writing, building niche websites and making videos.

    “It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting” – Paulo Coelho – The Alchemist

    Reply
  9. Hey Nial,

    Great blog! Just found it by complete chance!
    I also like your goal/dream and, if I may suggest, I think its a pretty achievable learning process within 6-12 months. To learn those languages within that short period of time, in your busy traveling schedule would be best by listening to structured conversations with headphones. My wife just learned to speak conversational Arabic on the plane, while traveling from London to Dubai. Its “Michel Thomas method” Did you hear of him before? You learn the language structure by listening to his tapes, or recorded mp3 files. Its about understanding the language and taking part with 2 other recorded learners. Please try to google him – its amazing!!!!

    My goal is to finish my documentary (which I started 3/4 years ago) and make it available to masses in the world, to teach the younger generation about our sound, which is still analogue, not digital. I’d like to make some awareness about the music format, starting with phonographs. Tangibility factor, music ownership, establishment is all part of the process. I interviewed hundreds of famous and less famous artists, celebrities, engineers, record labels, youth, kids, DJs, production houses, academics, eccentric individuals and many more.. but because the subject matter is soooooo big, I can’t ever wrap it up and finish. Perhaps one of these days I’ll find a way to do it (maybe as many little episodes of it).. πŸ˜‰
    https://vimeo.com/channels/152368

    Reply
  10. Wow! Great goals there Niall!

    My huge, crazy goal is wanting to become an inspirational filmmaker, and one day eventually own an independent production company. The stepping stones in achieving my goal is actually starting off!

    When I dropped out of university a few years ago (against my parents wishes), I secured a job as a production assistant in a local production company. After my short stint there I took the almighty leap in backpacking to Europe and Asia (again, against my parents wishes). During my travels I documented every little detail I encountered, as small as going to the local market in Germany, to as ambitious as delivering a speech at a start-up conference in Hong Kong!

    After my travels I sent my documentary of my epic journey, and secured a job as an Assistant Director, and on my way to fulfilling my dream!

    Reply
  11. My biggest goal at this moment is to learn to live and travel in my little boat as a lone sailor because my friend has quitted the project. I am a newbie sailor but I will go ahead on my own. The real challenge starts now. Thanks for sending me good wind!

    Reply
  12. Unemployed graduate (Town Planning) living in rainy Dublin.

    No jobs to go around so next logical step would be to do an internship and build up experience right?

    Thing is my true passions lie elsewhere.

    In dreamland I would love to do something along the following lines:
    – actor
    – classical/flamenco guitar luthier in the south of France (french speaker) or Spain
    – circus entertainer
    – cocktail bar/surfing lessons hire owner guy on a beachfront someplace.
    – Owner of a funky bicycle shop/repair place in Copenhagen or Amsterdam

    You can imagine the alarm bells in my parents head who are urging me to follow with a masters degree instead, settling for the least risque option. Oh the dilemma.

    Security and comfort at one end whilst a burning desire for escape and the pursuit of the unknown remains on the other.

    Reply
  13. Your question is a very interesting one… Before some months I thought, that I don’t have any dreams left. After a time of compleate nothingness, I finally see that I have too many dreams left. I don’t know what dream to chase and so your question helps me to think about.

    1. dream (small): to learn the Urdu alphabeth
    2. to travel this year to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Iran…
    3. to build a community like barefoot college (India)
    4. to set up a place, where many many people can meet and become a family (in real life, not internet)
    5. to find out how it is to float in a sensory deprivation tank
    6. to set up a business that imports beautiful clothes to Europe (the clothing here is so incredible boring and colourless)
    7.to concentrate compleately on every moment, every person I’ll be with in that moment, not thinking of anything else, while doing some things
    8. to walk through many countries
    9. to find a way to get my son out of the house, away from the computer, and that he is enjoying nature the same as me
    10. and and and and and and and and and

    I see, that these dreams are floating in my life, without me ever coming more close to them. Perhaps I like them to be like this? Dreams are something that make life magical, as long as they stay dreams. Once fulfilled, they loose their attraction.
    But, on the other side, having so many dreams I could easily finish with some of them… Hmmm.

    Reply
    • I like those dreams, Doro. Thanks for sharing. And I wouldn’t worry too much about the magic being lost when you accomplish them. I find that there are always more dreams that can take the place of those fulfilled, always more cool, magical stuff to do πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • Yes, I know that this is true! What you do makes me feel very hopeful, thank you for sharing your travel with us! I think you have many thoughts that accompagne you on your way… what is the next place you will travel?

        Reply
  14. Until now I have never responded or commented on anything I have read on line. I struggle to put in writing any thoughts I might have, even if asked simply to comment on an item I have purchased or a service I have used. But from today, I am changing that. I will no longer lack the confidence to share my thoughts publicly, worry about being judged or ridiculed by others. My goals are many, I will run my own magazine business, highlighting the achievements of others who I feel are overlooked, the proceeds from which I will donate to charity and I will also develop a training and mentoring service for women. Well there it is. Thank you for sharing such a valuable resource with me. It is great to hear from others, its been a real eye opener. I wish you well with your languages.

    Reply
  15. My biggest goal of life changed 3 years back. I want to brought up 2 sons of my beloved departed brother who left us on 1st November 2009.
    And yes my dream is to become a successful dairy industrialist πŸ™‚

    Reply
  16. I would like to have just enough money to travel the rest of my life thats an old dream but still not dead, it just taking more time then I thought. My dream would be to meet people who have the same dream and posibilities to travel, maybe to set up a website(if there isn t one) for this reason so for example people could meet somwhere half way and continue the trip from there πŸ˜€

    Reply
  17. How refreshing! I often limit myself from talking about goals. I generally don’t appreciate the response I get…

    My biggest, craziest goal? It has got to be owning land. Lots of it, at that. More specifically I’d like to be self-sufficient to the greatest extent possible. There’s hardly anything as fulfilling for me as living simply.

    Give me an old farmhouse, trees, the strength to tend what requires it and I’d happily find a rhythm within. I do love the city, but my heart is at home in the country. Especially now that I’m a mother–there’s nothing closer to perfection than watching your child play happily in an open field, not a care to be had. Save for maybe wild blueberry season!

    Reply
  18. My most ridiculous goal is: having a net worth of 5 million euros by the age of 40. That’s in about 5 years. I’m at 10k now…

    Reply
  19. Hello, Niall:

    I’ve just found your website, and although this conversation is a bit old, I’m inspired to contribute because I just got back from an incredible Human Development conference in Jakarta.

    My ridiculous goal: I want to analyze the potential of government and community-based solutions to social problems, like healthcare, poverty, and systemic discrimination of minorities, and I want to revolutionize social programming in the United States (is that ridiculous enough?) I will find a way to change the bad attitudes of our politicians and citizens about social services. You know, they say that the most ethnically homogenous countries have the most robust social care programs (it’s easier to swallow the need to care for your neighbors when they’re just like you). Considering the tremendous complexity of US society, this issue is huge and fundamental to our approach to domestic and even foreign policy (i.e. American arrogance).

    Yeah, Americans and many prominent American intellectuals are obsessed by market solutions to every kind of problem, so I’m working on a philosophical and pragmatic framework that could use this bias to the advantage of everyone.

    My problem is that I have such a hard time narrowing my focus. When I was living in China, I was interested in educational policy, and I still work on that now. I live in Taiwan currently, and I work with a local professor to bring the best of international urban environmental policies to the island. I know it will be rough when it’s time for me to head home and work on the political bullshit in my own country, but I think I can afford another decade living abroad πŸ™‚

    Reply
  20. Alright, my main goal, which I am about to describe, may or may not be what my function in life is supposed to be. I’ve had quite a few ridiculous dreams, which I have gotten rid of recently because their outcomes no longer interest me (or rather the journey itself; you should never reach for the outcome when making a goal or else the journey won’t be at all enjoyable), a few of them being;

    Becoming a professional guitarist – I started playing the guitar when I was 13 (I am 18 years old now) and found it incredibly satisfying for a couple of years and learned many things relatively quickly, until I encountered the scales and I gave up completely. I find it so bloody boring just going up and down on the fret board, one note at a time, “D, E, F#, G …” and I no longer feel that spark I felt when I started playing as a child. Therefore I’ve given up on this dream for now.

    Another dream I had was to become an actor. In elementary school I was part of a theatre group with whom I did many plays with and had quite a few roles, and all I knew is that when I was on that stage doing my ‘thing’, I was enjoying myself immensely, so naturally I decided to pursue the actor dream. When I then discovered how narrowminded the Danish theatre schools are (pardon me if I’ve offended any Danish actors here, some have had plenty of success from studying there) in their way of holding auditions and that the most non rabble-y school costed 45 thousand Danish crowns, PER SEMESTER, I decided to drop the idea completely and move on to something else. Also the actor life does not attract me at all. When reading about how famous actors live their lives (which I hardly ever do anymore, it’s quite sickening), all you hear about are endless dramas, sex scandals, divorces, lawsuits … so no thank you, Hollywood!

