“I love the idea” said the man who I thought had lived the dream life. “However, I’m 70 years old, and I still don’t know what I want to do with my life.”
I found these words quite enlightening since they came from a guy who had done so many things. It also made me wonder if other people felt the same way.
This conversation was the catalyst that started me asking this one simple question, “What do you want to do with your life?”
If you are wondering what the most common answer is, you might be a little surprised. The most common answer is not expressed by words, but by a blank facial expression. However, after a few minutes of prodding most pretty much said, “I really don’t have any goals right now.”
Every time I hear this, I think of the quote from Benjamin Mays, “The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.”
I have asked this question to people around the world - from Indonesia to South Africa, and Hawaii to Austria. I am always excited when I meet a natural goal-setter, because they always have a list handy. However these people are few and far between.
After asking this question to hundreds of people there was an underlying theme. It seems that many have allowed their current situations to quench the desire to do anything other than survive.
So how do you start living instead of just surviving?
I work as a professor in Korea, and it would be bad teaching practice if I set no standards for achieving a high score on a test. Its like standing up and saying “We are going to have a final exam, but I’m not sure what will be on the test, so just read the text-book and be ready”
Now this is absurd and no self-respecting teacher would do such a thing. Yet many people seem to go through life without establishing guidelines for living or establishing any goals to achieve
The same goes with living your dream life.
The key lies in knowing what you want to do in the first place. It’s hard to reach a goal if you have nothing specific to aim at. It’s very important to define the things you dream of doing into simple precise words.
For example - instead of just saying I want to be rich, set a specific monetary goal. Instead of saying - I want to travel, list the specific countries you want to begin with. If you dream of being a famous artist, define what you mean by success and what medium you want to be famous for.
I know this sounds rather obvious but if you want to live your dreams, you must know exactly what the dream translates into and then you can begin to take the steps necessary to reach your dreams.
