Achieve. What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today.

– Tara Sophia Mohr

2011, its the year I’m going to do… things…

I dream big. My goals in life are pretty huge, sometimes bordering on the megalomaniacal. Ok… usually bordering on the megalomaniacal. Is world domination too much to ask for? Probably. Realistically I know what I want to achieve in 2011. I want to continue finding more and more opportunities for writing, while working on putting together a little something bigger on the side. I want to come out of 2011 the way I’m going into it; contented and fulfilled by my creative outlets and hobbies.

Fantastically, I want to do a lot of things. I want to be a guest on Conan. Actually, that would fulfill a life long dream. I’ve been watching Conan O’Brien as long as I’ve been able to stay up past 11 on a week night. Of course, I wouldn’t mind being elected Global Emperor. I find that it would be a job that I am singularly suited for. Of course I also wouldn’t mind just earning enough money to disappear onto a large parcel of land somewhere and live off the grid for a while. None of those things are going to happen, though.

What I can, and will do, is all about writing and self exploration. I will continue down the path to a better and happier me, and will continue to seek out new ways to create and build on what I’m already doing. I will be satisfied.

Satisfaction

There are a lot of things we can do everyday to feel satisfied. This morning was an early one for me, and, like Matt Cheavont of Life without Pants advises, it gave me time to enjoy some of simple things in life that just bring you a warm sense of contentment.

1. This morning I spent half an hour in a warm shower, just soaking in the heat from the water. It was relaxing.
2. Toast with Strawberry reserves. Its not the fanciest breakfast in the world, but there’s something about having the time to enjoy a simple breakfast of something other than just a cereal bar that made it seem so much better.
3. Wikipedia. I don’t know about you, but there is just something comforting about having the world’s collective hivemind at my disposal that makes me happy. I love just absorbing as much information as possible. There is something about Wikipedia that just makes me keep opening new tabs and following new links to learn… everything. I think Wikipedia is probably responsible for more opened tabs in Chrome for a Cause than any other website. Pure speculation of course.
4. Talking on the phone with my Father. I haven’t called him yet today. I don’t usually call him in the morning, although he is probably awake by now. Where my parents live is a time zone behind me, but they’ve always been crazy ass early risers. I don’t think I’ll ever understand how 2 morning people like my parents could have had so many kids that want to sleep until noon everyday. Maybe its the kid in me, still, but for some reason talking to my dad just makes everything seem okay, even in the worst times of my life.
5. I get a warm sense of satisfaction every time I leave work. Its not that my job is incredibly fulfilling in some kind of creative way, its just comforting to know that I have one, and that I do my best when I’m there. When I head home after work, I feel like I’ve done something responsible and adult in my life, which is not a feeling I get too terribly often.
6. Writing something that has meaning. I write everyday. I push myself to be honest, creative, and witty in my writing. I try to find meaning in everything I do, and yeah, its not always easy to do. When I write something that is truly, deeply personal, though, I feel complete.
7. I have a golden retriever. There is just something about the way a pet loves you unconditionally that makes you feel good inside. I love my dog, even if she sheds more fur than she can possibly grow in our understand of biology.
8. This might seem petty, but I love it when I have the high score on Facebook games. Now, I’ll never have the worldwide high score, because I refuse to pay money for the advantages you can get on all those games, but I get a strongly competitive hackle rising in the back of my neck if one of my friends, or more likely one of my aunts, tops my score on the ball shooting game. You know the one.
9. Helping a friend do something awesome. I’ll talk more on this probably pretty soon, once we have some details worked out, but I’m working on a project with one of my roommates to help her turn her love of making stuff into something a little more fulfilling and profitable.
10. The moment right before you fall asleep each night. When I lay down at night and relax, read a little and find myself starting to drift off. That’s a moment of pure satisfaction. That is the moment when I feel like I’ve done something with my day.

Really, that’s what its all about. Every time I do something that makes me feel like there is a reason I am in this world, something that makes me feel like I’m contributing, I feel satisfied with my life.

What can you do today that just makes you feel fulfilled? What makes you know that you are here for a reason?

Tags: contentment, Friends, Reverb10, Writing