This is a bucket list of big goals–what I call Uberman feats–and other things I will do in the next few years in life. Depending on how many exciting things are being juggled at the moment, this could be updated as often as weekly, and at other times, having no updates for several months. Upcoming pursuits and edits in BOLD RED are as of: March 27th. I try to incorporate insights about every major feat in my posts, but if you’re ever wondering what I’m doing, check here for the latest updates!
Why should anyone other than Janet care about this list?
Perhaps the best way to understand is to know the back story…
On a particularly memorable moment in October of 2008, I was reading a book that posed a question to the reader, along the lines of:
If anything were possible (barring violations of physics), and money were not an issue, what would you be doing right now? What would you have, do, and be?
It was a question I never forgot. This list holds my answers to that question.
CURRENT PURSUITS
Developing a freelance business (since Mar 2011)
Developing an e-publishing company (since Jan 2011)
Collaborating on a magazine startup based in Sweden (since Jan 2011)
Getting stronger in powerlifting with Crossfit (since Nov 2010)
Collaborating to start a health insurance company (since Sept 2010)
PAST PURSUITS
Negotiate a 66% pay raise at work. (Mar 2011)
Earn my first $1 on the internet (Jan 2011)
Set up a remote work arrangement to earn money from anywhere in the world (since Aug 2010)
Wake up productive with a daily morning success ritual. (since July 2010)
Reduce all paper documents to one filing box (June 2010)
Reduce all belongings to 100 items (June 2010)
Start this blog (May 2010)
Start a business (Jan-Jun 2010)
Coach athletes in endurance and nutrition (Jan-Jun 2010)
Ironman distance tri (Aug 2009)
Start my first blog (May 2009)
Olympic distance tri (Apr 2009)
Sprint distance tri (March 2009)
Learn to unicycle (May 2008)
Bike coast-to-coast across North America (Jun-Aug 2007)
FUTURE PURSUITS
PHYSICAL FEATS
“This is about limits. Reaching them, exploring them, exceeding them what you thought yours were, or perhaps coming to the conclusion that there aren’t any limits.”
-Unbekannt
- Compete in the World Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii.
- Sprint distance tri (done in Mar 2009)
- Olympic distance tri (done in Apr 2009)
- Ironman distance tri (done in Aug 2009)
- Race a Kona “qualifier” Ironman (signed up for Ironman Louisville!!Nov 20, 2010) (Decided not to sign up because the focus for 2011 is on financial independence, not physical feats. Mar 27, 2011) - Make a complete circumnavigation of the oceans, solo.
- Learn to sail (3-4 months).
- Gain sailing experience. (9+ months).
- Buy and renovate a 30-40 ft sailboat ($6000-9000).
- Adapt to the Uberman sleep schedule. (absolute hell for 1-4 weeks) - Travel by non-motorized power across every continent.
- North America (done by bike, Jun-Aug 2007)
- South America (by foot?)
- Euroasia (by bike?)
- Africa (signed up for Tour D’Afrique starting Jan 2012!!)
- Australia (by unicycle?)
- Antarctica (by skis? by dogsled?) - Finish the Race Across America (RAAM) bike ride.
- Build a van support crew.
- Adapt to the Uberman sleep schedule.
- Do the Race Across the West (RAW).
- Qualify for RAAM.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
- Wake up productive with a daily morning success ritual. (since July 2010)
- Live minimalistically to achieve clear thinking, and to create the option to easily travel anywhere in the world.
- Reduce all paper documents to one filing box (done in June 2010)
- Go paperless.
- Reduce all belongings to 100 items (done in June 2010) - Survive in the wildnerness, with no tools/equipment, for 1 month.
- Learn to unicycle (done in May 2008)
- Learn to fly a plane or helicopter.
- Learn to shoot guns and rifles, on target.
- Learn freerunning/parkour.
- Learn to break dance.
- Learn to eat fire.
- Learn Muay Thai and MMA fighting.
- Learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
- Learn Shiva Nata.
CAREER and WORLD IMPACT
It is a sense of enormous expectation, the sense that one’s life is important, that great achievements are within one’s capacity, and that great things lie ahead.
-The Fountainhead
- Start a business (done in Jan 2010)
- Coach athletes in endurance and nutrition (since Jan 2010)
- Develop a blog that makes a significant impact to the right people.
- 100 readers
- 400 readers
- 1000 true fans - Set up a remote work arrangement to earn money from anywhere in the world (since Aug 2010)
- Build a set of low-maintenance websites that recurrently earn enough to support pursuits on this list.
- Earn my first $1 (done in Jan 2011)
- $100/month
- $500/month
- $1000/month
- $3000/month - Coordinate an extreme “obstacle course” style race, like this one.
- Publish a #1 bestselling book through a major publisher.
- Start a health insurance company based on healthy lifestyle incentives.
- Become a confident and effective public speaker.
LIVING ABROAD and TRAVEL
One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.
-Henry Miller
- Learn Muay Thai and MMA fighting in Phuket, Thailand
- Learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Relax on the beach of Mindoro, Philippines and Bali, Indonesia
- South Africa
- Japan
- Papua New Guinea
- New Zealand
