Active Goals vs. Passive Goals

June 30th, 2009

I’m a list maker.

(My favorite place for a list is the back of a recycled envelope. John, I count my blessings for knowing you.)

Betimes, I write lists of things I wish to have:

In 2 days, I’ll fly back to Canada, and begin the next chapter of my life. As I sit and draft a list of goals, it strikes me that I’d be much better served with active goals instead of passive goals.

“To have” goals promote a scarcity mentality.
“To do” goals promote an abundance mentality.

My life will not be wasted collecting tokens of a socially acceptable existence.

Allow me to Rephrase

I want to have a blog.
I want to write essays, explore and share my ideas.

I want to have a car.
I want to go places and do things: camp, hike, gig, roadtrip, visit friends.

I want to have a computer, software, gear, a band, an album.
I want to create sounds that make me hysterically joyful.
I want to give people a reason to dance. (And yes, I want to dance with them.)

I want to have a job.
I want to do exciting, meaningful things with my time.
I want to shine light.

I want to have a partner.
I want to experience exciting things with my partner.

Go, Do, Meet People, Create Remarkable Moments

Let my adventures motivate and justify my necessities and acquisitions.

A loose abstract of my goals for the next chapter:

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Posted in Ponderings | Comments (7)

7 Responses to “Active Goals vs. Passive Goals”

  1. Matt Verzola wrote:
    July 1st, 2009 at 8:25 am

    Hey Joel,
    I appreciate this post. I’m in a position right now where I find myself setting goals very similar to yours. I often fall into the trap of setting “to have” goals, and you’re point of making “to do” goals is more pro-active and …doable! I needed to hear this, thanks!

    Btw, I think you have a “relevant” blog ;)

    -Matt

  2. Joel wrote:
    July 1st, 2009 at 4:07 pm

    Thank you so much, Matt. I’m glad it resonated for you.
    And thanks for the punch in my relevant arm. :)
    I needed to hear that.

  3. Brandon wrote:
    July 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 pm

    WICKED.

    Do it. Do all of it.

    and so you know, having people in our lives who are actively contributing make us (at least me) active too. you are a muse of mine beyond words. looking forward to an august reunion.

    xx

  4. Joel wrote:
    July 4th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    Thank you, brother.
    Bring on the noise.
    (Orillia is freakin’ me out.)

  5. Sallie wrote:
    July 5th, 2009 at 7:56 pm

    What a great list, Joel! I think your goals are both worthy and achievable. Enjoy the journey towards them!

    And welcome home, too. :)

  6. Karen wrote:
    July 13th, 2009 at 2:18 pm

    Hey Joel,

    I think you’ve already accomplished one of your goals.. to have a relevant blog, after reading only one post! I love your idea to shift the perspective on your goals. I too, have that list of things I want to have, but I think the better question is what do I want that i assume that certain item will bring? I LOVE that idea, and am going to work on making my list more active! Thanks for the great post. :)

  7. Joel wrote:
    July 13th, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Thank you, Karen and Sallie. Bless you both. Your positive energy is invaluable.

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