Have you ever thought about things you wish you had done when you’re younger? Let me introduce the story of John Goddard.
“Most people say ‘some day I’ll do that,’ and it ends up ‘if only I’d done that.’ I believe in taking control of your life and making it really important, and having some substance and meaning to it.” ~John Goddard
I had, on many occasions in the past, thought about all the things that I wished I had the courage, the drive, or the discipline to do earlier in my life. Those, were feelings of regret.
According to a survey on “regrets” by bestselling author Danie H. Pink, he found that “participants overwhelmingly regretted things they didn’t do rather than things they did”. This finding is similar to a 2011 peer-reviewed study titled “Regrets of the Typical American”, in which the results showed “inaction regrets lasted longer than action regrets, and that greater loss severity corresponded to more inaction regrets”.
In other words, to minimize regrets, it’s better to take action than not.
I decided to take action. Around my 40th birthday, I came up with a “45 Before 45 Project”. It was to achieve 45 life goals before I turned 45 years old. I referred to it as my bucket list with a deadline.
As I was developing this project, I came across stories of a man called John Goddard (1924–2013). The more I researched on the man, the more I was awestruck by all his amazing accomplishments, and a life so spectacular it might as well be Steven Spielberg blockbuster.
The Legend of John Goddard
Los Angeles Times called Goddard “the real life Indiana Jones”. There are many other articles (in Life magazine, National Geographic, People Magazine, and more), TV interviews (e.g. Dateline NBC), and of course his own website that chronicle Goddard’s adventures. In his lifetime,
“Goddard was attacked by vicious hippos and crocodiles, bitten by a poisonous snake, charged by a rampaging elephant and rhino, almost buried alive in a blinding sandstorm, shot at by Egyptian river pirates, stoned by a mob of hostile natives, survived desert temperatures of over 140 degrees, weakened by malaria and dysentery, and trapped in quicksand. He has survived a plane crash, been caught in earthquakes, and almost drowned four times while running rapids and deep sea diving”.
Phew. It’s quite obvious that this man lived his life to the fullest.
It all began one day in 1939, when he was 15 years old. Inspired by reading adventure stories and the Encyclopedia Britannica, the teenager wrote down 127 life goals. At that moment, Goddard designed his life, and the life goals list was his blueprint.
He wanted to explore the Nile River; climb the tallest mountains, visit the most exotic places; explore the depth of the sea; and learn all kinds of cool skills. In other words, things most teenage boys dream of doing. The difference is, Goddard actually went out and did them.
He dedicated his whole life to doing what were important to him. By the time he passed away in 2013, he achieved 120 out of the 127 goals. Okay, he didn’t manage to “visit the moon” (Goal #125) or “climb Mount Everest” (Goal #21). But then again, he was human after all.
And so are we. We don’t need to be a real life Indiana Jones like Goddard to be successful in life. We don’t need to achieve extremely difficult goals. But, we ought to have goals that are important and meaningful to us. It would be a shame that we let our lives passed by and then regret not having even tried.
Here are 3 lessons I have learned from Goddard’s life that helped me accomplish many of mine.
Lesson 1: Visualize your ideal life
“What do I want to do with my life?” Goddard asked himself when he was only 15. He then wrote three words at the top of a yellow note pad: “My Life List”. This inspired him to write down one goal, and then another, and another.
Incredibly, those goals remained important and meaningful to Goddard throughout his life. More importantly, the journey of doing them brought purpose and joy to him.
Now, that’s actually quite unusual. As people grow, their needs and wants tend to change. So what’s important to you today might not be that important to you 20 years from now.
But that’s okay. This is all about dreaming at this point. Goddard would tell you to dream big; dream creatively; and dream passionately.
“If you really know what you want out of life, it’s amazing how opportunities will come to enable you to carry them out.” ~ John Goddard
One way is to dream is to go from macro to micro. Think in big picture terms first. Explore the bigger questions: What is your ideal life? What makes you all tingled up with excitement, with joy, with warmth? You can find more specific questions and prompts to help you visualize your ideal life in articles like this one; or this one. Once you can see that image, that movie, or even just sensing that feeling, you can then think about the goals, the tasks, and the journey to get you there.
