Life Goals List
My “20 Rules”:
Keep your mortality at the forefront of your mind always, build a death resume
Live your life in a way that removes regret
Directly pursue the reduction of mental fear & anxiety
Accept & understand the concepts of hedonistic adaptation & genetic happiness baseline. Do not directly pursue pleasure, but embrace it when it comes
After basic needs are met, life is like a game. Level up your character by learning new skills and completing missions and achievements to gain experience
Allocate resources every day toward close friends & family
Do not allocate resources toward social companionship from non-close friends and family in order to seek pleasure, comfort, or distraction
Do not become blinded by love, lust, envy, or jealousy
Adapt to simple, one-ingredient foods, however, accept other food and drinks only in company of close friends & family in moderation
Maintain and be grateful for bottom rungs of human needs: simple shelter, food, water, security and removal of anxiety from having close friends and family
Once this is maintained, allocate any extra resources toward the higher-rung human needs of self esteem, self actualization, purpose, and transcendence
Strive toward an anxiety and fear-free outlook on future, embrace the present when possible, and reflect joyfully on the past
Be disciplined, honest, prudent, generous, exercise your body & mind
Mentally reframe mental and physical painful experiences as opportunities for increased resiliency and expansion of comfort zone
If an experience brings high pleasure, accept the downswings into pain afterward as natural, do not use this to immediately seek more novel pleasure
Keep your mental, physical, and financial spaces and areas of your life organized, clean, simple, and clutter-free
Avoid vane desires of wealth, pleasure, popularity, luxury, novelty, praise, physical looks, and social comparison
Seek opportunities to test yourself, find your true capabilities, expand and rediscover your comfort zone
Seek opportunities to learn and expand your knowledge, wisdom and worldview, be open to change. Be a generalist, too complex to label
Structure your days, live intentionally, your willpower is limited. Aim to be engaged, not distracted
Life GoalS List:
Note: I call this my “Life Goal List”, but really this is an ever-changing list that ebbs and flows with my current interests. Right now, this is more like my 1-5 year goal list.
Traveling:
Travel To All 50 States (46/50)
Travel To All Seven Continents (3/7)
Live in another country for at least 6 months
Live in another country for at least a month (Lived in Brazil for 6 weeks)
Jiu Jitsu:
Earn a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt (Current: Blue Belt, 2 stripes)
Train Jiu Jitsu in 25 different countries (4/25)
Train Jiu Jitsu in 25 different states (20/25)
Finances / Achievements:
Credit Card Debt-Free
3 months’ expenses saved
Build multiple streams of income
1 month expenses saved
Maintain Min/Max Level of Desired Income
Become a Certified Wilderness First Responder
Graduate College (Graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and a Minor in Communication Studies)
Bench 225, Squat 315, Deadlift 405
Business:
Under my LLC, start small business investing (Equity, Sweat Equity, & Notes)
Become CFO to an over 1 million dollar a year business
Reach the point of YouTube channel monetization
Reach revenue goal
Start a remote, location-independent business
Create an online course
Skills:
Coffee: At-home coffee bean grinding and pour-over technique so that I can purchase beans from around the world and prepare at home. Also learn about the basics of how it is harvested, roasted, and traded around the world as well as it’s origins in the world’s different regions
Small Business Investing
Astronomy
Accounting
Entrepreneurship
Jiu Jitsu
Personal Finance
Philosophy / Psychology
Health & Fitness
Goal Setting, Planning, & Strategizing
Hiking, Backpacking, & Mountaineering
Traveling
Video Production & Editing
Video Gaming
WWII History
Guitar
Wilderness Medicine
Landscape Photography
Fishing
Mountaineering:
Summit all 53 of the Colorado 14ers (mountains over 14,000’) (6/53)
Climb Mt Fuji in Japan in 1 day solo & unguided
Climb Half Dome, Yosemite
Complete the “3 Peaks Challenge” in Morocco in 3 days, solo & unguided
Climb Aconcagua, Chile
Climb The Matterhorn, Switzerland/Italy
Climb Cayambe (19,000’), Ecuador
Climb the World’s Highest Mountain: Chimborazo, Ecuador
Climb a Colorado 14er in the middle of winter
Climb Mt Whitney (14,500’), California (Crampon Sumitted via Winter Route)
Climb the Highest Point in Arizona, 12,633’ Humphreys Peak
Use crampons to summit a volcano in Oregon or Washington (crampon summited volcanoes: Mt Bachelor, South Sister & Mount Adams in Oregon & Washington)
Backpacking:
Trek across the 43-mile Nakahechi Pilgrimage Route in Japan in 3 days solo & unguided
Trek the 50-mile Markha Valley Trek in India solo & self-supported in 4 days
Walk across the country of Liechtenstein in 3 days
Complete the 50-mile Ganden to Samye Trek in Tibet solo & self-supported in 4 days
Walk the 30-mile Choquequirao Trek in Peru solo & self-supported in 3 days
Cross South Georgia, Antarctica using Ernest Shackleton Route
