Are You Where You Want to Be?

1. Are you where you want to be? Yes

2. How close have you come to what you originally sought? The other side of the universe. The problem is, the goals I set when I was young were expressed in the wrong terms. It is hard to define clearly what you want out of life, when you have no real experience...

3. How close am I to what I expected just out of college? Unfortunately, my expectations just out of college were too easy to achieve. I passed those many years ago...

4. How do my current goals relate to what they were back in college? Totally unrelated. I had to move on to keep challenge alive...

5. Which goals have I achieved? Low maintenance lifestyle

5. Which goals faded with time? Getting rich

6. What would I do differently? Nothing of any real significance. (There ARE a few personal relationships that I could have handled better, but that has nothing to do with career goals).

Good reply,
Your #2 nails the problem nicely.
If I knew then what I know now... <sigh>
The most important things are often beyond our control (the health of those we love. Oh yes and cats, they are deffinitely beyond control)
Del
(And I'm broadly speaking where I want to be... not a grandad tho' ... But more specifically I'm at this damn desk when I'd rather be in my garage working on a bow)

How close have you come? I think I have finally achieved my general goals at 50, however I spent a great deal of time on the wrong track.

How different is your career from what you expected while you were still in or just out of college? Substantially different, and as a result went back to college...twice.

How do your goals compare to what they were then? My goals are now more specific and tangible. Defining the goal requires some specific thought processes that ultimately help you achieve the goal. The definition might be the first step.

Which of your original goals did you meet? Professional recognition, formal education, nice motorcycle. 80)

Which goals faded with time? I decided at some point that I did not want to be rich, which is probably everyone's goal when they are young. Lucky for me, I was relatively poor in my formative years and never aquired a taste for expensive lifestyles. So I dont miss anything by not being wealthy. It occured to me at some point that it was much like getting a pilots license. It sounds like fun to fly and airplan, but whne you relaize all the time, energy, money etc to get a license, most decide its not worth the end result. Becoming rich means studying taxes, and legal stuff, and managing portfolios, and diversifying rusk, etc... I am sure I wouldnt be happy trying to stay on top of al that "junk".

What would you do differently if you had the chance to start again? I would have asked old people for advice. I would have studied in college a degree field that resulted in a more structured employment possiblity. I would have traveled more as a single person and waited to have children until I was at least 27.

I am still young (33) and only have 11 years experience.

I have reached recognition, because of what I do. I like what I do (engineer, think, design, etc), but not necessarily my job or the company.

Cars eluded me, since I got into mechanical engineering, because of this. I wanted to design them, but now I work in plastics.

Being rich has not eluded me yet. This, because I still have time to reach this goal. I don´t want to be rich, because I want a fancy lifestyle. I want to be rich so I can dedicate myself to doing stuff that I love, not out of necessity to earning a living, but out of necessity to make a difference, a change if you will, and to fulfill a need to create something.

I have to agree that I should have traveled as a single alot more and waited to have children until I was 27 also.

Welcome to CR4 GOO!

Just a thought; I don't know who said this but I like it: "Don't just count your years, make your years count."

"I've hit it rich more than once, been wiped out a few times too. Known glory and shame, ecstasy and heartbreak, learned a lot and don't know enough."

I like this statement you made, it lets us know that you realize and accept the fact that adversity will come, you adjust, keep moving forward with a desire to grow personally. Like Ray Kroc said, "are you green and growing or ripe and rotting?"