Seeking Advice: I need a non-financial goal

[AJ]

So, thanks to MMM, ERE, and pre-2009 GRS and TSD blogs, our financial life is pretty well established and on auto-pilot. Yay!

Now, I need a new non-financial goal to work on in the meantime, but am stuck in analysis paralysis. I've got a 2-4 year time-frame before baby time, and I'd like to accomplish something at least quasi-worthwhile. I'd really love to get a degree - but the cost would throw off our other goals. Fitness goals intrigue me, but with my genetics and lack of a strong base of fitness I wouldn't be able to actually place in anything- so it would just be PRs. I'm lukewarm about that because I like the idea of a more tangible goal. But I do love physical fitness activities, even though I suck ballz at everything I try.

Writing a book stands out as an attainable, basically free, tangible goal - but I'm wondering if any of the super smart people on this forum have any other ideas? Or, maybe just tell me your non-financial goals and I'll adapt and copy them :-) Crowd-sourcing major life decisions FTW!

[Kriegsspiel]

There are a ton.  The Art Of Manliness has a great list.  Here are some off the top of my head:

Start a blog and post at least once a week
IIRC you are female, so maybe bench 100, squat 200, deadlift 300?
Sub 21 minute 5k
Build some kind of THING.  One of my life goals is to build a Viking longship
Learn how to play chess

[spider1204]

Try climbing, it's only like 30% fitness, the rest is all mental so you can suck at the fitness and still get pretty good!

[Kitty]

AJ, I've been learning to knit. It's not exactly mustachian because nice yarn is expensive, but you can teach yourself almost any technique using free online content, there are beginner books in the library, and the start-up costs are small if you decide it's not for you. I also feel like I'm using my work commute time more productively when I'm knitting.

If you want to do some searching, Ravelry is a great online knitting and crochet community to poke around in. They have some very modern projects there that I would love to be good enough to make one day...

[grantmeaname]

Learn to homebrew, can, garden... get to the point where you're a totally ass-kicking self-sufficient gourmand!

[bogart]

I'd really love to get a degree - but the cost would throw off our other goals.

Do you want a degree, or just to learn something in a social context?  If the latter, are there community college, continuing ed, or other options that would fit the bill?  What about trying a MOOC and seeing if you like it?

Other possibilities that occur to me as ways I'd spend my time, lacking other commitments, include travel and various volunteering activities.  But without knowing much about your interests or situation, don't know if either of those is appealing/practical (or which angles).

[alpharomeo]

If you are interested in expanding your education, there are a lot of sites that have free lectures. One that comes to mind is kahnacademy.org and I think MIT even posts free lectures.

[Undecided]

That's long enough that if you took it seriously and had some time to spend on it (and if you're talking "get a degree," I'm guessing you have a decent chunk of time for something worthwhile), you could make serious headway on a language or an instrument.

[Crash87]

I'm in a similar situation, so I gave myself a fitness goal (lift X lbs while staying under X lbs) and am learning to play guitar.

I find that I need yet another goal to fill some more of my free time.

[arebelspy]

Start learning about real estate as a hobby.  Tons of free books on the topic at the library and LOTS to learn - once you get started you'll find that the more you learn, the more you'll see that there is to learn.

Profitable, fun, interesting, and potentially segways into an even earlier retirement or semi-retirement.

[onemorebike]

Goals? My wife and I had a long conversation last night about what we did with all of our free time before we had kids. I wish I could have a 30 minute conversation with my 25 year old self because then I would have put what I now consider craploads of free time to good use and be FI by now. :)

That said, hobbies I've enjoyed making goals of:
Tae Kwon Do
Chess
Bicycling
Swimming (Tris)
Home Improvement
A second language
Reading
Magic ( I know, NERD alert!)
Cooking

I hope you find something to pursue, but know that if you don't, being without a goal my be a good goal. :)

[twinge]

It sounds like you want an inspiring, tangible goal rather than an amorphous "learn more about" so I would say take any of the areas that interest you and put in a more inspiring specific goal. Personally I like to have a "just do it" kind of goal like (I will work on x so many days) and a tangible goal (I will achieve y) interconnected because when I plateau on performance I can still applaud my solid effort and if my perfect effort fails, I can look at my tangible performance goal and see what I need to do effort-wise to get there from this point going forward. 