    My current dream, however, is to become a shakuhachi player (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuhachi). That instrument sounds so immensely beautiful I am sent directly to heaven each time I listen to it’s woody, hollow chanting (and this feeling is 10x magnified when I play the instrument myself). Take a listen for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY1EMwDeaBw
    The challenges to living this dream through is firstly financial: A good, quality standard Japanese Jinashi Shakuhachi costs more than $1000 USD, and on top of that, if I want to go to Japan (which is part of this dream as well), I have to cash in a hell of a lot more money still, and I swear, nobody wants to hire me in anything here in Denmark. But this is the only thing that really ‘concerns’ me. The rest are more related to learning the language, which I am already doing and doing quite well in actually.

    One of the reasons that the dream seems to fit so much is because it has come exactly as I have indulged myself in spirituality and learning the truth about life itself, and since Japan is home to the very well known phenomenon of ‘zen’ buddhism (and the shakuhachi is usually played by people who have connections with their own ‘Buddha nature’) it would be a great opportunity to live out the zen life simultaneously.

    Reply
  21. My goal is to intensely experience every human emotion. I want to be embarrassed, elated, frustrated, homesick, obsessed, in love, lonely, anxious, exhilarated, humiliated, everything.

    Apparently there are 48 human emotions. So far, i have intensely experienced 9 of these, each has a tremendous story behind it. I’m looking forward to the next, whatever it may be.

    Reply
  22. I have an old notebook that I write goals into. It is great to look back and see the ones I accomplished and plan new ones.

    My goals really are not big. One is to do more creative sewing – cloth dolls, aprons, applique quilt blocks – to sell online so I can keep my house in town, pay the property taxes, etc.

    I’d like to make money doing what I love to do, not cleaning up after people all day.

    Too bad I am not very computer savvy. I am 53 years old. But it is never too late to dream new dreams.

    Reply
  23. Niall, you should add Russian to your list. Most of Eastern Europe speaks it as a second language and Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus speak it as a first.

    My goal is to become an excellent day-trader.

    Reply
  24. You really need to go back to these sunglasses. So much better!!! Nothing worse than the current Armani knockoffs that are obviously fake.

    Reply
  25. I have many big goals and they are always swirling and changing in my mind. I realized at some point before discovering your site that I would have to define and quantify goals if I was ever to achieve them. I think you write about this on your site as well.

    My goal was to attempt solo long distance backcountry backpacking to see for myself “what I’m made of”, slow down the pace of life to more bare essentials, to connect more honestly and immediately to my natural environment, and explore a more primeval version of my own mind….

    The long (1500+ mile) trails over here in the states are widely traveled which is not as in line with my goals, so I decided to make the ~950 mile Mountains to Sea Trail across North Carolina my first endeavor. It is little known, and only 30 thru-hikes have ever been completed. This means that there is little to no existing thru-hiker support system in place, compared to something like the famed Appalachian Trail (which thousands of adventurers attempt each year).

    A short end to a long post: I’m leaving late August.

    Who knows what lofty goals and adventures will open up to me after I achieve this one! Anyone who would like to follow my blog for the adventure can contact me and i’ll let you know when it goes live!!

    Reply
    • That is hardcore. I was just talking with a buddy the other day about how most of us know next to nothing about surviving in the wild these days. Building a fire, catching food… all forgotten skills.

      I heard a few months ago of a survival course where they put 30 or so people in the woods for a year and train them how to live off the land. They get dropped food and supplies regularly at the start, but by the last few months they’re completely self-sufficient.

      Reply
      • You speak the truth concerning forgotten skills. Even in more remote parts of the world, western influence and industrial agriculture are wiping out many localized hunting/fishing/growing systems. The cultural and environmental losses are staggering – all in the name of profit. A good read on this is Slow Food Nation by Carlo Petrini.

        I won’t be catching any of my own food for the duration of this adventure (except possibly a few mountain trout on occasion), but a survival course like the one you mentioned is high on my list of goals.

        Reply
        • Yeah, I think I’d like to try a course like that myself at some point. I imagine you’d gain an unparalleled sense of self-assurance just knowing that if shit hits the fan you have what it takes to survive in the wild indefinitely.

          And thanks for the book recommendation!

          Reply
  26. I did read that post and watched the video, you did a great job!

    There’s something I’ve been thinking about and fearing lately and am wondering what your take on it is. I’m living abroad right now and trying to have an interesting experience (as you are although I’m not moving from place to place). But I’ve noticed that the people I know who are trying to put down roots and stay at home seem to actually be much happier than I am. I’m not saying they don’t have any admirable goals because they do, but they don’t seem to feel the same restlessness as I do and I always get the feeling they are content with life. Thoughts?

    Reply
    • No matter how you choose to live your life, there’s always a trade-off. For me right now, the trade-off of traveling indefinitely and jumping from country to country regularly is that it’s hard to keep a routine and long-term relationships are pretty much impossible.

      Folks that opt to stay home, raise a family and work 9-to-5 don’t have the freedom of movement that I have, nor are they as autonomous and flexible in their work, but obviously their lifestyle has lots of benefits, too.

      So it’s different strokes for different folks really. You have to figure out what you really want and then accept the trade-offs that come with it. You can have anything you want, but you can’t have it all at the same time.

      Your friends might be perfectly happy living and working back home, but would you be? If so, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. There’s nothing wrong with 9-to-5 as long as it’s a conscious choice and it serves you well.

      Reply
      • Well, I don’t think I’d be happy working 9 to 5, but someone could do freelance work or own their own business or do just about anything they dream of doing for a living, while staying at home and focusing on developing intimate friendships and relationships with the people around them, which is impossible when you’re always on the road. I guess what I’m wondering is whether you ever feel you’re trying to fill a void by traveling and whether you’re finding, even to a small extent, that feeling that it’s not quite working, that “wherever I go, there I am” and the void is too.

        I absolutely don’t mean to offend you and I’m not saying you do feel this way – it’s more that I do, so I’m wondering whether you do too, at all. πŸ™‚

        Reply
        • Hey Jeannie. Don’t worry, no offense taken πŸ™‚

          I don’t feel like I’m trying to fill a void with travel. I think some people who travel are running away from something they don’t want, but I always feel like I’m running towards something I do want. But yeah, travel doesn’t solve everything and any personal problems you have at home will likely be there on the road, too.

          Recently I’ve been missing having that core group of friends around that I can meet up with regularly and know beyond the superficial level. That’s why I’m glad I’m staying put in Kathmandu for a few months, and it’s why I prefer to travel slowly in general. Jumping to a different city/country every few weeks can be fun for a while, but you do miss out on the feeling of a place to call home and people to call true friends.

          Reply
  27. Oh my goodness, I was so happy to find this post and to find out that so many other people have so many amazing goals!

    OK, here’s mine… I get scared a lot because I’m not really sure I can do it. But here goes.

    I want to make a living being a stand-up comedian. I’ve never tried it yet (am working on my routine, hope to do an open mic in a few weeks) but making people laugh makes me so happy.

    But I don’t want to just do stand-up in English… I want to be a stand-up in Hebrew too, of which I have some knowledge but am not totally fluent by any means. And I want to make a good enough living to divide my time between Tel Aviv and my North American hometown. And entice my whole family to do the same thing. And be totally happy and at peace.

    Does this sound hard enough?

    Reply
  28. Darn my typos and that was four signed up as owners of two TM’s…

    The box to type was a little small so Id didn’t spot the spelling mistakes Sorry!

    Reply
  29. OK here is a short version of what I tried to write half hour ago but had to reboot and lost my post text

    I came up with the “Double T Ted’s” 6028+ Teddy Bear Characters that sort of came form “The Bare Necessities” and the Jungle Book film and an album cover booklet that was used to teach me to read when I was 1 and 2 years old back in 1967/8

    I have been working on perfecting a system called The double T Ted’s Double T it Up SEO Power Plays SEO Power Linking Systems that has the potential long term to give Wikipedia a good run in search domination terms.

    The idea being the double T ted’s are cartoons that came from Disney so I shall make Disney, Google and all the rich pay to build http://www.norton-disney.co.uk theme park which will be able to sort the UK economy and employ a lot of paddy builders along the way no doubt as I want a ten mile wide theme park that stretches to http://www.lincoln-jerusalem.co.uk and where I can force all the rich and Kings of the Earth to bring their riches using SEO to force the issue.

    I have thus far put this together to get things on track > http://wacico.co.uk/wacico.htm

    Where I see I only need about two other webby types to compliment my own skills to take a dominant position for web design and development where I shall knock totalcreation off their #1 position in the UK and perhaps all that is needed then is an investor to take things forward in other ways

    I am writing a book that I will do so it can be made into a film for the teddy bears and the CARYOONS and CATTOONS

    And came up with a plan to beat red letter days for a day for the rich by selling them “seats” for Β£50,000 with Samsung screens Yamaha sound and a chance to be part of a home entertainment extravaganza in 2018

    I figure the seats will likely cost under ten grand a piece to make and a five grand affiliate program will sort that for getting some seats sold.

    I actually plan to write some of the effects into the book/film to work with the seats which can all be aimed at a 2015/16/17 3 year perfecting period in readiness for the home premier planned for 2018

    How about that for a real WACKY Story?

