OS Planning.

Jo138

They kept moving the goal posts when I was younger. I just kept scoring more and more goals :eek:

By the time I was 35 I'd done so many different things, had my own businesses, and became sick of the worry and effort of making money. I decided to 'retire' from work and do anything that pleased me from then on. I learnt to cope on far less money and definitely became happier.

I now take each day as it comes and enjoy every moment I can. I suppose you *could* say I achieved all my goals, and am reaping the benefits now. That's not to say I don't have other goals, but they're less important. The goalposts will always move, and I refuse to score from this angle!

It's a bit like marriage really... the best marriages are made when you choose the right person to wed. You achieve more when you choose the right goals for yourself; too often people choose goals (as I did) spend years trying to achieve them, only to later realise they'd be happier with a different lifestyle altogether.

Mr_Proctalgia

What does one do when there seems to be no achievable goals anymore?

House, got one - No mortgage
Bills - Not really got any of those either
Kids are in their thirties with their own kids

So all the financials are now "sorted" and with luck and a following wind I shall live to draw my pensions (Got 5 of those just in case) I am slowly and steadily doing this place up, because I can, not because it really needs it (although the garden is pants) but because I can afford the time to get it really right for me and my tastes and not have to worry about getting it done because of family pressure.

I have been offered jobs but didn,t at the time want (or need) them but am now starting to think that I ought to get out more, so maybe a PT Mc Job thing that gets me in touch with people might be good, that being said I have got used to being master of my own day..

I do have regrets about my past life and wish I could have done somethings differently (Hence the poem on Queenies thread) but that is too late now, spilt milk and all that. I have travelled the world already, but would do so a again with the right soulmate, it is after all a big place. Please don't get me wrong it may look good on paper but the reality of it is different. I worked bloody hard to get where I an now () and have had occasions of not having two pennies to rub together and the bank taking my cards off me.
So whats left for me? Get a new GF or what? They come - they go, it isn't as if I do not fall for people 'cos I do but the ones I find either have too much baggage (and I can carry a lot of baggage) or are deservedly still single and in their fifties like me. (I.E. Barking mad)
I do not think I am depressed, do not spend all day sat on my butt either and sometimes struggle to fit it all into a day. But something is now missing and I know not what.

Kick me someone - please.

Edited - Just seen my post count Eeeek - Coincidence or what?

Eels100

Great thread!

Very thought provoking, too, to hear from those with goals and also from those who have achieved their dreams. I guess we all need to have something to work towards, or we'd just give up.

Personally in the short term, I want us to get back onto financial dry ground which is partly a question of OH finding work. I want to continue my recent weight loss and regular exercise. I want to find new ways to balance my life with the demands of my career.

In the medium term I want to have a financial cushion to fall back on. I want to be slim for the first time in my adult life. And I would like to get pregnant.

Long term? Seems so far away ...! I'd love to move to the house of my dreams, and get back to a truly rural setting away from other people. I want to be able to stop worrying about money and likewise be able to make sure my parents don't have to either. And of course bring up a healthy and happy family. I worry about what to do when I have achieved all of those things, but then I haven't travelled and don't plan to anytime soon, so maybe I'll save that for retirement.

All this and maintain my own career? I guess it's worth a shot!

VickyA_2

Excellent thread Queenie :T :T :T

Right my goals:

Short term
Lose weight - need to lose 2st :eek:, but I'll try to lost 1st first.... baby steps and all that!
Move house (in the process of buying our first house)

Medium term
Maintain a lower weight
Find a job in a school where I can progress and feel happy.
Travel to Canada and New Zealand.

Long term
Live mortgage free somewhere.

Erm, that's about it at the moment.

twink

thanks queenie to that end i bought a white board from tesco a while ago and listed everything that needed doing and it gave a sense of achievement to wipe off each thing i had done, now to apply it to my life

Hardup_Hester

I only have one goal, to find a way to hang on to my house so I have somewhere to live when I retire, lol.
Hester

Queenie

Mr_Proctalgia wrote:

What does one do when there seems to be no achievable goals anymore?

House, got one - No mortgage
Bills - Not really got any of those either
Kids are in their thirties with their own kids

So all the financials are now "sorted" and with luck and a following wind I shall live to draw my pensions (Got 5 of those just in case) I am slowly and steadily doing this place up, because I can, not because it really needs it (although the garden is pants) but because I can afford the time to get it really right for me and my tastes and not have to worry about getting it done because of family pressure.

