#Goals

by - 7:35 PM

Everything is #goals these days. There's squad goals, relationship goals, house goals, friendship goals... It's getting a little out of hand, because even my college has started obsessing over goals. For my last essay of sophomore year I had to write about my goals in life and how I'm going to achieve them. As I sat down on my bed with my laptop I thought this would be easy. Three hours later, however, I was still staring at a blank screen. My mind was even blanker. Where had my goals gone? After another half hour, I gave up and sent my friends an emergency text: "What are my GOALS??!"


The page would have remained very blank if an awesome blog buddy named Kanra hadn't helped me out. She sent me a list of things that could be my goals:

  • Write a book
  • Become a professional Youtuber/blogger
  • Meet Superwoman
  • Go to NYC
I quickly copied the list onto my essay that still didn't look like much of an essay. Kanra had pushed me in the right direction, but now I had to turn it into a story. Of course I didn't do that right away. I took a necessary cookie break. Then a necessary YouTube break. Then it was time to procrastinate. But that was okay, because I knew what my goals were now.
After the cookies had been eaten, the videos had been watched and the procrastination had taken over way too much of my time, I sat down again and shared my goals the way bloggers usually do: by listing them like this:
My first goal is to reach 150 GFC followers in 2016. Blogging is my passion and I want to do it professionally. I would also like to write novels and make comics. I want to make a living with my creativity.
My second goal is to travel the world. I have seen plenty of places already, but there's so much more to discover. My travel bucket list is longer than I am, but I'm sure I'll figure out a way to make it all work.
My last goal is to find out where I belong. There must be a place for me in this world, but I don't feel like I've found it yet. I can combine travelling with searching for this place. If I can pay for that through writing and blogging, my life would be perfect.
Again I stared at my screen for a long time. Even though I'd written the sappy stuff my college likes, I hadn't written anything about college. I hadn't written anything 'realistic'. I knew my essay wouldn't get a good grade if I handed it in like this. I deleted all my goals, both the ones Kanra had sent me and the ones I'd added to it. I replaced them with this: "I want to become independent."

I scored 80% on the essay assignment, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I really wanted to share my goals, but college doesn't allow the kind of dreaming that I love so much. They want me to focus on my education, becoming a teacher should be my sole purpose in life. I don't want that. I have different dreams. I felt the need to share those goals of mine, the ones deemed unrealistic and crazy. The ones I'll work for day and night if I have to. So here goes nothing. Here are the things I want more than anything in the world:

  • I want to become a successful author. There are thousands of stories buzzing through my brain. I want to tell them, I want people to read them. I want to give people who are in a difficult situation that relief of losing yourself in a fantasy world. I want to share my stories. I'm already doing that on my blog, but I'm hoping to do that in more ways soon enough.
  • Speaking of my blog, I am hoping to grow my audience to 150 followers before 2017 comes around. My longterm goal is to be able to make a little money advertising for other bloggers in my sidebar and on other platforms.
  • I am going to travel this world. It's not a question of 'if', it's a question of 'when'. There's much more to see than the inside of a classroom, there's much more to do in life that teach children how to say "Do you speak English?" in German. There's a whole wide world out there that I want to see rather today than tomorrow.
  • I'd like to meet Superwoman and the other insanely creative internet geniuses of my generation. They inspire me to become a better person and creator every day. If it wasn't for them, I would've quit blogging and given up on my dreams a long time ago.
  • But most important of all: I want to find out what makes me happy in this life and find a way to make a living doing that. I do know that becoming a successful author is difficult, but it's not impossible. Until I write my masterpiece I'll have to make money some other way. I know I love working with languages, so maybe I can find a job as a translator. I think I should do something I'm passionate about. Sadly, teaching is not one of those things.
This is what I want to do for real. For that, I do need to become independent. But not in the way college would like to see me become independent: graduate, get a job, live a boring life and die. I was never cut out for that lifestyle. Call me crazy, but I'm going out to chase my dreams. They're a lot more exciting than that lame old thing you call realism. One day I want to be that person who's seen and done it all, who didn't let anyone stop her. That's what I call #goals.

Stay Awesome!

