What's your iDeal

When you think of what is ideal, what do you come up with? It’s a hell of a question to ask, but it’s also sad to see that so many people fail to even attempt at answering it. Since so many people are so fond of to-do lists, why don’t you write a to-do list of what you need to do in a given set of time to have a good day?

Think about it, the American Dream used to be that whole bullshit about the white picket fence, the 2.3 kids and the comfortable mortgage. The thing is that times change and in this day and age, the answer cannot be the same. Think monetarily, think in tangible and acquisitive terms, dare to answer what you would do in an hour, a day, a week, a month, or a year. Jot down what you would consider a successful career and try and achieve the to-do list. Just the fact that you can get some things done just from focusing and putting them on a list should be incentive enough. Consider this a call to arms in terms of defining your ideal life or what you picture what your ideal life is.

Here are some of my ideals in bullet form:

My ideal day

• Wake up feeling refreshed
• Surf
• Write
• Spend time with my wife
• Read
• Talk to friends or correspond with them
• See my mom
• Play guitar
• Help people and do something meaningful with my life
• Make people smile
• Be productive on a personal and professional level

My ideal week
• Finish something I’m writing
• Surf on a regular basis
• Learn new information and share it with someone
• Finish a project (Personal or professional)
• Feel as if I’ve been able to connect with the most important people in my life
• Feeling consistent in what I think are my main goals in life

My ideal month
• Get a couple of freelance gigs to have some extra cash to treat myself and the missus to a better life
• Write a song
• Learn a new skill
• Surf on a consistent basis
• Have all my payments up to speed
• Finish writing a couple of things
• Being in touch with all my loved ones, having had dinner with them
• Exercise regularly
• Make a difference wherever I’m working at
• Help at least a dozen people

My ideal year
• Go to regular doc checkups
• Eat pretty well but occasionally indulge in culinary vices
• Travel someplace old and two new places
• Feel as if I’m surfing like I was 20
• Write a book, script, or series of short stories
• Learn a lot of new skills.
• Be in touch with everyone and go to most of the events I’ve been invited to

These were truly off the top of my head and though I could really give this some thought, I thought better of it. Now that you’ve answered each, allow yourself to remember your list of ideal characteristics in a man or woman. It’s possible you may be going out with someone who fulfills each and every criteria in that list… but it’s probably more that you’re going out with someone whom you just clicked with and who went beyond your supposed ideals and showed you what you wanted without even knowing it. It’s not that you were wrong in the first place, it’s just that after you’ve put some effort into defining your ideal, you quit stressing about it and let things flow. Call me crazy, but maybe this same principle can apply to jobs and lives and not just to the people we end up in a relationship with.

Maybe we need to define the ideal so that we may allow ourselves to find the true ideal in every aspect of our lives. Or Maybe I just wanted to write something positive for a change.

Cheers