When I Grow Up I Want to Get Out of Debt Because I Want to…
1. Make more documentaries. I have one idea that involves my dad and the great Iranian traditions in poetry, another one on Haiti, another one on recycling…
2. Write a screenplay with my best friend.
3. Write a non-fiction book and get it published on paper.
4. Buy real estate as an investment. I want to be landed gentry!
5. Visit Hawai’i, New Jersey and Puerto Rico every year, and travel internationally at least once a year.
6. Not doubt myself. Not feel like I suck. Not feel like a loser.
7. Be able to focus my energy on creating things, igniting discussions, starting a movement.
8. Make more blogs. This is fun!
9. Be able to spend each day like an adventure: What do you want to do today? Let’s go check out that beach up north and then try that new restaurant! Not all the time, but it would be nice to do when I wanted to.
10. Create green spaces, improve urban environments, start a bike-sharing program in LA, start a podcast and a million other things.
11. Launch my secret project. My friend and I are already working on it.
12. Create and market a non-alcoholic beverage and successfully distribute it in the US. OK, I know this one seems weird. But it’s a dream of mine. I’ve always wanted my own drink!
Now that I look at this list, there are definitely some of these things that I can be working on now and I am, for some of them. I don’t need to be debt-free to write. Or start researching topics for the documentaries. I could start a podcast right now with GarageBand (who’s in?). I can also commit to not creating any new debt and therefore making each day a step in the right direction. Let me just admit honestly that it is a grind to pay off debt. It was so easy to accumulate it, but not so easy to pay it all off. I get really discouraged when I think, “Am I going to have to think about debt every day for the next 18-24 months while I pay it all off?” That sounds miserable. So I’m not thinking about my debt. I’m paying it off every day, but I’m not thinking about it. I’m blogging about debt but I’m not going to let my “number” hang over my head. Or any other number, like my the size of my retirement accounts, my credit score, my weight or how many years I’ve lived and where I should be on the achievement scale thus far. I’m doing the best I can, and I’m forgetting the rest (yes, Tony Horton, I did steal that from you).
What about you guys? Are you working on any goals/ideas for those debt-free days? Or if you are debt-free, what are your non-financial goals and dreams? Please share!