You May Also Like

28 Fellow Ramblers

  1. This entire post is goals tbh. Things like this need to be discussed more often because I feel that people tend to fall into the trap of "study, get a job, get kids, work for kids, die" cycle of thinking- they just never think out of the box? So posts like these are really nice, it's like painting a picture and telling them "hey look, the sky can be pink and orange too! not just blue!"

    So I might just end up trying to write my own goals too :p

    the-emo-wolverine-writes.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. #postgoals then :P Most people fall into that trap in towns like mine. We're practically a suburb of Rotterdam so a lot of rich parents push their kids down that path. Those kids are already so indoctrinated that they think that everyone who has different goals is weird and stupid.
      The sky can be all those colors, if only we take our time to look at it from a different point of view :)
      I want to see your goals. Just don't put the shark diving in there with any graphics, because I will cry if you do that :P

      Delete
  2. Awesome post! Sometimes when people ask me what my goals are or if I ask myself my mind will come up completely blank but others times I will have millions of ideas. And it always seems to be the wrong time.

    Nabila // Hot Town Cool Girl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Nabila! Maybe our brains just shut down because we have to come up with something awesome in a spli-second. Not just something awesome, but also something that is socially acceptable, like the goals my college would want me to have. Those other million ideas are the things we truly want, I think :)

      Delete
  3. Great post! I think it's so courageous to want to live on your creativity. I hope you can make it happen someday! Becoming independent is so important to me too, so I definetly share that goal with you:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! A lot of people would say it's stupid, but I think it's possible. It's also a way of reaching my goal of becoming independent :)

      Delete
  4. Hi Envy,
    That post is so wonderful. I'm sitting on my train to school and this text let me everything around me forgeet. It's so true and I know this feeling sitting in front of a white display and forget everything you would write.
    Love, Lea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank Lea! Your comment really made my day!

      Delete
  5. I will definitely read your stories Envy :)
    I relate so much with the yearning to do something else besides the path the school system wants to shove me down. One school after another than into a job working under a boss and there's your life. I don't want to do that, there's another road less traveled that I plan (God willing) to take.
    This post is #Goals (in a very good way, not the annoying overused way)
    Your blog is very nice, I'm Envy-ous (haha, corny pun points for me, I'm sorry I had to :P)
    Have a great day!

    -Crystal
    You're Just Right

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When the day comes and my stories get published, I'll send you a copy ;)
      If we're willing to work for it, we can take that road less travelled. It won't be as easy as simply graduating and finding a job, but we shouldn't let school systems decided on which road we take.
      Hahaha, I'm used to the puns, don't ever be sorry about puns!

      Delete
  6. That's a great and inspiring post! You're right there is more to life than just college, a husband and a good job. I think it's important to keep dreaming and if we chase these dreams we can turn them into reality xx

    113-things-to-say.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I agree, if we stopped dreaming life would become so dull.

      Delete
  7. Great post. I would also like to travel the world. There is a lot more to life to experience even at my age. Go for it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I think there's a lot more to life at any age. We should always go for it :)

      Delete
  8. Great post Envy! I like that you're dreaming big and not doing the boring same old same old. Like you i would like to write a book, but i noticed that i HATE writing long things. Like i love blogging, because it's just something i don't think about but writing a book is hard. I was researching ghost writers and how much they cost and dear lord they are expensive. 250,000 so you can write a 250 page about my life. Nope!
    I was about to ask you what GFC was but i figured it out. You are almost there. Only 25 followers to go and you'll be there. So don't get discouraged. So quick question when did you start blogging? Also i think you can start making money off your blog if you put ads on your blog. I haven't see any of here, so try doing that. It doesn't generate that much money but it does work. You don't really need to have a specific number on here. Also if you like doing reviews, you can get companies to sponsor you. In exchange for the review they will promote you. I heard it was good thing for blogger. Personally i haven't tried it since i don't do reviews but you can try it if you want. Now i'm going to stop rambling.
    Have a nice day :)
    - Madeline