    Reply
      • Both Norton Disney and a small area out side of Lincoln are places Niall. Walt Disney visited Norton Disney in 1949 wanting build a Disney Theme Park so I want to turn Norton Disney the “Stone Rejected” by the builder Disney into the Chief Disney thing in Europe by seeing if I can also get a Golden Palace Disney style built in to an Epcot like theme park town/village and city built as part of it in Lincoln Jerusalem which like Norton Disney is an actual place.

        It is what I refer to as the “UK’s best Development” (potentially) that will also be the UK’s best Web Development overall

        Hey you did say mad things people can have a laugh at!

        If you read thta WACICO links page you will see I already have 4 people signed up (4 of the UK’;s bets artists/cartoonists” to earn percenr=tages of two TM’s one of which has already been purchsed the other the money is there waiting to purchase and so just need about two web savvy folk to also join who can complment my skills and I shall take over not only SEO but UK Web Design and Web Develoment search terms and basically use the teddy bars to blanket page one and page two search results.

        Which is what I cna do for pretty much whatever search terms I want if I turn my attention an have the right end results to work with that best answer search queries.

        I don’t just do SEO to get one wimpy page 1 results I aim for as many of the tp twenty as possible when I seek to optimise for a term or word.

        Reply
  30. My greatest immediate goal is blossoming. I am creating a Personal Development Social House here in Las Vegas for conscious, capable people who need a supportive and motivational environment in which to pursue goals, make plans, conduct trials, give/attend workshops.

    People will be able to visit for a short time or live for weeks or months or more, and must contribute value to the house in some way (pay rent, install a solar system, provide cooking or cleaning, etc).

    The goal is create an ongoing atmosphere similar to the one created at a Pavlina workshop, with support for change and new ideas, creativity in setting and working toward goals, and without social pressure on choices.

    Thanks for the forum to share this!

    Reply
  31. Mike Roberts, yes! I have a very similar goal to that of Dancing with the Stars! I WILL be competing in Strictly Come Dancing (the UK equivalent). When I will be competing is another thing but once my other huge goal is achieved (to become a professional-to-the-point-of-earning-a-living-out-of-it broadcaster/presenter). To win would be fantastic but just the experience, the amazing dancing, the beautiful gowns… I’m not known as the most graceful woman, but I will be in time πŸ˜‰

    Reply
  32. Thanks Niall for creating a space for people to spout off their crazy goals!

    I enjoy your language goals. My next language will be Portuguese. With each new language learned you unlock the possibility of communicating with a new group of people. What will you do once you can communicate in the 5 languages?

    In other words, this is a great start, but I think you certainly can dream bigger, crazier goals! What will they be?

    My big and crazy goal is to be a leader in a movement towards a gift economy. I want people to let go of their desire for money and possessions. Work (for money) less, follow their passions (for free) more. I believe this is the paradise where happiness and fulfillment can be realized.
    We only have one short life to live…

    Like you said in your last post Stumbling Towards the Far, “preaching is an amazingly ineffective way to change lives.” I agree. I’m going to demonstrate how it can be done and write about what I learn for others to read for free. Always for free. I just paid off all my debt from student loans, credit cards, and personal loans. Now I’m going to travel the world and spread my gifts of time, skills, knowledge, assistance, and money and in any other way possible.

    I believe everyone has it in them. I’m not there yet, but I’m going to blaze the trail for myself and show others the way.

    Here’s the essay In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell that inspired me to be idle and work less. It’s worth the read: http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html

    Reply
    • Just sent that essay to my Kindle and will check out later. Thanks for sharing, Mitch.

      Love what you’re aiming for. I’ve seen and read about about the concept of a gift economy and I like it a lot. Access trumps ownership.

      Reply
  33. My big crazy goals are…

    Have my own show on the travel channel

    Getting my pilots license

    Competing in a triathlon

    and being able to talk to anyone, anywhere

    Reply
  34. My big ridiculous goal is to make a living off of writing novels. That involves several things:

    – becoming friends with my fear of criticism

    – doing the work of writing and revising novels every day

    – diving into traditional or self-publishing, probably both

    – keeping my living costs low, because writing is an unstable career for most

    I’m scared. That means I’m doing something right. Full steam ahead.

    Reply
    • Way to break it down, Bertrand. Love that you’re running towards the fear instead of away from it.

      Have you read The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield? I’m thinking that may help.

      Cheers!

      Reply
  35. My biggest most ridiculous goal?

    My dream is to start an eco retreat and learning center. I would start by buying some land and building a couple of yurts to live in. Then I would start offering courses in yurt building. A by product of each course would be the components to build additional yurts. These additional yurts would then be rented out as accommodation to anyone that wanted to experience yurt life. Then I would build a large strawbale barn that would serve as a workshop in which I would run additional course and make available to others who want to run courses. That would lead to strawbale building courses. Again a by product of the courses would be additional buildings that could be rented out or used for specific purposes. Similar paths would follow for cob construction, cordwood and even shipping containers. I want the center to be as self sufficient as possible so I’m going to be looking for like minded individuals to join the project that can run courses in off-grid power, organic gardening, food storage etc etc. Imagine a hundred acres with cottages and cabins of all different types available to rent, all with lots of privacy in an off grid environment and you’re on the right track to what I want to accomplish.

    Reply
      • Alas not yet, been trying to work out how to go from the vision to the reality. Do I need all my ducks in a row or is the best thing to stop planning and start doing?

        I know the first thing I’ll need to do is get settled on a piece of land and live there myself. Then its a case of doing everything I plan to teach, successfully, and rolling out courses. I have heard of a few places but none that started totally from scratch.

        Reply
        • I don’t think you need to have all your ducks in a row, but at the same time there’s no reason to rush. I’ve always found that I know when the time is right to take a leap, not sure if it’s the same for everyone though.

          Might be a good idea to start contacting others who have done similar and pick their brains, build up a network of mentors.

          Reply
  36. Its kinda hard for me to put forward my biggest most ridiculous goal as I have so many that for most people seem to be way off the charts and outside the range of what the normal person would do. I say that I guess in good company considering you up and left your job to explore the world to experience all it has to offer.

    But I think one of the ones on the top of my bucket list would be obtaining Membership to the “Explorer Club” although this may sound like a simple process of just filling out an application and paying some dues its anything but that. The Explorer Club is a honorary based acceptance only and requires a significant contribution to the field of exploration.

    Other hot ones on my list include: Penetrating 10,000′ into a underwater cave system, Walking to length of the great wall of china, and joining the 300 club (this is done in Antarctica when the temp is -100 degrees sitting in a sauna heated to 200 degrees then running outside and doing a lap around the pole marking the south pole.

    I spent some time awhile back laying out my bucket list of experience but it seems as fast as I knock them off more items keep getting added to it.

    http://azchipka.thechipkahouse.com/about-avery/the-bucket-list

    Reply
  37. Dear Niall,

    Just stumbled across this while reading about Stockdale Paradox. Must admit, its a brilliant forum.

    Talking about goals, I’ve three BIG ones which I’ve been slowly working on.

    1. I want to do a year in Europe – backpacking, going down to the small towns and learning more about their culture, art, architecture and food (yep, I’m a budding food writer).

    2. Next up, languages have always been my thing and BTW, Urdu is my first language πŸ˜€ and I’m pretty fluent in Hindi as well πŸ˜€ The languages I want to learn are French (which I know just a bit), Spanish and Japanese.

    3. This is the BIGGEST one so far. I’ve always been fascinated by airplanes. AND my BIGGEST goal (in life) is to learn to fly someday, not commercial, not anything. Just to feel that I’ve accomplished that one thing in life πŸ˜€

    So, those are my BIGGEST and maybe laughable goals.

    Great going and looking forward to most posts πŸ˜€

    Reply
  38. I want to make a living off of thinking. (And of it’s result)

    There are a few thing I really love to do. And, luckily, I am really good at these. But it is always a certain idea that motivates me to create. So I don’t want to call myself a musician, a web developer or a minimalist (depending on my current focus) anymore. I just want to be me. Each day I want to ask myself: “What now?” And then go for it.

    The ridiculous part is, there is no income included in my favorite goal. Money will have to just come to me because I’m passionate about everything I do.

    Can’t wait for it!

    Benjamin

    Reply
  39. my biggest, most ridiculous goal is to sing with professional opera companies in Europe. As soon as my technique and resume are solid and I’ve got the money saved up, I’m going to embark on a European audition tour and sing for any agents and/or houses that will have me. πŸ™‚

    It seems ridiculous because I got a bit of a late start singing, and now at 28 i’m competing with younger people who have many things that i don’t– masters degrees from top conservatories, connections and experience from prestigious studio-artist programs, etc.

    You know what?

    I’m going for it anyway. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Rock on, Caelen. I was speaking with someone recently about how I’m going to try learn guitar this year, at the age of 30. He told me that Chris Rea — a guy who’s sold millions of albums worldwide — didn’t start playing music until he was 35.

