You’re living in the future if you always think tomorrow will be better.

You’re living in the future if you put your dreams off today.

You’re living in the future if you think the present isn’t as good as what’s coming.

You’re living in the future if you work long days in a soul-crushing job just to fund your retirement.

You’re living in the future if you’re always looking forward to that day when everything will be perfect.

You’re living in the future if you fill today with meaningless junk, on the promise that you’ll stop to smell the roses another day.

 If you’re not stuck in the past, but you’re not really in the present moment, you’re probably stuck in the future. People who live in the future are always moving on to the next goal, the newer car, the bigger house, the better job. When they reach that seemingly elusive goal, the hole inside them still isn’t filled, and so they strive for more.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having goals – it is at the very core of our human behaviour to strive towards achieving goals. In the beginnning the goal might have been to gather enough food to eat and build a shelter strong enough to withstand the elements. These days our goals could be anything from learning to swim to becoming an astronaut or saving for a holiday.

Sometimes – quite often – I have been guilty of living in the future. Preoccupied with how happy I will be when everything in my life just falls in to place. Once my desires are manifested, then I’ll be able to live in that moment. Right?

Except it doesn’t work like that. Part of being human is always wanting more. It’s taken me a long time to learn that by the time I get to where I want to be, I’ll want more again. Right now my goals are to finish a novel, get it published, quit my day job and write full-time. But once that happens, will I be content? Most likely not. I’ll be happy and proud of course, but the next thing will be to publish another novel, earn more money, renovate the house and buy a nice car. And what about when I get that? Once I’m driving around in my nice car, sitting in my renovated house, counting my dollars, then will I be able to appreciate the moment?

Recently I read something that really grabbed me. It was emailed to me by a friend and i still don’t know where it comes from, but I do know that every time I’m tempted to forget the moment I’m in, I’ll go back to it.

“An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Greek village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.
The American complimented the Greek on the quality of his fish and asked, “How long does it take to catch them?” The Greek replied: “Only a little while.”
The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Greek said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Greek fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play cards with my friends, I have a full and busy life.”
The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.
Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution.
You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Athens, then London and eventually New York where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Greek fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?” To which the American replied, “15-25 years.”
“But what then?” The American laughed and said that’s the best part. “When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions … Then what?” The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play cards with your friends.”

Appreciate what you have in this moment. Don’t dwell too much on what’s to come. Planning and goal setting is fine, but don’t lose sight of what you have right now.

The beauty is in the journey, remember…

Hollywood Sign by Horrortaxi

Ever had one of these moments? I have. Many times, actually. It’s usually after I’ve had a massive shake-up in my life or experienced something pretty powerful.

I’ve had really scary ones and really joyful ones.

One of my biggest life-changing moments was the day I visited Hollywood. I know, not the most beautiful place on earth. But as I was wandering around, doing all the normal tourist things, I looked up from the pavement where I’d been trying to fit my palms into Judy Garland’s impressions, and I just felt so wonderful.

Mann’s Chinese theatre and the Kodak theatre were right in front of me. The Hollywood sign I would glimpse a moment later. For a small-town girl with dreams of being a big-shot screenwriter, it was the re-awakening of my muse.

So, I went home and wrote a script, sold it and became hugely successful. Right?

Umm… sadly, no. This is yet another example of having a dream and then letting life get in the way.

I got back to Australia, brimming with confidence and stories. I told everyone who would listen my plan: to finish a screenplay, get back to Hollywood, sell it, maybe even direct it, and live happily ever after in the Californian Hills – just not in the part that burns down every summer

A couple of weeks passed. I still had my massive notebook from my trip, the jumbo ones you buy from borders that weighed about five kilos and contained the pieces that would become my script. I started work on transferring it to my computer. I worked on it every day, then a few times a week. Then once a week, then once a month.

Life just got in the way.

I had racked up a massive credit card bill while I was away (6K, more than I’d spent in my lifetime), and owed thousands more to friends and family who were generous enough to lend me cash before, during and after my travels. I got a casual job and slowly started paying off my debts, then went back to university for a little while. Then I did the biggest time-sucking thing I’ve ever done and bought a house with my boyfriend Jed. That meant I had to work full-time to be able to help pay the mortgage. At the time all I saw was the chance for freedom – from parents and renting. I didn’t think about what else it might cost me…

I don’t think it hit me until about six months in – this is it. Without massive action, this is all life’s ever going to be. Get up, work, get home, eat, zone-out in front of the tv, collapse into bed, and repeat. Occasionally (never often enough) clean the house. Try to have a life on a budget. Try to pretend that everything is just great.

Or do something different!

I tend to over-analyse things sometimes. I don’t know if I was trying to take the “safe” route by buying a house instead of working my arse off on my screenplay and then flying to Hollywood to pitch it. For sure, the thought of standing up in front of producers and executives terrifies me. But, as I realised in another classic “life changing moment”, the idea of NOT doing it terrifies me even more.

