Life Goals
I feel a little vulnerable sharing these goals because they are so personal. And I realize that some of them are subject to interpretation. And some of them could be perceived as selfish in nature. For example, owning a vacation home. But the motivation behind it is two-fold: 1) It is a way of diversing our portfolio and saving for retirement. 2) We have been blessed by people who have allowed us to stay at their homes when we couldn't afford a vacation. We want to return the favor. We view the house as a ministry. It is a way we'll be able to bless others who cannot afford a vacation.
I guess what I'm getting at is this: the motivation behind the goal is huge. If your motivation is wrong, then you'd be better off not accomplishing it.
I tried to set these goals in the context of prayer. So I honestly see all of them as spiritual goals. Even the travel goals. Travel is one way to worship God. The more of creation I experience the more I appreciate the Creator!
Enough disclaimers.
My primary motivation in sharing this list is that I hope it inspires you to come up with your own list of life goals.
Here is my list of 100 Life Goals:
Family Goals
1) Celebrate 50th Wedding Anniversary
2) Live to meet my Great Grandchildren
3) Celebrate an Anniversary in Italy
4) Celebrate an Anniversary in the Caribbean
5) Take each of our kids on a mission trip
6) Coach a team for each of our kids
7) Own a Vacation Home
8) Take Summer to a Broadway Play
9) Take Parker to a film festival
10) Climb a 14er with one of my kids
11) Run a 10K with one of my kids
12) Run a triathlon with one of my kids
13) Take a three-month sabbatical
14) Send each of our kids on an all-expenses paid honeymoon
15) Pay for our grandchildren's college education
16) Take my parents on a cruise
17) Take our grandchildren on a cruise
18) Go on a canoe trip with one of my kids
19) Drive a race car with one of my kids
20) Go skydiving with one of my kids
21) Go parasailing as a family
22) Go horseback riding as a family
23) Go skiing in Colorado as a family
24) Take our family on an RV vacation
25) Complete a one-year discipleship program with my sons
26) Take each of our kids on a rite of passage pilgrimage
27) Research our family genealogy
28) Design a Family Coat of Arms
29) Write an autobiography for my grandchildren
30) Take our grandchildren to Disney World
31) Go camping with our grandchildren
32) Take our grandchildren to a State Fair
33) Create a charitable family foundation
34) Celebrate a family reunion in Alexandria, Minnesota
Travel Goals
35) Climb to the Cliff Churches in Lailebela, Ethiopia
36) Go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
37) Stay in the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite
38) Climb Half Dome
39) Take Lora to Catalina Island
40) See a dingo in the Australian Outback
41) Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
42) Climb the Red Center in the Australian Outback
43) Go on an African Safari
44) See the Aurora Borealis
45) Go kayaking in Alaska
46) Go surfing in South Africa
47) Retrace one of Paul's missionary journeys
48) Pilgrimage to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany
49) Take a Boat Cruise down the Rhine River
50) Ride a Gondola in Venice
51) Run with the Bulls in Spain
52) See the Sunrise on Cadillac Mountain
53) Hike the Haleakala Trail in Hawaii
54) Straddle the Equator
55) See the Blue Grotto in Italy
56) Visit the Parthenon in Athens, Greece
57) Kiss Lora on top of the Eiffel Tower
58) Play a round of golf at St. Andrews in Scotland
Experience Goals
59) Go to a Superbowl
60) Go to a Packers game at Lambeau Field
61) Ride a Mule into the Grand Canyon
62) Take a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon
63) Raft a Class V River
64) Go Cave Tubing in South America
65) Go Hang Gliding
66) Do a personal retreat at a monastery
67) Spend a night in a tree house hotel
68) Spend a night on a house boat
69) Go cliff jumping
70) Take a Hot Air Balloon Ride
71) Learn to Snowboard
72) Learn to Surf
73) Do a Forty Day Fast
74) Do a stand-up comedy routine
75) Take Lora to the Oscars
76) Take a month-long vacation
Physical Goals
77) Run a Half Marathon
78) Run a Triathlon
79) Swim the Escape from Alcatraz
80) Bike a Century
81) Dunk a basketball at 40+
82) Bench Press 250 Pounds at 50+
83) Run a Triathlon at 60+
Influence Goals
84) Write 25 Books
85) Sell 10 million copies
86) Write a New York Times Bestseller
87) Earn a Doctoral Degree
88) Teach a College Class
89) Be Financially Independent by 55
90) Give away $3 million lifetime
91) Pastor one church for 35+ years
92) Make movie
93) Host a radio or TV program
94) Plant 100 churches
95) Create a Leadership Conference
96) Speak at a college commencement
97) Open a Chain of Coffeehouses
98) Take a mission trip to five different continents
99) Lead NCC to 10,000+ in attendance
100) Lead NCC to give $25,000,000 to missions
27 Comments:
Wow! Mark you really challenged me with this one. I have never thought about setting Life-Goals. I look out about a year, but rarely have I thought of the future from this perspective.