      Never too late πŸ˜‰

      Reply
  40. My ridiculous goal is to buy a boat one day, for 2 people, and travel around the world. And put the anchor whenever I want, wherever I want.

    And after I got retired, opening a bookstore, besides writing my own novels and adventures.

    By the way,Mandarin is hard but I may try other 4 =)

    Reply
  41. Hi!

    Sad to report that quite a few pounds returned…

    Happy to report that I worked at it and only 3 more of first ones remain now.

    Sad to report Alzheimer’s site is still very much in the works…

    Happy to report that I did load word press and start blog. Put some initial stuff there! Hmm. Did not pick a name yet! Put as http://transmitautopilot.com/alz for now. Any suggestions, folks?

    Sad to report that Part III in book is delayed due to effects of Alzheimer’s on Penny…

    Happy to report that I recorded Part I and Part II of Don’s “Days To Remember” that we’ve got in progress

    AND!

    Happy to report that I have outlined products for List Building For Traffic and recorded parts already. Recording more tomorrow. Just tiny stuff, basic building blocks. But that’s a pressing problem, having things be basic enough! Just as true for experienced offline business owners as for folks getting started in business. When I get a bit more done, if anyone here wants “preview copies” [aka freebie advance copies] you are welcome.

    Thanks!

    blessings,

    Cynthia

    Reply
    • Thanks a mil for the update, Cynthia! Sounds to me like you’re doing quite well overall, headed in the right direction. Don’t beat yourself up if things don’t happen as fast as you like. The important thing is to keep making progress, no matter how small each step is.

      For your Alzheimer’s site, I like the name you have in the banner: A Journey With Alzheimer’s. But I’d advise using the Google keyword tool to see what key words and phrases people are searching for. You might be able to get a lot of search engine traffic if you find a sweet spot there.

      Let me know how it goes!

      Reply
  42. Hey Niall,

    Not my intention to shite allover your goals or anything, just provide you some potentially useful advice: “Arabic” is more like a collection of languages rather than a single language. So if you learn to speak Egyptian Arabic you’ll be able to speak with only Egyptians. It won’t be hard to transition to other dialects, but I’ve heard the dialects can be compared to the difference between Portuguese and Spanish (which is rather large). You could learn Modern Standard Arabic, which nearly everyone who speaks Arabic can listen to. However, you might have a hard time understanding what they say in return.

    If we understand Arabic in that way, then you might want to learn another language instead. Take a look at these lists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers Look at the list that says “Total number of native and secondary speakers of top languages” because that’s probably what you’re after. The top 5 are Chinese, Spanish, English, Russian, and French. The sixth is Hindi. This includes not just native speakers but also secondary speakers. For example, there are not many *native* French speakers overall when you look at the other lists. But if you include much of Africa’s ability to speak French as a second language and lingua franca of the region, then you see French included as a *most spoken* language.

    I think those languages are more in line with your goal of speaking to and communicating with as many people in the world as possible. Again, I’m not trying to force you to change your goal, I just think those languages actually are in line with your goal of speaking to as many people as possible.

    In the end, a language’s usefulness depends on your own situation. My list is Korean, Esperanto, Punjabi, French, Thai… and if I ever had time, Chinese. Of those first five, only Punjabi and French are in the top 15 most spoken languages. But each of them has a special purpose for me and connection to my life and who I communicate with.

    And just to add another twist to complicate things, you might be able to learn 7, 8, or even 9 languages in the time that it takes for you to learn your original 5, if you studied in language families, taking advantage of structural similarities, cognates, etc. And you could potentially speak to more people. For example, after you got a handle on Spanish you could go to French and Portuguese. Then you could attack it from the Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali angle. Then Mandarin and Cantonese. That’s three language families, and each successive language you learn after the first in the family will give you like an 80% discount in learning time on the next.

    Bryan

    Reply
  43. Namaste! Best way to learn Hindi in addition to movies is memorizing specific sentences.

    Naag-pooree san-tres toe bahut mee-tay hoe-tay hain

    Oranges from Nagpur are just-exactly so sweet they’re perfect

    Then build other sentences around this using other vocabulary words and repeat with other sentences. Helps to write them down and carry them around. For you? In 5 languages for each sentence.

    Goals. I now have the freedom to start from the poorest of the poor and build a brand new life where I am Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.

    Recovering from major surgery and major life disasters, staying with family. All my stuff’s now downsized and into 7 1/2 x 10 foot storage room. I’ve lost 50 pounds, I’m working on the other half – so losing 100 pounds is part of my goal. Building online stuff – authority site, Alzheimer’s site, etc. in parallel to launch soon.

    Have fun today!!

    blessings,

    Cynthia

    Reply
      • Yes. Life is indeed a journey! St. Paul wrote of learning to be content in riches or poverty. I am blessed to be staying with family… so I’ve kind of got both at once since I am being fed and sheltered. I’m off all corticosteroids now, so that helps with the weight.

        My life includes experience being both a starving entrepreneur and a successful entrepreneur, so I know the way back.

        Walking is helping me heal. I now walk a mile to daily Mass and a mile back.

        Have an incredible day!

        blessings,

        Cynthia

        Reply
  44. alright. so. in the vein of owning one’s vision, here’s mine:

    i want to write. big things. real things. to be a part of the world’s ageless quest for Truth. (change the bloody world and all that) and i want this in such a way where i can write as i travel. i dont need a home address at all.

    i want to live everywhere, and connect with people and share stories. in the sharing of narrative is wonder and life and inspiration and faith and truth.

    language learning is absolutely a part of this. i gave myself a little more time than you did, my goal being ‘five by fifty.’ so far, i’ve got a decent handle on the english, and am both spoken/written word fluent in spanish. three to go!

    the challenge for me lies in the incontrovertible fact of huge responsibilities i have here at home. time is virtually nonexistent, and opportunities are minimal.

    i very much appreciate your opening this up for everyone.

    there is something to be said for knowing that we are a part of a band of holy and glorious misfits.

    Reply
    • Thanks for sharing, Shawnacy!

      Great goals. Sounds like your writing will take you to some great places, and I hope your home situation improves so you can take advantage of the opportunities that will inevitably come your way.

      “a band of holy and glorious misfits”… I like that πŸ™‚

      Reply
  45. Hi Niall,

    I was thinking about this post and I wanted to comment it.

    So here is one of my goal:

    My biggest goal would that we are able to have a unified Europe and create another political narrative for all of us, Europeans.

    To induce lasting Changes.

    Let’s see how it goes.

    Reply
    • Thanks, Andy. That’s certainly a big goal. I trust that you have in mind some things that you can do to help move Europe in that direction. Otherwise it’s a dream or a wish, not a goal πŸ˜‰

      While I like being Irish myself, I try to identify more as a citizen of the world. All the visa laws and border controls don’t sit well with me. “You were born on this piece of land so you’re not allowed to visit this piece of land for more than 90 days at a time.” Pretty silly. When you consider how birds can move freely from place to place, we humans seem like caged animals by comparison.

      Of course, I know it’s not quite that simple, but I do hope the invisible lines of countries become less significant in the future.

      Reply
  46. Great Post, Niall! I was pleasantly surprised to see Hindi on the top language list, since I am a native hindi speaker (from India). Give me a shout anytime, if you want to help practice it (maybe I can teach you a few slangs from my hometown Mumbai ;-), even though the several years in US might have made be a bit rusty )

    Reply
    • Hey, thanks Ajay. I may well take you up on that. I should be in India by February and will start learning a bit of the language then. I’m reading a book right now called Shantaram, set in Mumbai. I’m highlighting the Hindi words as I go through, might give me a bit of a headstart when I get there πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • Definitely Dude!

        I just read this reply navigating back to it somehow πŸ™‚

        I also read about the book and read that the lead character learns “Marathi”. If you come across words in Marathi, I can help you there as well. Since I was born and raised in Mumbai, I also learned the local language in school. In fact, the hindi spoken in Mumbai actually has marathi words mixed into it and has a lot of “slanguage” which has gotten popular all over India due to the booming film industry in Mumbai (a.k.a Bollywood).

        Let me know if I can help in any way…

        Ciao

        Ajay

        Reply
  47. When you want to start learning Mandarin give me a shout. I learned it a few years back and I think I know a few hacks that will make it easier to learn. A half hour Skype conversation could save you a good deal of spinning your wheels. Understanding how it is so different really helps learning it. It’s about as opposite from Spanish as you can get (I’m trying Spanish now).

    Another good site for Spanish is http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/ about 500 short video presentations (mouse over the levels at the top) with great content. All free.

    Reply
    • Thanks a mil for the offer! I’m thinking I’ll definitely take you up on that, although it will be at least six months before I even start looking at Mandarin.

      And thanks for that link as well. Just made a note of it and will give it a good look later.

      Cheers!

      Reply
  48. hi niall my goal would be to quit engineering although am still a student and i still have one year left,so i don’t think i have the guts to quit before i graduate and letting all that work goes for vain is not a very encouraging idea besides the degree could become handy,so i would graduate isa and then study economics and islamic economy and start my own buisness.

    as for your language goal it seems great and smart like the idea of being able to speak to 1/3 of humans,i know arabic it’s my mother tongue it is not an easy language but it is certainly one to respect it is the richest language known to man if you learn it you get to read some magical poetry that you had never heard like and above all you’d get to read the quran the words of allah as it’s been told clear of humans misguidance some words that would make the cure the hearts of men; Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.”verse 18 ar raad.

