Relating back to one of my first posts, a while ago I was given a blank book. With clean space on every surface, it was fresh and beautiful. The instructions were simple; 1) Switch on brain. 2) Generate ideas. 3) Download as scribbles, doodles, whatever.
At first there was a rushing sense of freedom. The book sat on my desk, a small but powerful beacon of unrealised potential. So carefree, one day, I took up a pencil and decided to write whatever I could come up with.
And paused.
There was nothing there. No rules, no guidelines. I had nothing to say. This was a slightly depressing thought, and I put the pencil down feeling slightly the worse for it.
But more recently, I realised that I did have things to write. And that was the beginning of the ‘before thirty book’. It’s not a complex or new idea. Essentially, with the realisation that you need something to aim for in order to get anywhere, I’ve written down all the things I would like to achieve before I reach thirty, and what I’m doing to get there. However, they’re not goals for results – the usual suspects like getting married, or an Ivy League MBA, assuming I want those in the first place – so much as the experiences I want to have along the way. So far it includes a list of places to live in (2 months minimum), places to live in, getting my PADI licence and reading all of the Booker prize winners, amongst other things.
The rules are simple… Rule number one: Once written in, a goal must be achieved by thirty. Rule number two: Only I know the entire list, and only I have accountability for achieving them.
So as of today, I have exactly [x] years to achieve my goals.
Already the book charts a very turbulent journey, and I don’t expect it to get any easier. What I do expect is that like the economy, despite the short-term ups and downs in the long-term there will always be growth.
If you could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone…what would you do?
This is just one of the phrases which has, after deliberation, been scribbled on the cover of the book. Not so long ago it was blank; an empty cover, pages and pages of white. It was carte blanche, so to speak, a little like life. But pencil scribblings like this one are starting to appear on its cover. And so this phrase is a rough sketching on the edges that defines, gives direction and shape, tells you a little of what to expect. […anything.]
Who is katherineliew?
1 part marketing student with a drive. 1 part citizen of the world. 1 part idealist who thinks– nay, knows that the world could be better. 1 part eternal learner. 1 part ‘why not’/’let’s just have fun’. 1 billion parts undefined. Wants the whole picture (and so refuses to create blog categories, because to allow you to select which parts you want to hear would just be misleading). Is sick of cliches (Do you think outside the box? Is the world your oyster?) and grows towards the light instead.
So who do you want to be? What do you want to do? And how are you going to get there?
[“It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be.” -Paul Arden, advertising industry denizen and mass inspirer du jour.]
the grass is greener on the internet 