Another way to visualize your life is go from narrow to broad. Like what Goddard did (and what I did) — come up with all the things you want to do. Brainstorm as many goals, activities, accomplishments as you can at this point. It’s almost like writing a CV for the future. What will be your proudest accomplishments, your greatest hits? Then, categorize them and you will likely see some themes emerged. By synthesizing those themes, you can figure out what are important to you. And what are not that important.
“I didn’t realize it during the creation of my original list, but I began programming my mind for success by visualizing myself performing each goal, whether it was traveling down the Nile River, joining the Air Force, going to sea in the Merchant Marine, or visiting the Great Wall of China.” ~ John Goddard
Lesson 2: Articulate specific and difficult goals
A vision of the future could be quite abstract. It might be blurry at this point. But all we need is a general direction. The vision will come into focus as you begin articulating your goals.
By articulating your goals, you are then able to be specific about what you actually want to achieve. According Edwin A. Locke, a pioneer researcher on goal-setting theory, two of the major factors to successful goal achievement are: 1. Goals that are both specific and difficult; and 2. Commitment to goals is most critical when goals are specific and difficult.
Look at some of Goddard’s goals:
- Skin dive to 40 feet and hold breath two and a half minutes underwater
- Publish an article in National Geographic Magazine
- Play Clair de Lune on the piano
- Milk a poisonous snake (author’s note: why!? why?!)
- Land on and take off from an aircraft carrier
- Build own telescope
- Marry and have children
- Live to see the 21st century
Yup, I would say they are specific and difficult! (It is important to note that although they are difficult, they are not impossibly difficult).
For me, it actually took me several months to be able to articulate a list of life goals that were important and meaningful to me. Many of my goals were quite challenging (at least to me), so I had to be realistic in what I actually wanted to commit to spending time and energy on doing. That eliminated some of the goals that only sounded “cool” but did not align with my life values that closely.
While Goddard’s list contains many “cool” goals, there were all true to his life vision. He wanted to be an explorer and adventurer, so naturally many his goals were about exploring and going on adventures! And because his goals aligned so closely with his life values, he was fully committed to achieving them.
Lesson 3: Take the first step, by sharing your plan
“To dare is to do — to fear is to fail” ~ John Goddard
There are numerous articles written by experts on how to achieve goals, such as this one on Effective Goal Setting; or this one on a 5-Step Plan. And I am a big fan of James Clear’s framework on working on habits and stacking them. And of course, the S.M.A.R.T. goal technique (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound) is almost the gold standard today.
But taking the first step is always the scariest and the most difficult. Many people fail before they begin. Even when we have the desire to do things, we very often procrastinate. I certainly still do. Time, however, waits for no one.
In his book, The Survivor: 21 Spine-Chilling Adventures on the Edge of Death, Goddard shared his thought on goal setting: “Dreams are nothing more than frustrating fantasies until actions are taken to make them come true. […] A wish list should be turned into a goals list, and then a “To Do” list, and then finally, a list of accomplishments.”
The one method that helped me in taking the first step was sharing my goals and then my progress with people. Goddard certainly shared his plans and goals widely. I talked about my own 45 Before 45 project ALL THE TIME. With friends. With colleagues. With people I just met. This created a sense of accountability so that it would be kind of embarrassing if I didn’t at least try to do them.
This method is supported by a recent study led by Howard Klein, professor at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. The data suggest that sharing your goal with someone with a higher status or someone you respect “does more than keep you accountable, it also makes you more motivated, simply because you care what this person thinks of you”.
So don’t be shy. Share your goals. But with people you respect.
What do you want to do with your life?
Influenced and inspired by Goddard, I developed a vision statement for my life:
“To live a fun, purposeful, and extraordinary life; and make a positive contribution to the world by inspiring and empowering others to do the same.”
Since 2012, this statement has been a guiding light in what I choose to do. Goddard passed away in 2013. If I still have one regret, it’s that I never got to meet the man.
How are you going to achieve your ideal life?