    Reply
    • Thanks for the comment, Mostafa! I hope to be able to read the quran in Arabic some day. That would be great.

      Wishing you all the best with the next year. Tough decision you have. Let me know how it goes for you.

      Reply
  49. Hi Niall.

    Excellent post and wonderful goals. It’s heart warming to see people sharing.

    For me short term goals are to get the blog going, clear my debts, reduce my reliance on my current job, then medium term goals are to travel and to learn about using social media & websites and use this knowledge to set up blogs/websites for small charities (animal based initially as my heart lays there being a volunteer and dog fosterer for a lurcher rescue) that struggle financially so to help them get the ‘1000 true fans’ who will donate monthly to the charities and so help them to help animals of all types and educate the public.

    After that not sure yet, but I am sure it will follow.

    All the best.

    Reply
  50. I’ve picked up a wee bit of Hindi in India, although being based in West Bengal my Bengali is marginally better. Best of luck with this goal, Niall!

    Reply
  51. Hi Naill. I love your goal of becoming fluent in the five most widely-spoken languages. And I have no doubt that you’ll accomplish it!

    The conversation in the comments is amazing. You’ve really created an incredible community here.

    My biggest, craziest goal is really three things: Leave my stressful career by my birthday, Feb. 21st! Earn a decent living with a web-based business while I travel indefinitely. And become fluent in Spanish. And after hearing your crazy goal, you’ve got me thinking about taking on other languages once I’ve got Spanish mastered!

    It’s great to know that none of our wild goals are so crazy after all. We’re in great company here!

    Espero todo es bien contigo!

    Hasta luego mi amigo. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Muchas gracias, Peggy! I love any language learning goal, as at the end of the day it’s really all about learning to communicate better with a whole other culture, and that can’t help but open our minds and bring us all closer together.

      I look forward to chatting with you in fluent Spanish some day πŸ™‚

      Reply
  52. The scientists who study such things seem more and more inclined to believe there really is liquid water on Enceladus, one of the smaller moons of Saturn. I feel a special connection with that moon, having stayed up all night to wait for Cassini’s raw data to arrive, expecting images that would reveal whether or not Enceladus was emitting plumes of water vapor. This was, iirc, Thanksgiving morning or the Friday following it, a few years ago. I was the image processing guy for Cassini. Wow, it was worth it to be up then, for those images were spectacular! Many good scientific observations have been made of Enceladus and its plumes using several of Cassini’s instruments, and some hypothetical models scratched off. Yup, something unusual is going on there, and likely involves water in liquid form in pockets or cracks under the surface.

    So, when I’m a crazy rich billionaire, I want to go scuba diving in Enceladus!

    Perhaps I should set a more reachable short-term goal within existing technological and financial means. (A billion dollars may take a while to earn.) Well, it can’t be “do image processing for a NASA spacecraft” since, ho hum, been there done that πŸ˜€

    So my next goal/adventure is to earn a Master’s Degree in Electronics Engineering or Optics. If I can arrange it, earn it at UCF’s CREOL. Or maybe go for the MS in Physics specailizing in Instrumentation at New Mexico Tech. I love scientific and astronomical instrumentation.

    Reply
    • First of all, Daren: Thanks for posting the 100th comment πŸ™‚ First time I’ve reached triple figures for discussion on one article.

      Second, I love that your dream isn’t to become a billionaire, but what you’d do if you were to become a billionaire! Great stuff. Money is only valuable if we can exchange it for worthwhile experiences.

      Rock on with your legendary self πŸ™‚

      Reply
  53. Niall! Been a while since we talked at WDS!

    Great goal dude. If you want more Skype practice, you can talk with Karla! πŸ™‚

    I have so many, I’m trying to pick the most ridiculous. I’m gonna go with 3.

    1. Build an online business that not only supports me but helps other people break down barriers and inject adventure into their lives.

    2. Have a good role in a Hollywood movie

    3. Travel for 5 years spending most of the time in developing countries meeting interesting people and volunteering to make things better and put myself to good use.

    Reply
    • Great goals, Matt! I have similar to #1 and #3 myself, and #2 sounds like a blast. Knowing what adventures you’re prone to having I’m pretty sure you’ll make those goals happen, too πŸ™‚

      Cheers for the comment!

      Reply
    • You have me wanting to know more about this, Janine. The first thing that springs to mind for me is spoken language like Esperanto, but I’m not sure if that’s what you’re getting at.

      Reply
  54. I want to be a bloody super hero to fight injustice and gout! Not like a Spiderman, no. That’d be silly. If I chewed on a bit of radioactive uranium, there’s the risk I might turn into a baddie. I’m thinking in more of a ordinary person ‘Kick Ass’ way.

    My main superhero goal is to take over a small country… something like North Korea!

    A leader only commands power if he has followers, a dictator is only as strong as his army. I plan to use human psychology and crowd behaviour to take over the military and seize control in a (mostly) bloodless coup. I don’t want to bomb the crap out of them, I want to ‘somehow’ infiltrate and sell the idea of a new North Korea to the followers. The military personnel follow whoever pays them and orders them about – this is where I covertly take over while being wary of any loyalist sheep.

    The poor must be liberated. The people at the top must be placated. The Kim family extracted.

    But first I’ll need to become rich. Bloody damn rich and unknown, but with useful contacts to pull it off.

    I must be silent like the ninja and swift like the fox.

    (You didn’t hear this from me, OK?)

    Reply
  55. Great stuff here Niall, love your blog and the goals that have been shared here.

    As for my big big goal, I want to travel to remote tribal villages in various locations in the world (say Indonesia, Africa, South America etc) and document their lives and cultures, and share them with the world (Joey Lawrence is a huge inspiration for me). I’d definitely want to do this before I am 30, so that’s 6 more years to go for me.

    Oh and let me know when you’re popping by in Southeast Asia region, I’m currently in Singapore and more than happy to meet you when you visit. =)

    Reply
    • Hey De! Thanks for the comment, and the invite! I definitely plan to visit Singapore at some stage so hopefully we’ll get to meet up. Digging your photography, and Joy Lawrence’s stuff is just mind-blowing.

      Reply
  56. Wow, I love reading the goals people have. This is fantastic Niall!

    I have a goal, I’m calling it an Impossible Dream (It’s my way of saying “Fuck you!” to the idea that anything is impossible)

    The goal is an independent net income of $50,000 by the end of 2012 through the intersection of my passions: teaching and photography.

    This will give my wife and I the first stage of financial independence. My wife and I realize that time a finite resource, and we want to spend our time doing what we love, which primarily is being with the people we love, our friends and family.

    It’s simple, and I like to keep things simple. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  57. I want to be an astronaut πŸ™‚ and also be “fluent” in piloting many different types of aircraft.

    Love this post Niall!

    Reply
    • Getting a pilot’s license is one of my long-term goals, too, Darshan. That would be fantastic. And actually leaving the planet and visiting space would be amazing. I can barely even comprehend that, but I’m sure it will become increasingly plausible as the decades go by, and you’ll definitely get there if you put your mind to it.

      Thanks for the comment πŸ™‚

      Reply
  58. Love the video, Niall. And those trees are so green…it’s amazing.

    I haven’t really defined an absolutely, 100% concrete big goal, but I can tell you the general gist of it:

    -I will be fluent in spoken and written Japanese, and my ultimate goal is to go to Japan, and help out their education system. In particular, the giant bullying problem that’s taking place there. It’s tough, because bullying is part of human psychology. But there’s gotta be a way. I’ll find it.

    -Improve the education system, in general. Especially the literature that we read in school. We need more empowering books, like “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, “The Road Less Traveled”, etc..these type of books that every single person must have read in order to graduate school. How awesome would our world be, then? MAKE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT REQUIRED READING IN SCHOOL!

    πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • I couldn’t agree more with that, Josh. I’ve learned so much more out of school than I ever did in school, and it’s because of books like those you mentioned. And I feel the same applies to business: School teaches you how to be an employee, but not much about how to be an entrepreneur.

      Love your goal about going to Japan and helping the situation there. I had no idea bullying was such a big problem in that country.

      And cheers for posting up that interview with me on your site! Really enjoyed recording that πŸ™‚

      Reply
  59. Long-term Goals:

    1: Write a hero’s journey

    2: Write a romance novel

    3: Write a play

    4: Write a movie script

    5. Learn to DJ

    6: Have visible abs unflexed in natural sunlight

    7: Become fluent in 3+ languages

    8: Create multiple streams of income (writing, photography, website, poker, lifestyle service sessions, public speaking, products)

    Reply
  60. I love this post! I’ve been thinking a lot about goals lately. For the past few months, my crazy-awesome goal has been to start an blog-based business and get it making enough money that I could quit my job. I’ve done it! My last day at the old job is this coming Friday. Woohoo!