Go for it. Thanks for the inspiration. I will be dreaming larger dreams.
Dude, nothing wrong with owning a vacation home. We planted a church in Destin, FL 2 years ago and with the money we made from the sale of our home, we bought a vacation home. Guess where the launch team that came with us to start this church lived until they found their own places?
Nope. They stayed in that vacation home until they got there own places.
Guess where the church met until we launched in a theater? That's right, in the vacation home.
Now, I do what you said and let pastors get a little R & R. People like Greg Surratt, Chris Hodges, Chris Hill have stayed there. I got to hang with them some and glean from them.
And when the market goes back up, that will be my retirement as well. Like I always say, if you use it for ministry, it is not selfish. Actually, I've never said that until just now but maybe I'll say it again.
BTW, it you ever want to stay there, let me know and also, my daughter is a Florida surfing champion who gives lessons.
You can check out the house @ www.vrbo.com/42931 and the church @ www.shorelinechurch.net
Wow! I loved this post Mark!! Thanks for the inspiration. I will have to set my own personal life goals. Oh, and if your other books are half as good as your first I will buy all 24 of them!
Hey Mark...You have to hook up with Phil Barber in Ecuador for a Missions trip so you can straddle the equator! I got the opportunity to do that in August and it was an amazing experience!!
Wow, that's a list! I have "make a list of goals" on my "list of things to do"! Ha!
Rock On! I love how I can see the Love of God behind the whole list. You keep going at it. Once again you have inspired me.
Thanks for speaking at ACC and motivating more an more people with posts like this.
Eric,
One of my life goals is to learn to surf :) I've tried once and failed. But I want to give it another go.
Thanks for the perspective!
Mark
Great set of goals. Our support staff at Grace Point has been studying 'In a pit with a lion...' as a weekly devotion and applying its principles to the work place. We are wrapping up the study and I will work your goals into the discussion. Do you have any words of wisdom for our final devotion? We enjoyed your book and are placing principles into actions. You might be interested in some of the study found at
http://lionpit.blogspot.com/
archie
37) Stay in the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite - me to, and not have to pay.
38) Climb Half Dome - This is worth every mile, can't wait to do it again.
43) Go on an African Safari - I recommend Kenya
54) Straddle the Equator - Uganda is a must.
61) Ride a Mule into the Grand Canyon
62) Take a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon
63) Raft a Class V River
Roll all three of these into one week long adventure on the Colorado down the Grand Canyon.
Skip the mule ride, do a rim to rim, its the only way to see the Canyon. I am planning my 8th this May, want to go?
68) Spend a night on a house boat - Lake Powell, the only place to house boat.
77) Run a Half Marathon - Highly recommend the Rock and Roll half and marathon in Phoenix. It happens next weekend, and the weather is always great.
80) Bike a Century - Done a few, they are awesome.
The Ahwahnee, nice, make sure someone else pays.
half dome is awesome, its worth every step.
Kenya is the place for a safari.
Uganda for the equator.
Roll all your Grand Canyon dream into one week long adventure down the Colorado, its the best vacation I ever had. Forgot the mule ride, train for and hike a non stop rim to rim. 21 miles of pain! I am planning my 8th this May, want to go?
The Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix is awesome, its huge and really well run. It takes place next Sunday, you ready?
This is a huge challenge for our family!!!!!!
One question I have: I have noticed in a few entries (and it could be completely described in one of your blogs and I have missed it), but could you explain the one-year discipleship program with your son? We have a daughter, and are praying that God would bless us with more children ... and that just sounds like a totally cool and neat idea! Just wondered your thoughts!
carlyn
http://web.mac.com/cceeyore
cceeyore@mac.com
Hey Pastor!
Great sermon and pretty challenging. Thank you for doing the "how to" develop the goals during the sermon. I wanted to pass this along to help you with your uncle's dream: http://www.authorhouse.com/
Hey Mark - I just came across your blog and love it. Great thoughts and I'm definitely going to steal some of the ideas on your "life list" to add to the life list I have going.
I've added your blog to my Google Reader, so I'll be back.
It's amazing to watch the daydreamer inside cast out a net of dreams into the Sea of God. What's even more amazing is when those dreams return fulfilled. I admire your courage to share. May God bless you with an answer to each.
A tree house hotel? Is there really such a thing?
Nathan,
You know it :) Google it. There are some pretty cool places!
Mark
Mark
Wow thanks for the challenge!
Now to my list
I love it :-) I totally agree with you about God's beauty that you get to witness when traveling. I've scuba-dived the Great Barrier Reef. Easily top 5 most amazing things. I'd also add swimming with wild dolphins off the coast of New Zealand. Unreal.
Pastor Mark,
I got a Zune for Christmas and have listened to a number of NCC sermons. So a shout back to you from the podcast.
Whenever you're ready to go to a Packers game at Lambeau, give me a call. (I married into a Packer family). We can drive up from Naperville.
Todd,
Great to hear from you! Man, a road trip to Lambeau would be awesome! Hoping we get Favre for one more year at least :)
Mark
Dang.....Thats a long list.. With a list that long I would loose track... Or loose the list one or the other.... I would like to ride a bull name Foo man choo, real or machanical. I am ok either way
Dang.....Thats a long list.. With a list that long I would loose track... Or loose the list one or the other.... I would like to ride a bull name Foo man choo, real or machanical. I am ok either way
Pastor Mark,
I've been meaning to send you this note for the past week and needed some time to digest what you said and my thoughts about it I suppose. I just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed your sermon last Sunday. This coming March will mark three years since my father passed away. After he died there was this sorrow inside me that was greater than any pain I had ever felt before. The constant ache that resided in my chest after he left seemed to dim all the dreams that God had put in my heart. I literally forgot all the things that I used to be so excited about in life. Only in the past 6 months have I started to even want to get out of bed in the morning, let alone go through the day. I finally came to the point where I was so tired of feeling so sad all the time and decided that I was going to put positive things in my head whether I was in the mood for it or not. So I have been listening to positive music and podcasts and reading good books. Doing that has gotten me to a point where I actually look forward to each day and can see the beauty in life again. Your message was the next step in all this I think. You got my mind and my heart working again. Dreams that I had let go have come back to me and I am even excited about the possibilites that lie ahead in life. More than anything I feel that there is purpose in things that I thought pointless before. I love how you said that God wants us to see His creation, that He gets excited about just the anticipation of our getting out there into the world! You made me think about things differently and I just wanted to say thanks for letting God use you the way He does! I know everyone can seem a little sleepy at 9am (I am most definitely not a morning person myself!), but your message woke me up to life! May God bless you and see you through to the very last item on your list!
What a great helper you are to post this atticle for some one like me.
Nnokam Princely.
raisdfamily@yahoo.co.uk
I wonder what Paul, Peter, or James would list as their life goals.....
Wow Mark that's ambitious!
That makes me want to also reach higher. God has blessed me and I know that if he wants to he can bless me even more, like Solomon. I just pray that I have the wisdom and maturity to be a good steward of it all.
God Bless.
Post a Comment
<< Home