2018 Aspirations

“To understand the heart and mind of of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.” Khalil Gibran, The Madman

As I have earlier said, setting goals you want to achieve are best when you do them at a time that is more suitable to you. Although I set my 2018 goals about 10 days ago, I am only finding the time to share it now.

To be honest, I have set goals in previous years that didn’t scare me. That doesn’t mean they were easy to achieve (although 2016 were), but they didn’t scare the superman out of me 😉 Here are three anecdotes of people whose goals scare and motivate me to do more.

When my good friend Hafiz says he has an idea, I always get scared before he talks. His ideas always scare me. Last December, he mentioned we should build a city of affordable housing in Kebbi. That was crazy scary. Mass housing in Kebbi not even in Abuja. Ya salaam. Who has the money to buy the ‘affordable units?’. You get it. But I love it. He is that one person that can challenge your courage to pursue ideas.

I met Adiza recently and we talked about our 2018 aspirations. Her financial goals were doubled that of what I set for myself this year and quite frankly mine didn’t scare me but hers did. So I came back to my list to turn up the scary level meter up for some of the goals. One thing is certain, I am not sure if I can achieve all of them, but I am quite certain, bi-iznillah that I will give them a try to achieve them with backed-up actions.

Oh I read Kathleen’s blog too last 3 weeks on her 2018 aspirations. She resides in Nairobi. They sounded scary even from Nigeria. If she hits all of them, I would be amazed. I had to tell her it looked over ambitious. But that was the way to set goals I guess. That’s what I was missing. Shooting for the stars, if you miss, you might land on the moon.

So what goals am I looking at in 2018?

A few things I want to put under my belt this year are focused on side gigs, personal development, religious and career development.

My personal goals of reading more books have been upped from at least 12 last year to 40. It will take some serious prioritization to create time daily to read. Amongst the books I intend to read this year is Richard Branson’s book on Losing My Virginity. What a title? But is Branson, everyone knows he owns Virgin Inc. And Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow.

I have been an avid language lover. Having studied 5 languages only to basic literacy; Japanese, German, Swahili, Arabic and French (I have long forgotten the Yoruba Language I learned in Junior High, 2000 to 2003). I redownloaded the Duolingo app a week ago, not still sure which I should focus on; French and Japanese or Japanese and French or Japanese and German. Hmmm!

My writing goals have been up. Already written 4 articles this year (with one published) I intend to write to so many publishing houses on these topics; environmental sustainability, cities, millennials lifestyle (there are so many of them here, someone has to cover their stories right. I am not blowing my trumpet, but I cannot do without writing (possessing many unpublished works).

Oh so I am not sure how many of us out there are employed or more specifically employable. Some months ago, I was taken aback by some job applications we got at the organization I work for. The number of people who just didn’t follow the instructions outnumber the people who did. The half who did had their CVs written in 1990s styles (those CVs that have a section for educational institutions attended with dates and qualifications obtained at those institutions separated). Next time, just leave former out and focus on the latter.

Anyway I want to offer CV writing service and Linkedin Profile reviews for entry level professionals and whoever needs his CV beautifully written and designed. I am not sure when, but I need to take more classes from experts before I can start rendering this. I have always imagined having a great career and I wish many people get that too. We spend most of our lives working and how bearable could that be if you dislike your job you have to do for an entire lifetime.

Last one is giving a shot at entrepreneurship. Till last year ending, I had developed an MVP for a building management solution. Unsure of how to proceed, this year, I hope to speak to a manufacturer and prospective clients.

Are all these and the unmentioned scary enough? Definitely to me, considering my situation. I could easily focus on my 8-5 job and live the life like everybody else or better motivate myself to create the life I need in the near future.

Have you set yourself any goals or scary goals this year? I would love to hear.