    Now I need to figure out what next, and I’m drawing a blank. I think I need a few days off by myself to just think.

    Reply
    • Congrats on quitting your job, Cara! That’s huge. And I expect you’ll figure out what comes next pretty quick. once you make some room in your life like you’re doing by leaving your job, you’ll find many opportunities come along to fill that space.

      Thanks for the comment πŸ™‚

      Reply
  61. Niall, this is just plain splendid πŸ™‚ I feel so revved up after reading about your audacious language learning goals and all these awesome comments!

    My huge goal is one I came up with only about a week ago. I’ve had a passion for Celtic culture since I was just a little girl, and I want to visit each of the seven Celtic Nations: Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Brittany, and Galicia…go on extensive hikes in each and really learn the lay of the land, and spend enough time in each to get a feel for the culture and history.

    I have no idea how this can happen, how much time it would take, how I could ever afford it, all the usual stuff. But I know the power of being intentional, and I’m well-versed in that quote from Lach above…setting “impossible” goals always sets the ball inevitably rolling, and things begin to unfold much sooner than you would think. Not only is the goal an amazing thing, the journey of growing and getting to it is just as amazing.

    So glad your community is growing, and that you’re gaining so much from being a part of the larger blogosphere community. I know how that feels. πŸ™‚ Rock on, my friend!

    Reply
    • Thanks so much, Laurie! Your goal sounds fantastic. You know, I’d never even heard of “the seven Celtic Nations.” And I feel a little guilty admitting that I’m not very well traveled around my own little corner of the world, having only been to Northern Ireland once and never to Wales or Scotland. Will definitely rectify all that in the next few years though. Maybe we’ll bump into each other on a green hilltop somewhere πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • That would be sweet!

        My Mom, sister and I are travelling to Ireland and Wales in about a month, and I’m so excited I can hardly stand it! My first trip overseas πŸ™‚

        Reply
  62. I’d like to think my “goals” are all pretty basic, but I do have one (actually two) that I think fit the cut!

    I would like to hike both the Appalachian Trail, and the California Coastal Trail. I want to do it with my daughter and my significant other, as we had originally planned to do it before she came along. πŸ˜€

    There are a lot that go in to this goal, but basically it involves living off the grid, teaching my daughter about life outside of media, and generally some serious bonding for all three of us!

    Reply
    • That’s a great goal, Sarah. The sub-goals in themselves are excellent, too. I hope to do a big epic road trip of the USA when I return there in a few years, and you have me thinking that I should fit in a big hike or two πŸ˜‰

      Thanks for your comment!

      Reply
  63. My biggest, most ridiculous goal?

    Its so big and ridiculous, that I’ve placed in my head, one step above the number 1 goal item in my list, you could call it goal #0, if you may.

    Anyways, the goal is to win SvB ( Super Verus Battle ) , Evo and SBO ( Super Battle Opera ) – all in the same year. Before you all look at me confused and wondering what I’m on about – They are all fighting video game tournaments. Namely the 3 biggest majors – One based in Europe ( SvB ) one based in America ( Evo ) and one based in Japan ( SBO. )

    The standard is extremely high ( especially in the Japanese one ) and most people would be content with winning just one of them. Now, don’t get me wrong, I would be very Happy to win even one of them but achieving this goal would be a very nice bonus. My standard is no where near the best players in the fighting game scene ( YET ) but hey, let me dream and let me imagine that impossible is nothing!

    That all said, I am well aware that my biggest most ridiculous goal could change in the next few years. This is a sort of goal that I if I don’t achieve, its no big deal, ( I have plenty of other neat goals to achieve as well ) I have made a ton of great friends from my time in the Irish fighting game scene already. Not that I’m selling myself short here but its just food for my mind and they say its all about the journey, not the destination.

    Reply
    • Cool stuff, Adrian. I’m loving how everyone has such different goals here, and I’m sure some people will read through and think some goals are better or more meaningful than others. But all that really matters is that your goal is meaningful to you. You never have to justify it to anyone. So here’s hoping you rock on with your bad self and go kick ass in those tournaments πŸ™‚

      Reply
  64. Wow! Nice post, great comments.

    All of your goals are totally doable! Seriously, I haven’t read anyone that is impossible in any world, religion or belief system. Best of luck to ya’ll! Let me know if you need coaching. My fee is $80 / hour, so let me know, aight?

    My biggest dream and gratest scare is the ability to fly by mind.

    That’s what I’m aiming for. Now, how do you prepare yourself for that, and how do you make it doable? You break it down into small, handable pieces!

    I started practicing for this when I was 12 years old, and since then I’ve been writing about my attempts and documenting the whole thing. I’m totally super scared for what would happen if I succeeded in this. What would I make out of my world?

    But then at the same time… Fear is in itself much more dangerous than the things we fear.

    Reply
    • To your last point, Robin: Absolutely!

      Would love to hear more about your goal. From what you wrote I’m thinking astral projection or something along those lines. Am I right? I’ve read a bit about that via Steve and Erin Pavlina, and I’ve had some brief experiences with lucid dreaming myself, made me very curious about all that stuff.

      Thanks for the comment πŸ™‚

      Reply
  65. First off, thank you for all the inspiration! I’ve only recently gotten into minimalism and working towards my goals but yours is one of the few websites I follow regularly πŸ™‚

    Most of my goals are crazy, and they are constantly changing. But here are my current aspirations:

    1) Free dive with a Great White, after gaining much much more diving experience.

    2) Learn web design by the end of the year and start my own website. Still working on the direction, it’s down to college advising or ecology/minimalism.

    3) Maybe get a Marine Biology Ph.D first, but I want to travel the world making a difference! πŸ˜€

    Reply
    • Thanks for reading, Jen! I’m blown away by all the cool folks who are actually paying attention to me. Really inspiring πŸ™‚

      I love all your goals, and I can help you out with learning web design if you ever need a few pointers. One website that was an immense help to me when I was learning was w3schools.com.

      Reply
  66. loved this post and all the comments. peoples creativity and diversity never ceases to amaze me, but it’s strange how little of it one sees unless you look for it.

    my goal is to one day do wingsuiting, which to those who don’t know, is this.

    i did skydiving for the first time in australia, which was mindblowing, but this looks even better.

    it takes a minimum of 200 normal skydives before they let you try this, so it’s a long term goal, but i reckon it’s probably worth it!

    Reply
    • Wingsuiting would be legendary, Jack. I’ve yet to do my first skydive, but I’m guessing it will blow my mind much like it did yours. There’s a bunch of those kinds of activities I want to do, like paragliding, bungee jumping, deep sea diving… man, so much cool shit to do in life. How does anyone ever get bored?

      Reply
  67. Love this post and all the great answers! I like to start it this way:

    1: Pick something that you wanna do

    2: Do it!

    That’s how I move to NY to work, went traveling on my own through Africa, helped constructing houses in France, found my big love and went hitchhiking with him from Poland to Pakistan πŸ™‚ !

    Since we are now expecting a new little family member in December and I keep vomiting all week, my new big dream is to travel as a family with our kids. I don’t want them to wait til 18 before they can taste the mangoes of Somaliland and feel the fresh air in the Southamerican mountains. I’d like to spend at least 6 months on the road with our children and let the world teach them as much as it has thaught me – and more. Looking forward!

    Good luck to all of you, thanks for sharing your goals and dreams.

    Amanda

    Reply
    • Great stuff, Amanda, thanks for sharing. I’ve read a bit about your trip from Poland to Pakistan and it’s really inspired me. So much so that I’m gonna try hitching from Spain back to Ireland next month πŸ™‚

      And I love the family travel idea. So many people use kids as an excuse not to pursue their dreams, but I really think it does wonders for a child to see and experience the world from a young age. I think your little bambino will be very lucky indeed!

      Reply
  68. Hmm, I would have to say never working for anyone other than myself ever again.

    I work for a very small company now, 4 people total, so its really close to working for myself, and I love it. I like what I do, and am good at it, but…I’m an accountant.

    My dream goal: I would love to open up a diner/bakery/pizza shop with my husband, and make simple, yet great tasting food. The money factor is our biggest issue, where to get funding, and knowing that your income relies only on your business, but not a paycheck from an established company is more than terrifying.

    Reply
    • I like that goal a lot, Kelly. Not working for anyone else other than myself is definitely one of mine, too. And yeah, it’s definitely terrifying having such big goals, but I always like to look ahead and think how much MORE terrifying it would be to wake up one day as an 80-year-old and regret that I’d never given my biggest dream a legitimate shot.

      Reply
  69. Hey Niall….

    Awesome goal, truely enjoy your site! Me my goal… quit my career (my profession I have been working at since I was 18), leave the six digit salary, leave the stress, the zombies, the politics of the corporate world, leave the death march I am on… leave it and begin to live, live my dreams. I want to work for myself as a writer, designer, and entrepreneur. I have been writing daily (building my material), my website is in the works, working on going live with in next few months… be on my own by June 6, 2012.

    I want to work for myself, from anywhere in the world. After leaving the old career I want to travel the country for one year living, experiencing…

    The scary part I’m 51 years old but still feel I have an entire life to live.

