Busy-ness, as good as it can feel sometimes, is deceptive and distracting. Identifying what you want out of life and why is hard, at least it has been for me. Today, I sat down to write down a list to act as a personal reminder for where I’m at right now. As I grow as a person these things may change, but until then…

I want to spend time with my family, specifically with my nieces and nephews. They bring a joy to my life that I never want to miss out on.

I want to be healthy.

I want to be able to enjoy life and the people I spend it with.

I want to create the kind of company that is a vessel for promoting a shared vision where a community of people can come together to make the world a better place. Currently, I want to pursue this by bringing better software into the world.

I want to have strong, honest, worthwhile relationships with my family, friends, co-workers and clients.

I want to wake up every day and feel that where I am exactly where I’m supposed to be at this time in my life.

I want to create a company where people feels that it is exactly where they are supposed to be at this time in their life.

I want to have the type of relationships with that the thought about going anywhere else never crosses their mind.

I want to create a company that is more of a community than a company.

I want to help my colleagues grow personally and professionally. I want them to push me to grow personally and professionally.

I want to become an accomplished teacher through code, writing, speaking, and instructional settings.

I never want to stop learning. I never want to lose a passion for knowledge. I want to be a student day in, day out, every day of my life. There is something to be learned from everyone and I want to learn what that might be.

I want to continue to grow in the areas that I have a great interest and passion in, such as software/product development, business, relationships/community, and writing.

I want to spend more time with people I find inspiring, motivating, and uplifting and less with folks who do the opposite.

I want to be inspiring, motivating, and uplifting to others.

There are some things missing from this list which others may find obvious. It’s not to say I don’t value other things, but those are not what I want out of life. If I am able to accomplish the above I know those other things will either follow, or they simply won’t matter.