I first want to thank everyone who helped complete these goals as well as everyone who has tuned into this site to provide encouragement. Over the 30 months that I worked on this list, my blog got over 13,000 hits!!! And not only that, people all over the world viewed the page and made comments. If you want to check out any parts of my site for review, I have provided the handy tabs at the top for some of the bigger items and have categorized my goals on the drop down menu over here on the right below my picture.
As one can plainly see, there are items on this list that are not crossed off. And because I am officially 30 today, some may even look at that as a failure. I do not. This list was personal to me and my aspirations but it was also an extremely ambitious project with the time constraints and financial concerns.
Most people make a “bucket list.” I chose to instead make a more time sensitive list of things I would like to do. So for instance, many put “Skydiving” on their bucket list and keep putting it off and putting it off and putting it off. Because I knew I wanted to do this by 30, I found a deal and forfeited my fear of heights to get it done by the time I turned 30. There are a lot of things on this list that I would have procrastinated on had I not made this list. I know for a fact that with out this list I would not have gone skydiving and definitely would still not have donated blood. I also would not have run a 10K. Many things were only completed in the last several weeks as it was. But because I gave myself a deadline, I was anxious to get them done. The list also took away a lot of excuses when someone offered to help me complete a goal.
Shortly after creating the list, the economy tanked and my company essentially put us on a two-year pay freeze. Money I had been expecting never rolled in and I did not find a higher paying job. This put an immediate strain on any travel and reimbursement of loans. While I was able to find a cheap flight and stay for free in Boston to complete my trip to Fenway, I could not find the deals for the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone. While I was able to save some money and pay back my parents, I was not able to pay off one of my student loans in its entirety.
Other goals needed physical requirements to complete. I got down to as low as 214 pounds before starting a new a schedule and having to see my exercise decrease. I still want to lose the weight but it will take more time and better commitment. I have abandoned the goal of a back flip. I watched a bunch of youtube videos for pointers and saw waaay to many people crack their skulls or injure their necks.
I fully intended to get licensed in Counseling but did not anticipate that the North Carolina Licensure Board would be the biggest bunch of bureaucratic &*^%$#@*& and #$!@&$#* furthermore they are $*%&$!@ and can go $(%*^&!! Essentially they changed the rules mid-game and did not inform me and in fact lied to misinformed me about it. I have nothing in writing because of the above edited statements so I essentially I got screwed over with some other applicants and have to get a years worth more of supervised hours if I went at it full-time. I have taken a break until 2012 when the board has the opportunity to get some more practical and common sense members.
And then there were a few goals that I just never made the appropriate time for. Namely, BachelorBytes and learning the piano. Both are somewhat in process. I have the BachelorBytes site up but do not have the video content I need on there. I have tried my hand at the piano a few times but need a ton of work and find my manual dexterity lacking.
The big question is how did I do? I successfully completed 22 of my 30 goals. Four are technically in process, one goal is stalled and one has been abandoned entirely. With the exception of the backflip, all of the ones I did not complete (seven of them) have been moved onto my 40 by 40 list. Just because I did not get them done by the time I turned 30 does not mean I am giving up on them. It just means I have a bit more time to try them.
One of the bright sides of this list is the lasting impact. I will never again have the same hesitation to donate blood. I actually look forward to jumping out of a plane again. I am better at woodworking because of my desk and working on a Habitat house. I am sponsoring Chintesh and hope to get him through highschool. Since running the 10K I have run one more 10K, 2 5Ks, I am training for my first half marathon and ran 100 miles in the month of May by itself. Keep in mind when I started this list, I could not run two-miles at all.
The list also gave birth to new projects and ambitions. I would encourage everyone to make a list like this because if you are forced to push yourself, you never know how your life can change through experiences such as these that can shape you.
Again, thanks for stopping in. It has been a thrilling past 30 months. I will be back to complete my movie reviews and encourage you to stop back to watch the videos of my grandparents as well as to see if any posts have been updated since I will post the final pictures of my desk and make some other updates. You can follow me on twitter @TheKevinLock and follow my new adventures on my new site 40todoby40. This site is still connected to my email so feel free to continue to leave questions or comments.
See you later!
Kevin T. Lock
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