    Reply
    • David, that’s an inspiring goal. A friend of mine was recently telling me how it was too late for him to do anything meaningful with his life, and I’m pretty sure he’s only in his 40’s. I wish he had half the guts you do, and I wish the same for myself when I get to that age. Never too late to get out there and follow those dreams!

      Reply
  70. My immediate aim is to be able to run 10km in under an hour. In June, I ran 5km for a sponsored run and did it in about 40 minutes. My teacher, who is around twice my age, ran it quicker than me. Also, my friend ran 10km in just over an hour. Though 40 mins is pretty impressive seeing as some other friends of mine were much closer to the hour mark, I couldn’t help but feeling unfit. Thus, I announced to everyone I’d do the 10km run next year rather than the five and do it faster than my friend did. *insert scrutinising laughter here.*

    I’m completely serious about it! Not just from a competitive point of view but because I feel like I need to give my self a kick up the back side on the old exercise front! I working on it slowly and building up my stamina and should hopefully be able to run the 5km comfortably by the end of the year and then I can push myself for getting to ten by the time June comes around again!

    Reply
  71. I KNEW a crap day at work would be beaten by a DTR visit! πŸ™‚

    My most wildest and craziest goal EVER that I don’t even dare talk about:

    I want to be an actor. I don’t know how, where, when or what my level of ability is but it’s a thing that keeps me awake at night.

    *runs back to the negative people at work*

    Reply
    • Anthony I think your goal is totally doable. I have a friend who is a theatre actor (and a darn good one I might add) and he does it on the side while working a full time job. Are you into theatre or screen acting? I suggest taking some classes or volunteer at a theatre to start. Good luck !

      Reply
      • Hey Tracy,

        Thank you! I don’t know yet, I did tiny tiny bit of presenting in theaters in my youth – I just know it’s my biggest dream.

        Many of them weren’t even in classes until a late age so that’s always worth remembering! Man, it sounds like a pretty exciting double life he leads! πŸ™‚

        Reply
  72. I can’t think of huge unusual goals I have (aside from the obvious financial independence through work I love), but I do have a couple of small ones:

    – In Montpellier, there’s a little pizza place run by one guy where I have tasted the most amazing pizza in the world. (Twice. It wasn’t just a fluke). Since I’ll be moving to Montpellier in the autumn, my dream is to come to an agreement with the owner where I would apprentice for him or something, in exchange for learning to bake such awesome pizza

    – I’d like to get a few jobs of tutoring people (of any age) in piano playing, since I love playing the piano, I understand a lot about the theory of learning it as well as the practice, and I love teaching others

    Oh yeah, one big goal I would almost forget. When I move in with my girlfriend in a year and a bit, we’re planning to have a ball-pit in our apartment. Because ball pits are AWESOME πŸ˜€

    Reply
  73. Niall, it is Arabic the first way you said it. I had to take a year of it when I went to school in Iran. And I’m afraid I hated it – probably because of the way it was taught and the fact that it was forced and mandatory. I also took a year of German – also did not like it. I spoke fluent Turkish when I lived in Turkey and that I LOVED and miss. My mother tongue is Farsi so it made the sounds easy for both German and Arabic but Arabic is a bit harsh on the tongue and just a rough language overall. My favorites: French, Italiano, Portguese, and Japanese. Someday I will achieve fluency in all of them too. And remember all my Turkish.

    Mad about languages just like yourself. And my biggest goal – that can wait for next time ;)!

    Reply
    • Thanks for that, Farnoosh. Learning Arabic is a bit intimidating, as it does seem like a much less accessible language than many others. I’ll give it my best shot though.

      And when is this “next time” you speak of? I want to hear your biggest goal now, dammit πŸ˜›

      Reply
  74. Niall I think that is a fantastic goal and not one that is impossible! You will definitely rock it for sure and I’m excited to follow along on the site as your journey unfolds! Now here’s mine…As you know I wrote on my blog about my plans to take a couple of years traveling Europe and Asia to study natural healing therapies/yoga and then come back to Maine to start a Healing Hostel. Well my goal doesn’t end there. Once the hostel is up and running I plan on having someone else run the hostel full time while I take it on the road. I want to convert a diesel RV to run on veggie oil and will live in it while traveling the US offering wellness coaching to anyone who seeks it. It’ll be my mobile healing vessel – wellness on wheels. It will be tied to a website called Wellness-Warrior.org (not yet started but I already have the domain) in which I tell the story of people all across the planet fighting back and taking charge of their health. Not everyone can take a month off of work to go to a detox or yoga retreat so I will be bringing the retreat to those people. I imagine it will look something like spending a month with a family looking to go raw or vegan, initiating impromptu hula hoop or yoga sessions in public parks, or giving lectures at local schools and businesses. Anyway I can get the message out to anyone who will hear it. Age 40 sounds like a good deadline for this to come to fruition so I’m going to borrow that πŸ˜‰ I’m 33 now.

    Reply
    • Tracy, I really like your goal. The traveling to Europe and Asia already sounds great, but the Health Hostel and Wellness Warrior are even better! I think there’s a lot of demand for something like this. People find it harder and harder to find peace of mind in their busy daily lives. A place that offers a place to retreat and recharge will be awesome!

      Keep at it!

      Reply
  75. I’ll eventually make a post about it when the time comes.

    It has to do with connecting with people beautifully. It’s risky because it has variables that aren’t so predictable (people themselves) but like I said before. Instead of traveling for the places so much, it’s more for traveling for the people as well. A bit of both.

    Reply
    • I hear ya, Matt. It really is about the people. That’s one of the main reasons I’m looking forward to traveling in Asia, especially the Southeast. I’ve heard so many good things about the people there.

      Thanks for the comment.

      Reply
  76. Wow, Niall… that’s a whopper of a goal! I really admire the way you handle things. You set extreme goals and go all-in to reach them. Your enthusiasm and determination is very contagious. It always makes me want to reach for my own goals after reading about your latest endeavour.

    I’d love to share one of my biggest and craziest goals as well. I dream to one day partake in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The Iditarod is an annual sled dog team race across Alaska. Mushers and a team of 12-16 dogs cover over 1,049 miles in 9–15 days from Anchorage to Nome.

    I’ve just planned my second experiment, a Sled Dog Tour in the Alpes for 5 days, for coming winter in January 2012. If your interested, you can read all about my experiment here: Dogsledding and How to reach your goals in 4 practical steps

    Reply
  77. That`s probably doesn`t sound as a ridiculous goal, but in my situation I cannot help but consider it rather unreal. I want to go volonteering to US organization “The Windhorse Project” to learn the principles of home-care for people suffering and recovering from mental ilness. I want to apply this approach in my country (Russia), to empower mental health patients and their carers. But most of all I see this dream journey as a part of my development. The ideas of Windhorse`s founder, Dr Edward Podvoll, deeply resonate with me. And I want to try and live and work hard with other people, ill or not, in this kind of therapeutic environment, so I may observe how my own helping abilities transform. That`s my idea of a Big Goal, too bad I`m telling myself over and over this isn`t going to happen, and do nothing to check whether it`s possible at all.

    Thanks. Niall , for the option to vent about goals. I egotistically used it to formulate my wish in English language, as a first step to writing this letter of interest))

    Your writing is cool. Good luck with the marvelous languages. If you want to learn Russian someday, send me a note:)

    Daria

    Reply
    • Thanks for sharing, Daria. You can definitely achieve that goal if you put your mind to it. Check out Simon’s link above for some great practical steps you can take, and David Damron is a good guy to check out, too; he knows a whole helluva lot about achieving goals.

      And I might take you up on the Russian offer some day. Maybe once I get done with the 5 Tongues by age 40 I’ll be itching to learn another 5 πŸ˜‰

      Reply
  78. I create/facilitate an online educational system that makes classes, professors, and content that works with each person’s individual learning style. Helping professors to reach audiences around the world, and supplementing their material/teaching style so that auditory/visual/kinesthetic learners can all benefit from the class. There is video content, audio, interactive presentations, group study programs, and the possibility of turning in homework with a video presentation of yourself explaining your project.

    The online education system has reviews of all the classes and professors, recommendations based on what subjects you enjoy, and a mix of academic, recreational, how-to, and yoga/metaphysical teachings.

    I go to school in Cognitive Psychology to study how people learn, and Computer Science to discover the potential of distance learning. By age 40 I have this system up and running, and the possibilities of technology are far greater than what they are now, as I write this at age 22.

    Just one of my many big goals. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Wow, Travis! Love that you wrote that in the present tense, nicely done. The system you describe sounds legendary, especially the bit about delivering homework via a video presentation. I can imagine many kids being a lot more excited about doing their homework if they get to make a mini movie about it.

      Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  79. I love your languages goal. Calling it The Five Tongues of Awesome is enough to make that bad boy happen. I can’t seem to get past thinking about learning another language besides English…ha ha.

    I have a couple of goals that scare the crap out of me.

    One is to create an entertainment franchise.

    The other is to climb Mount Kilimanjaro…I want to visit the top of the world. πŸ™‚

    Your post reminded me of a great quote by Rumi.