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Madeline :)
      If I were you I'd go for blog writing. Looks like ghostwriters are a bit of a waste of money and you prefer blogging anyway :) Who knows, maybe you'll get a book deal one day because of your blog posts!
      25 to go, but that's still a lot :P I hope I'll make it, but at this rate I don't think I will... I started blogging in November of 2012, but it took me about two years to find out what I really wanted to blog about. Since then my blog ahs grown a lot and I have a lot more fun working for it. I used to have an AdSense account but it was blocked. It only made five cents a week anyway.
      I don't think I'd be good at doing reviews. I guess I'll just have to find a sponsor or make package deals for advertising other bloggers :)

      Delete
    2. Awww that sucks. Why was your AdSense blocked? Were you 18 when you created it? Even if you weren't you can get a parent permission. I wish i can join your GFC group, but my account never shows up so yeahhh. Google hates me :)

      Delete
    3. I wasn't 18 :P And friends clicked on it to give me some extra money to spend, so that's why it got blocked. Now I know there are better ways than AdSense though.
      Maybe you can copy my URL, go to your dashboard, click on the Add button below Reading List, then paste the URL in the thingy that pops up? That always works for me when I can't join a site on GFC the regular way :)

      Delete
    4. Okay your blog shows up in my reading list, so i guess it should just add me.

      Delete
    5. Maybe you ended up with an anonymous pciture in the GFC widget, so you're there but all the way to the back :)

      Delete
  9. Chase those goals, not chasing them would be crazy. I wish you all the luck, and who knows? Someday I'll go to the bookstore and find a book with your name on it, I'll take a moment to revel on how I'd once commented on a blog of this girl who wanted to be an author :)

    P.S: Your post is making me want to mull over my goals in life. I really have no clue what they are. Maybe a cookie/youtube break will help? ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It might be crazy to stop chasing your dreams, but many of my high school friends have already done so. I really hope my name will be on the cover of a book one day. Maybe with some help from the blogsphere I'll be able to make it happen :)
      Oh, and cookie/youtube breaks will always help, in any situation ;)

      Delete
  10. OH MY GOD. I swear I couldn't have related more to you on this post. Some weeks ago I went past Penguin editors headquarters in Barcelona and went "they're going to publish a book of mine some day", and the people in the car with me laughed as if I was joking. It looks like having these big dreams isn't acceptable. Like noone could achieve them.
    What actually made me really, really happy was to see the reasons you want to write. Yes, yes and a thousand times yes. Those are the reasons I want to write too. I feel like I have something to say, and all this mess of characters and stories tangled in my head. I want to help people through my words. That's my ultimate goal in life. And... surprise! I'm studying to become a translator too! I think it's a wonderful job to do in the meantime. It's related to writing and languages, which I really love as well.
    Sorry for my long comment! Awesome post!

    onmywayacqua.blogspot.com | Acqua xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why did they laugh? Your goal is completely achievable! DOn't let anyone laugh at your dreams, you can do it!
      It's so nice to hear that other people feel the same about reasons to write. I see so many people in the blogosphere who are completely focused on plotholes and editing and seem to forget about simply putting a world together on paper for your own and hopefully others' entertainment.
      I wish I studied to become a translator. I actually study German so I can become a high school teacher, but I recently started working on some freelance translation jobs and it's so much more fun than teaching. And it pays unbelievably well :D

      Delete
    2. I wish it paid well in Spain too hahaha It's really hard to get a job in Translation and badly paid, but well, it's really hard to get a job in anything in Spain these days... and really hard to get paid well! However, I like to think if you like it and work hard you'll find your way around :) xx

      Delete
    3. I recently found a few jobs online that were well-paid. Maybe you could try that :)

      Delete
  11. This post has made me realize how I actually have no goals for my life what so ever. Like I would go out setting goals but I don’t even know what I want to do. And anyways, I love the idea of writing a book. Recently I’ve been reading loads and it’s been a good couple weeks so if you ever do write a book I think that would be pretty darn cool :)
    kllaudiiia (My blog)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you don't know what you want to do yet, don't rush yourself into making goals. It took me years to figure out what I wanted to do. Sure, there were some childhood dreams, but until a few months ago the pieces of the puzzle hadn't come together yet. You'll find you what you want to do soon enough!

      Delete

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good! Wait, no, I mean: I solemnly swear that I will answer each and every comment ;)