Not Projects
While I'm the queen of long term projects those are not projects to me. Those are the sorts of things I'd have sitting in Someday/maybe as possible future things to deal with.
For me once I decided to actually do anything on them I'd have to define what done means a lot better.
So taking a guess -
1. Have a lot of fun.
What does this mean? Reading more books, travel to a specific place, entertain friends more? finish or work on some specific hobbies or what? Have a lot of fun can't have a next action because you don't even have defined what "fun" is.
So an example from my own projects where that is an area of focus of having fun would be Complete my 2009 Personal Family Scrapbooks. Done means all the pictures are in the books, embellishments put on the pages, all journaling done, page protectors on the pages and the books on the scrapbook bookshelf. A specific next action is to Power layout 1 box of 2009 personal pictures.
Another would be Weave fabric for a Moy gown on my big loom. Now to finish that project it might take me several years because of the nature of the craft, esp since my current next action is locate fleeces that match the Moy gown wool type. I've got 135 sheep but only get 2-4 fleeces a year that match. It's going to take something like 6-8 fleeces to make enough yarn for that project so of necessity it's a multi year process. But done is well defined (enough fabric hand spun and woven from our sheep wool to make me a replica of the Moy gown garment from Ireland) and my next action is also similarly specific.
2. Be healthy.
Again, not really defined as a project. What does healthy mean for you? Follow a paleo diet for 30 days to see if it works for your body? Or be able to walk for a mile without having an asthma attack? Without a definition of what you mean by healthy you can't define what is the next thing to do. Right now today my project in this area is Recover from the late fall cold I seem to have gotten and my next action is thaw out some fowl soup to make a big chicken stew for dinner.
3. Dress better.
Again undefined. What does "better" mean? For me the only equivalent I had a couple years ago was Determine what set of layers, coats, overalls, shirts, sweaters, socks, hats, boots and gloves would keep me warm enough to feed the sheep outside during the coldest days when we have wind. I had actions like evaluate insulated coveralls and pick which brand fits acceptably on me and order more silk t-shirts from Travelsmith. That one is done and I have a set of better clothes for when those cold windy days arrive and I still have to be outside for several hours working. right now the project is get my winter clothes out and my next action is locate my glove liners which have gone AWOL over the summer.
4. Earn 3-times average salary.
Even this, although closer, is not well defined 3 times average for what job? For what location of the country, heck for what country? 3 times average compared to a person living in subSaharan Africa in a small farming village probably won't get you very far if you are currently in New York City. So you need to define it better before you can make the necessary projects.
5. Fulfill the purpose of my life.
This is the biggie. Without knowing what your purpose is how can you decide whether you have fulfilled it? And how do you handle the inevitable changes that will occur in purpose over your lifetime? That is certainly 50K level stuff not a project. To get to what your purpose is then a project might be to write your own obituary that explains what you want to be remembered by. A next action might be, google for obituary formats. If this is a brainstorming exercise knowing that a typical obituary has your age at death, who your family is, what your profession was, what your hobbies were and so on will give you insight. If you are 23 and the obituary you write has you dead at 35 because you died while climbing Mount Everest then you know what you need to do to get there and hopefully along the way figure out how not to die. ;-) If it has you living to 100 and surrounded by many children and grandchildren and remembered for a spectacular garden and you haven't even started dating and live in a city apartment then you too now know what you need to do to get there.
Does that help any?