    “Start a huge foolish project like Noah. It makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.”

    Reply
    • Thanks, Kai! I’m convinced you’re well on your way to your first goal. The Chick web series is legendary, only a matter of time before it takes off good and proper πŸ™‚

      As for climbing Kilimanjaro, that’s something I’d love to do myself some day. Have you heard of Tyler Tervooren over at Advanced Riskology? He’s working on climbing the highest mountain and running a marathon on every continent, just got done with Africa a few weeks ago.

      Reply
      • I love the response you’re getting from this post. Just goes to show you how much people want opportunities to talk about their big dreams.

        I have heard of Tyler but didn’t know he just accomplished the Africa portion of his goal…must stop by his website and check it out!

        Reply
  80. so envious of your big goals! Language learning is something that excites me very much and I hope that I can immerse myself in a few different cultures at some point in my life.

    Alright, my big and ridiculous goal is that I want to perform and win on the TV show ‘Dancing with the Stars’. I’ve got it all worked out in my mind…The date is October 3rd, 2012, my dance parnter is Cherly Burke and we are onstage with confetti falling all around me as they announce us as the winners!

    I don’t like to let the little details, like I don’t know how to dance and I’m not a star, get in the way… I want on that show! Plus I promised my mom, so I gotta make it happen somehow πŸ™‚

    I’m excited to read about all of my fellow DTR readers crazy dreams πŸ™‚

    ~Mike

    Reply
    • YEAH, Mike! I don’t watch much TV but I’ll have to make an exception to watch you win that show πŸ™‚

      And man, promising your mom: nice trick to make you even more likely to achieve your goal. Nobody wants to break a promise like that!

      Reply
    • OMG Mike I so want to see you on Dancing with the Stars! I would borrow a tv just to watch. I would love to go through the training they undertake for that show – so intense! I’ve always wanted to learn how to dance. I’ll be checking your blog now for updates!

      Reply
      • Audible Books has Pimsleur downloads at about 1/4 of the price of the purchased options, and they’re freaking amazing! I’ve used them for French, Spanish, Arabic and Swahili, and folks comment on how I sound like a local. The first 10 lessons alone will allow you to go shopping in your local market, although you’ll need a few frantic hand gestures for some transactions. *grin*

        Reply
  81. Wow, what an awesome goal!! 5 languages, most of which involve whole new alphabet systems with special characters. Nice. I have a conversational “understanding” of Hindi (I was raised in a Nepali-speaking household, which is a close cousin to Hindi) … for that language, I’d recommend going all the traditional routes (classes, Rosetta Stone, etc.) but also supplementing it by watching Hindi movies. Trust me: Freakin’ every Nepalese child in America who speaks Hindi learned it by watching Bollywood movies as a kid.

    My goal? Hmmm. Yikes. It’s so big, I don’t know if I’m ready to share it! It’s really big. Like, really big. And if I’m not ready to share it, that means deep down, I probably don’t think I can do it. Which is why I read your blog. Back to you, Niall!

    Reply
  82. I’ve always had this dream to build my own house, all myself from the ground up. I’d like to use a lot of stone and have a balcony deck off the master bedroom where I could sit and enjoy a nice view with a cup of coffee!

    Reply
    • lol, I read that first as “build my own horse.” That would have been ridiculous, although I do recall a recent TED Talk by two puppeteers who had done just that, so maybe not so crazy…

      Anyways, love the house goal, Matt. I can only imagine the sense of pride and accomplishment that would come with achieving that. Coffee would never taste so good πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Hey, Matt,

      I have a friend in Italy doing just that. I don’t think his house will have a balcony but it sounds like it’s coming along, little by little. Good luck!

      Reply
  83. My big “ridiculous” goal is being able to work from anywhere in the world with an internet connection through my website/blog. This website doesn’t exist quite yet, though I have a good amount of material, just waiting for Niall to put the finishing touches on his blog start up service.

    I want to be able to fully support myself by July of 2012. I’ve started a habit of writing 1,000 words every weekday and 2,000 every weekend day (thanks indirectly to Niall =]). Keeping this pace will leave me with plenty of articles to grow my website.

    This may seem like a ridiculous goal to the zombies, but to me it’s really not far out at all. I know it’s going to happen, it’s only a matter of time.

    Reply
    • Great stuff, Trevor. I’ve seen some of your writing and I’m pretty convinced your going to make this happen. Will be launching my service later this week, would be delighted to get you up and running πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • Thanks Niall!! You haven’t even seen my best stuff yet! πŸ™‚

        I guess I should get a little more specific with my goal and say that to feel fully supported I need to be making $20,000 a year through my website, I can easily live off that in Latin America.

        Reply
  84. Hi, Niall.

    1. Way to go, ignoring “reason.” lol… If you don’t imagine it first, you cut yourself off from achieving it.

    2. I have a lot of experience with languages, I speak 5 (3 of them extremely well, if I may say so) and have learned parts of others. I think that your goal IS a bit lofty. You will have to set up a disciplined roadmap and stick to it. Even easy languages like Spanish are not easy to get to the high level you mentioned. You will need discipline.

    3. You will have to find people to converse with. Learning Mandarin is difficult, I’ve been dabbling with it and I have 2 Chinese friends! So I have an advantage. Even so, it’s tough. Doing it back in Eire, attaining fluency will be tough for sure. Teaching English in countries that speak the languages you want to learn might be the best way to do it. And you could continue with the online business and blog.

    4. To be honest, I don’t have a personal out-of-this-world goal right now. Just self-improvement and the attainment of true inner peace. Perhaps that’s the toughest goal of all, however. To free oneself.

    Reply
    • Thanks, Dean! You’re right, my goal definitely won’t be easy to achieve. I have no real desire to live back in Ireland for a prolonged period of time though, so I imagine I’ll end up doing some solid immersion to help me learn those languages. And I’m hoping as well that I’ll grow more confident over time in my ability to learn and master a new language.

      True inner peace? Yeah, I’d agree that it’s probably the toughest goal of all. Sounds like you’re well on your way though.

      Reply
  85. My big ridiculous goal is to make a living off of writing novels. That involves several things:

    – becoming friends with my fear of criticism

    – doing the work of writing and revising novels every day

    – diving into traditional or self-publishing, probably both

    – keeping my living costs low, because writing is an unstable career for most

    I’m scared. That means I’m doing something right. Full steam ahead.

    Reply
    • Love it, Jillian. Sounds like you’re already all-in. And I believe the fact that you have a blog definitely helps, too. Nothing like getting your writing out there in front of real people. I have a few writer friends who are very resistant to blogging, wish they could see the benefits.

      Thanks for sharing your goal!

      Reply
  86. Hi Niall,

    Great post. I love talking to people about my wild & crazy goals. If you or anyone just wants to chat about wild & crazy goals, I’m game.

    My #1 wild, crazy goal, the one where everyone looks at me funny when I tell them about it, is to do 2000 consecutive Bethaks (aka hindu squats) and 1000 consecutive Dands (aka hindu push-ups). I want the physical and mental strength that would come along with achieving such a feat. I’d like to reach it by January 1st, 2012. Right now I’m at 250 & 100 bethaks & dands respectively.

    I know I’ll get it eventually, I just don’t know if I can get it in 5.5 months. We shall see. If I hit my goal, I shall throw a party the likes of which the internet has never seen. Ha ha!

    I included a link for those unfamiliar with bethaks & dands.

    Reply
    • Wow, Andrew. That’s brilliant. I hadn’t heard of those exercises before. They look pretty tough, but you definitely sound committed. Rock on!

      Is it a daily practice for you at the moment, up to 250 & 100 every day? I’ve just recently started a daily stretching routine, hoping to be able to do a full split a year from now, hopefully sooner πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • I’m currently doing a progressive every-other-day system. For example, this Saturday, I want to hit 300. So my repetitions this week would look like:

        Monday – 125

        Wednesday – 200

        Saturday – shoot for 300

        If I hit my goal, the next week I start over with a new goal. Perhaps 350.

        Also, I have noticed an increase in my flexibility when doing this routine in conjunction with my daily stretching. I don’t know if you regularly practice yoga, but dands and bethaks come from the same root culture that developed yoga. Some of the positions are similar.

        Reply
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    Reply
  88. hey niall,

    must say i’m really loving the blogs, my daily “inspirational” reading πŸ˜€

    i seem to be first up here which to be honest is not something i’d normally do. trying to work on getting out of my comfort zone! and thanks for that πŸ™‚

    so without any further adieu, my goal is to be…. (drum roll please)….. a singer! with number one hits flying about left right and center. ive always wanted to make a career out of singing deep down, but it seems to be one of those things people laugh off. but i figure… well… if some singers can become famous without a note in their bodies surely i have a chance? we shall see πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • I’m rooting for you Jacqui! I’ve heard you sing before and I’m sure you can make a great career out of it. You just gotta ignore those naysayers and surround yourself with folks who build you up and help you get there.

      Also, wondering if you’ve ever posted some of your songs up on YouTube? It can be scary as hell, sure, but probably a step in the right direction πŸ™‚

      Thanks for the comment, Miss!

      Reply

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