Complete The Camino de Santiago, Spain
Walk the 26-mile Dana to Petra section of The Jordan Trail in Jordan unguided & self-supported in 2 days
Trek The Overland Track in Australia unguided & self-supported in 5 days
Spend 3 days backpacking self-supported & unguided in the Brooks Range Wilderness in Alaska
Go on a solo, off-trail multi day backpacking trip in the wilderness
Complete a thru-hike of the 30-mile Art Loeb Trail in Asheville, NC in 3 days
Backpack The Pemigewasset Loop, New Hampshire
Complete The Lost Creek Wilderness Loop in Colorado in 3 days
Walk the 96-mile West Highland Way in Scotland solo & unassisted in 5 days
Walk The Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim (& Back)
Coffee:
Drink coffee in a Japanese garden
Drink coffee in a french café
Drink coffee in a Reykjavik coffee shop
Drink coffee in a Vienna coffee shop
Drink coffee in a Rome coffee shop
Drink coffee in a Melbourne coffee shop
Drink coffee in a London coffee shop
Drink coffee in Guatemala
Drink coffee in Costa Rica
Drink coffee in Peru
Drink coffee in Ethiopia
Drink coffee in Uganda
Drink coffee in Kenya
Drink coffee in Vietnam
Try Turkish Coffee in Turkey
Try a Thai Iced Coffee in Thailand
Drink coffee in Colombia
Drink coffee in Brazil
Drink coffee in Seattle (Original Starbucks)
Drink Kona Coffee in Hawaii
History:
Visit Omaha Beach (D-Day), Normandy, France
Visit Hitler's Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus), Germany
Visit The Auschwitz State Museum, Poland
Visit The Cabinet War Rooms, London
Visit Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site, China
Visit The Pyramids in Egypt
Animals To See in the Wild
Camel
Elephant
Gorilla
Crocodile
Jellyfish
Kangaroo
Komodo Dragon
Lion
Octopus
Orangutan
Panda Bear
Grizzly Bear
Polar Bear
Parrot
Penguin
Rhino
Tiger
Zebra
Hear a Howler Monkey
Sea Turtle
Bison
Bald Eagle
Red Deer Stag Buck
Alligator
Monkey
Shark (saw a Hammerhead)
Wolf
Dolphins
Big Horn Sheep
Mountain Goat
Moose (way too close many times while hiking including a Bull Moose during rut)
Iguana
Tucan
Black Bear (Seen a few times up close while hiking)
Bull Elk during rut
To Experience / Explore:
Attend a UFC PPV Event
Attend a Muay Thai Fight in Thailand
Drive from Alaska to Argentina on The Pan-American Highway: The Longest Road in the World
Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway
Sauna & Ice Bath in Iceland
Dive in a submarine
Train Muy Thai in Thailand
Wrestle in Russia
Train Jiu Jitsu in the largest MMA gym in the world (Mjölnir MMA in Reykjavik, Iceland)
See the Northern Lights
Land on water in a seaplane
Reach both the highest and lowest points on Earth
Explore The Rhine River
Explore The Danube River
Explore The Nile River
Explore The Congo River
Explore The Amazon River
Drink a beer (or whiskey) in a Scotland pub
Have a street taco in Mexico (Completed in Mexico City, 2023)
Try New England Clam Chowder
Have BBQ in St Louis
Boil a Lobster in Maine
Try deep dish pizza in Chicago
Catch, fillet, cook & eat a trout in Colorado
Crawfish boil in Louisianna
Search for & buy ingredients in Pike Place Market in Seattle to cook lunch or dinner
See Metallica Live (Completed Pittsburgh 2022)
Watch a live show at a Blues Bar in Mississippi (Blue Front Cafe, Bentonia, MS, 2022)
See a Las Vegas Show (Blue Man Group, 2021)
Scuba dive (Completed in Puerto Rico 2023)
Walk on Broadway in Nashville
Listen to Jazz in French Quarter, Louisiana (also ran in Crescent City Classic 10k event)
Train Jiu Jitsu in Brazil (Completed during 6 week trip in Florianopolis 2020, trained at Gracie Barra Headquarters and rolled with Carlos Gracie Jr.)
Compete in a Jiu Jitsu competition (2022 in Maryland & 2023 in Denver)
Sleep in a co-ed hostel dorm
Witness a no light pollution night sky (many times, notable nights are backpacking in New Hampshire, Colorado, Arizona & Hawaii)
Explore The Colorado River
Explore The Mississippi River
Go on a “Bikepacking” Trip (San Juan Island, Washington)
Go backpacking somewhere in Nevada and then go and stay in a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip
Go Snowshoeing
Visit All Five Great Lakes
Glacier National Park
Hike in The Grand Tetons (backpacked two nights)
Visit The Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
Visit Niagra Falls
Participate in a mosh pit
Explore some Pablo Escobar spots in Medellin, Colombia
Visit The Grand Canyon
Visit Mount Rushmore
See Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone
See an active volcano eruption at night (Kilauea Volcano on Big Island, Hawaii at 4AM, 2023)
Go deep sea fishing (Massachusetts)
Catch a fish through ice on top of a frozen lake (Dowdy Lake, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, 2019)
Build a CamperVan and move into it (lived in van and traveled full-time around United States for two years, 2021 & 2022)
Video Games:
“100%” (Complete all achievements) Starfield
“100%” The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
“100%” The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Beat Elden Ring w/ no respecs (Beat Main Game, next goal is to beat the new DLC)
Complete the Red Dead Redemption 2 Main Story
Complete The Witcher 3 and all DLCs
Complete Fallout 4 and all DLCs
Complete Skyrim