E.g.,
Run at least 3 days a week and be able to run a 10K at x speed by y date.

Keep to a solid gardening schedule (planting and harvesting on the timetable I lay out) and be able to supply 2/3 of our family's produce for the year.

[unitsinc]

So, thanks to MMM, ERE, and pre-2009 GRS and TSD blogs, our financial life is pretty well established and on auto-pilot. Yay!
 Fitness goals intrigue me, but with my genetics and lack of a strong base of fitness I wou

I just have to pipe in and say that unless you are in an incredibly tiny minority(think like 2-3 SDs away from average), your genetics have nearly nothing to do with what you can accomplish from a fitness perspective, so don't get too down on those ideas.

[unitsinc]

Start learning about real estate as a hobby.  Tons of free books on the topic at the library and LOTS to learn - once you get started you'll find that the more you learn, the more you'll see that there is to learn.

Profitable, fun, interesting, and potentially segways into an even earlier retirement or semi-retirement.

As one of the most prolific real estate investors around these parts, do you have any particular recommendations for beginners? Intermediate? Advanced?

[arebelspy]

Start learning about real estate as a hobby.  Tons of free books on the topic at the library and LOTS to learn - once you get started you'll find that the more you learn, the more you'll see that there is to learn.

Profitable, fun, interesting, and potentially segways into an even earlier retirement or semi-retirement.

As one of the most prolific real estate investors around these parts, do you have any particular recommendations for beginners? Intermediate? Advanced?

Yeah, there are a few threads around the forums with some book recommendations.  I'd start out reading some general books and decide what direction you want to develop towards (i.e. pick a specific niche).  As far as intermediate and advanced, it depends if you want to get more in-depth on your target niche, or broaden your skills.  Often you branch into other related realms, like marketing books, negotiation books, etc.

Hopefully that gets you started, but if you'd like to know more, feel free to start a new thread in the real estate section so we don't clutter this thread or take it too off topic.

[TheDude]

If you want to do something physical but you dont think you can place in anything pick a goal that that more tangible than PR.  For example:

Complete a half marathon
Train for and do RAGBRAI (my favorite)
Ride your bike up a mountain
Do the Triple Bypass ride (I promise you dont need to finish first to feel an acomplishment)

There a bunch of options. The key is that its long enough that its a challenge so it keeps you motivated. I tend to prefer noncompetitive events like triple Bypass and RAGBRAI. If you are out there having fun you are winning that the point.

[SwordGuy]

Get fit and stay fit whether you want to or not.   Your future self will thank you.

Writing a book is a major undertaking.  Depending upon your career, it can really open up some very nice doors even if you never make a dime in royalties.    I made $10,000 in royalties from my book back in the mid '90s, but my salary went up $20,000 a year afterwards, because I was a more valuable software consultant to my employer.   Then it went up another $20,000 because of improved job opportunities. 

Plus, if I ever need a job, I'm much more likely to get that interview...

That said, make sure your soul is getting enough nourishment, or none of the money will matter.

[travelbug]

I have enrolled in a French class this week.

[icefr]

I hate going to a gym, but I love rock climbing. It is a good upper arm strength workout AND it has puzzles.

[maryofdoom]

All of my own non-financial goals are hobby-related. They mostly consist of, "I will finish this part of this embroidery by this time."

I did set some embroidery goals at the beginning of the year, which I am more or less on track to achieve. These include working on my giant project for at least 20 minutes per day (more if more can be managed), finishing a piece for the county fair in August, and finishing the piece I'll give to my sister for her wedding. I also plan to attend the national embroidery seminar and learn more about some new embroidery techniques.

Do you have a particular hobby that you really enjoy?

[JT]

My goals this year are:

learn how to maintain my bike
travel to Australia
study
increase exercising (have been to Cross Fit and love it!)
improve my social circles

Hope this helps!