Gotta Get Goals

Memes are interesting things. Generally they’re simple, fun and generally quirky brain candy that add a chuckle to your day. The one I’ve just been tagged with isn’t that difficult, but it’s definitely not your run-of-the-mill “what’s your favorite color” variety, either.

It’s only fair I suppose, since I’d just tagged several great bloggers with the Thinking Blogger Award, that I’d get tagged as well, and by someone who hadn’t noticed I’d tagged her yet! (If that’s not serendipity, I don’t know what is.)

This time I got nailed by Lis at La Mia Cucina, who was tagged by kellypea at kellementology with a meme started by Alex Shalman. (And there, dear readers is all of the prerequisite link-love for this particular meme!)

The topic? Gotta’ Get Goals. The rules are pretty simple; write about the top 5-10 goals that you gotta’ get accomplished to say you’ve achieved your wildest dreams in life.

Wow.

I say that this wasn’t that difficult only because it’s been on my mind as of late anyway. had Lis hit me with this a month ago, I would have politely refused after staring at the monitor for a few minutes in abject terror, then going for coffee.

That was then, this is now.

So, friends, neighbors and fellow foodies, here are the goals that I just gotta’ get done to say I’ve really had it all. I hope you’re not too shocked and amazed by them. (I’ve omitted anything dealing with that kangaroo that keeps popping up in my thoughts at strange moments, that’s not really worth repeating!)

Finish all those projects that I keep putting off because they intimidate me.

This is really the big one. I thought about starting this off with “make more money” or “reduce our debt by…”, but really, this is a part of both of those things. I’d be making more money if I’d get off my arse and work for myself a little harder, it’s that simple. Aside from this little slice of the bloggosphere, I also own quite a few other domains, and not a single one of them is up, running and productive.

In the case of one of those domains, I’ve actually launched it with a fair amount of success Three times now. That’s right, I said three times. And each time something catastrophic has happened that caused the site to go down or need to be completely rebuilt. The project is very dear to my heart, but I’ve gotten gunshy. I don’t want to see it crumble again.

In the case of the other projects, it goes like this. I’m very good at building websites for other people. Good enough, in fact that it’s been my sole source of income since 1996. I do it well, Unless it’s a personal project, and then I get bogged down in trying to make everything absolutely perfect.

Yeah, so they’re still sitting there waiting for me to decide on something.

I’m actually working to mark this one off the list as we speak, which is why my updates here have been a bit slow. Hopefully I’ll have this checked off the list by the end of next month.

Keep up with the housework.

This is really the second “big deal” in my goals for living better life. My wife is both a teacher for the military and a full-time writer. I work from home, and housework has a tendency to go undone when we’re busy, which is just about all the time.The problem with that is that I just can’t get any work done if the house is a mess. I spend all day with the nagging thought that I should be cleaning, and it interferes with the stuff that pays the bills.

Again, I’ve already started working on this as well. Our apartment is as clean as it’s been in almost a year, and I’m forcing myself to make it a part of my daily routine. (Which I’m breaking right now, as the kitchen isn’t done yet.)

Routine’s are very important to me. As someone with ADHD, if I don’t have a routine that I follow religiously, it just doesn’t get done… Well. Nothing gets done! I get attacked by shineys and the day’s over before I know what hit me.

That’s no excuse. I’ve had ADHD all my life, and I know what to do to make things happen, I just get a bit lazy sometimes.

Lose 30 pounds.

Right now I’m sitting at around 200 lbs. For me that’s a little too much weight, and my blood pressure shows it. I’d be a lot happier at 170, and so would my doctor.

Be a better son, grandson, husband and father.

It’s not that I think I’m doing a horrible job now. It’s just something I remind myself of every day.

See Ireland.

I’ve just always wanted to. I hope to get there someday.

OK, there you have it. These 5 things are just about all I’ve got left on my list of things I just have to do, with the possible exception of being able to make all of the mother sauces from memory, learn to bake as well as my wife, or perhaps actually finish writing that novel I started.

To be honest, when I did the unsafe thing and moved to Texas with the woman I later married, I had already achieved almost everything I ever wanted in life, and there are very few things I want or need now.

And now for my list o’ people:

• Shawnda
• Laura Rebecca
• Jessica

I hope Y’all manage to get your goals achieved.