30 Under 30

Remember when you were younger and you could spend an hour day dreaming? You asked “what if?”, “why”, and “how come?” about everything.  Your imagination drove you to do things and your dreams lead you forward.

Too often, we unlearn this skill and conform to expectations. Parents want you to be “successful” and media shows you life styles most people will never achieve.  In my mind, as long as you challenge yourself and keep setting goals, you’ll be successful making memories and telling stories. That’s all we’re really trying to do – make a moment last and be a part of something bigger.

Here are some examples, ranging from short-term to long-term goals, I have for my 30 under 30. These are categorized by my basic “desires”:

  • Be worldly, educated, and well-mannered
    • (1) Visit 50 major cities – Completed!
    • (2) Visit 30 countries – Completed! Full list of countries here.
    • (3) Visit all continents – missing Antarctica (which would cost around $10k) – I’m okay with not getting this done by the time I’m 30…
    • (4) Speak more languages fluently – improve in Mandarin (from watching movies and speaking with more friends), German (from studies in Hamburg), Spanish (from MS/HS classes), and Japanese (from studies in Osaka) – still working on this (DuoLingo)
    • (5) Learn to cook well – Completed! (Thanksgiving challenge, hosting a party, and cooking healthily)
    • (6) Learn to speed read – pretty good! Try this
    • (7) Add meditation to the daily routine – continuous, but I can reach my happy place in 1 minute
    • (8) Learn how to make a memory mind palace and map – Completed!
    • (9) Special gift for parents – Super secret!
  • Challenge yourself constantly
    • (10) Complete an epic 30 day challenge – Completed!
    • (11) Complete a healthy 30 day challenge – continuously trying without exception days (more difficult than I thought)
    • (12) Complete a 30 day cooking challenge – Completed!
    • (13) Complete a 30 day drawing challenge – Completed!
    • (14) Build a blockchain application – Completed!
  • Share knowledge and experiences
    • Improved public speaking – on-going (see tag)
    • Be a photographer – done
      • (17) Create portfolio – on-going, but mostly Completed
      • (18) Sell photographs – Completed!
      • (19) Cover 50+ events – Completed! (iClick Photography)
    • (20) Publish a book – Completed! (and writing Our Life in Lists of 30)
    • (21) Create a reputable blog – well… whatever this is
  • Be a good person
    • (22) Stay meaningfully connected – on-going (message a blast from the past every week)
    • (23) Start a fun side project – “You’re Pretty Fucking Awesome, Keep That Shit Up”
    • {24) Philanthropy and Teaching – FIRST, MOUSE, Junior Achievements, and Prep for Prep – on-going
  • Have fun
    • (25) Learn to lucid dream – Completed!
    • (26) Scuba diving certification – Completed!
    • (27) Table tennis 2000 player – currently 1750, but getting better (this is getting tough!) – maybe just play better
    • (28) Skydiving – Completed!
    • (29) Start a company – Completed! (Photography and Pre-Incubator)
    • (30) Get Married – Completed! Do grown up stuff (Hopefully!)

~See Lemons Go To 30