I have been offered jobs but didn,t at the time want (or need) them but am now starting to think that I ought to get out more, so maybe a PT Mc Job thing that gets me in touch with people might be good, that being said I have got used to being master of my own day..

I do have regrets about my past life and wish I could have done somethings differently (Hence the poem on Queenies thread) but that is too late now, spilt milk and all that. I have travelled the world already, but would do so a again with the right soulmate, it is after all a big place. Please don't get me wrong it may look good on paper but the reality of it is different. I worked bloody hard to get where I an now () and have had occasions of not having two pennies to rub together and the bank taking my cards off me.
So whats left for me? Get a new GF or what? They come - they go, it isn't as if I do not fall for people 'cos I do but the ones I find either have too much baggage (and I can carry a lot of baggage) or are deservedly still single and in their fifties like me. (I.E. Barking mad)
I do not think I am depressed, do not spend all day sat on my butt either and sometimes struggle to fit it all into a day. But something is now missing and I know not what.

Kick me someone - please.

Edited - Just seen my post count Eeeek - Coincidence or what?

*K.I.C.K!*

:T That's fantastic that you have all your financial goals in order :T

What about health goals?
Social/interpersonal? You don't need to get a Mc job to socialise, what skills/hobbies could you join a group to mix with like minded others?
Are there any courses you'd like to do for pleasure? (My fil decided when he retired to take his O levels because he missed out when he was a teen)
Are their skills you would like to learn or improve upon? OS cooking maybe? You could use that as a platform to socialise more too.
What dreams did you hold when you were younger that remain unfulfilled?
Can you find inspiration from reading about others lives on MSE?
Can MSE not only inspire you, but give you tips on how to do it the best way financially?
Why wait til you have a soul mate to travel with? Meet one along the way
Sometimes, simply knowing what you *don't* want is a great starter for finding out what that missing something is that you *do* want; and by trying a whole host of things, your list will grow.

Wishing you well in finding that missing *something* ((hugs))

mah_jong

Mr_Proctalgia wrote:

What does one do when there seems to be no achievable goals anymore?

House, got one - No mortgage
Bills - Not really got any of those either
Kids are in their thirties with their own kids

They come - they go, it isn't as if I do not fall for people 'cos I do but the ones I find either have too much baggage (and I can carry a lot of baggage) or are deservedly still single and in their fifties like me. (I.E. Barking mad)

Kick me someone - please.

Mmmmm this comes from a barking mad wifie!!! (Or to put it differently in my fifties and living alone! As you are financially secure, if I were you, I'd be looking at what I REALLY wanted to do!

I read Your Money or your Life by Joe Dominguez, it was quite fascinating about money/life , the goal to be financially secure at the earliest possible age in order to spend your time as you want. All this by questioning your spends etc. I recomemend it

Mah

Ps a quick cyber kick given to your shins!

Jo138

I thought this might be appropriate here:

'Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.'

Also: 'It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.'


And my personal favourite: 'Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.'

Sir Winston Churchill

Mr_Proctalgia

Thanks for those two posts above. I appreciate them.

Here I sit writing, a hand made bread mix is proofing on the back step (in the sun) I make butter, sausages, cook from scratch, do all the right cleaning stuff. The ironing is finished. The hoovering is done, hell even the proctster is washed (but needs a TeeCut). All is fine in this houshold for now so I'm faffing in the kitchen. I think I have enough education for now but appreciate what you are saying, the temptation to flog everything and live under a tarpaulin on a beach in Greece is strong! But it aint gonna happen is it?

A lot of what is written on this site is inspiring, so many have overcome such hardship that I will never understand how they did it. I have other crosses to bear with my little family, stuff that is not for writing here. With regard to money saving - it is hard to save when you spend so little. The savings are doing the best I can find for now. I get time to share with others, get on with my Ex, see the kids often enough (sometimes too often - The dreaded Dad can you just!!) As I said life really is rosy but something is amiss, something is missing. What I can do I am told I do very well, (truth is I am a bit of a perfectionist) some people don't like that kind of attitude in life - sod 'em it suits me.

I thnk the most telling point is from Queenie and that is think about what I DON'T want in life, I shall ponder awile on that point as it has interesting connotations. Thanks once again