I made a big, important decision: this is not all my life is going to be.

Now I’m trying to put that into practice. My boyfriend is so unbelievably supportive, he’s agreed to take a job flying to the mines every week so I can work part-time and make my writing dream possible. It’s an awesome feeling knowing that with a little creative thinking and some planning, anything is possible….

Tell me, what are your dreams? And what’s getting in the way?

How can you start to be everything you want to be?

Welcome to my blog!

I’m Jessica, I live in Western Australia and I’m 23 years old. The past couple of years have seen me take a huge journey in my own self development. I’ve been so touched by the words of my fellow writers and bloggers, and the incredible experiences I’ve had, that I feel it’s time to give back to the community. What better way than to share my story with the world?

See The Long Story on my About page.

I’m keeping it personal for my first post. I love the idea of ’101 things in 1001 days’, and I’ve recently read Leo Babauta ‘s post on having 3 most important tasks when planning goals, so I thought, why not combine them…

The idea of having 101 things in 1001 days is that it’s not a “yearly” goals list, rather it’s almost three years. It seems more fun than a list of yearly goals, and probably a lot more achievable. Because, I don’t know about you, but I’m TERRIBLE at New Year’s resolutions.

Leo’s idea, on the other hand, is about bringing focus and clarity to your goals. Working on three things, and three things only, means your energy isn’t scattered, the way it might be if you randomly attempted all of your 101 tasks (or even 10 or 15). I love the simplicity of this idea, and having only used it for a short time, I can say that it actually does work incredibly effectively. What am I doing right now? Task number one, my blog. What am I doing after I finish this? After a short break I’ll be delving into my screenplay writing. And tomorrow morning I’ll be pounding the treadmill at the gym (my bags are already packed!)

This list isn’t finished (maybe that should be one of the goals!) but I’m hoping you’ll post your own goals in the comments so we can inspire each other. If your list is too big, just drop me an email at curiousliving at the gmail.

My 101 Things in 1001 days – With my 3 current Goals

1. Finish my Screenplay

2. Go to the gym three times each week

3. Develop CuriousLiving and post 4 times a week

And the Rest

4. get married in Hawaii (I suppose I had better get proposed to first!)

5. live in another country for 6 months or more

6. quit my day job and write full-time

7. get 1000 subscribers on my blog

8. interview my favourite blogger, Leo from zenhabits

9. learn how to take professional photos

10. buy a digital slr

11. take a film-making course

12. Finish my novel

13. learn how to scuba-dive

14. holiday in Fiji

15. meditate every day, learning the technique as i go

16. learn to draw or paint something

17. rent my own office away from my house

18. do nothing but watch classic movies for a weekend

19. design my backyard the way i want it and build it

20. keep my pool clean…it’s a biggie…

21. read steve pavlina’s personal development book

22. start my own business

23. learn a martial art

24. get lasik surgery and throw my contact lenses away

25. learn to ride a motorbike

26. Donate blood at least once

27. Swim with Dolphins

28. Take my dogs to Doggie School

29. Take a photo every week for a year

30. Make a scrapbook of my trip to America

31. Email all of the friends I made while working at camp in New Jersey

32.Learn to speak another language

33. Read all of the Anne Rice vampire books

34. Keep my desk clear of clutter at work

35. Keep my desk clear of clutter at home

36. Get a more ergonomic office chair for home

37. See another Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert

38. Develop my morning routine so that it is as smooth as possible

39. Replant my vegie garden (since my dogs trampled everything in it)

40. finish painting my house (only a bit left to go!)

41. Pay an extra $100 a month on my mortgage

42. Get my wisdom teeth removed

43. Set up a Christmas savings account

44. Take my vitamins every day for a month. Repeat!

45. Take a singing lesson

46. Eat two pieces of fruit a day

47. Wake earlier each day and write before leaving for work

48. Find a breakfast food that I really like

49. Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night

50. Cut down on my blog feeds

51. Do a mass cooking day once a month and freeze lots of meals

52. Convince Jed we need a bath in our house, not just a shower

53. Remodel my kitchen

54. Subscribe to my favourite magazines so I don’t have to buy them each month

55. Work on my impatience

56. Run from jetty to jetty at my local beach

57. learn some new and yummy recipes

58. Rent a studio in Maui for a few months and do nothing but write and swim

59. Make my own vision board

60. Finish my e-book

61. Launch my freelance writing business

62. Write a guest post for one of my favourite blogs

63. cull my possessions – three things every week

And that’s where I’m at for the moment. Maybe it’s hard for me to think of any more because I’m throwing so much energy into my top 3 goals. I’m sure there must be many,many more, but for the moment I’d love to hear what your goals are looking like. Are you kicking ass? Or have you fallen off the wagon? Introduce yourself in the comments!

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