Last week I started reading the biography of Kurt Godel, “Journey to The Edge of Reason” by Stephen Budiansky. The prologue hits you in the face. One of the biggest minds, genius, and noble prize winners, at the age of 64 confessed to his psychiatrist that he believes he hadn’t achieved the goals that he had set out for himself. He considered himself a failure and therefore other people must have also regarded him as a failure.

How do you feel when you read this?  How many of us feel somewhat discontent because we haven’t achieved all the goals we had set earlier in our lives? If I ever had to review all my goals in their grandeur, I would probably feel so disappointed and depressed that I might even consider suicide.  Yet on the other hand when I most recently reviewed the goals that I had achieved I ticked more than 80% of them.

Did Kurt Godel for one minute not stop and think of all his achievements?  Tough question and I am probably not the right person to answer that, but I did find some clues as I carried on reading.  On his fiftieth birthday, Kurt wrote a letter to his brother recalling “Do you remember our city games in which you were the factory owner and I was the mayor? Back then it seemed so impossible to me that we would really see the dates of years such as 1950.  In the city games we were always both already rich by this time.  That has not happened yet, but we also cannot complain that we are bad off.”   

Does this hit you like a brick as it hits me? Could it be that our childhood beliefs and some part unfulfilled dreams are part of the reason for this feeling of not having achieved our goals?  What were your childhood dreams and what did you imagine yourself doing? In games, I often played a medical doctor and today one of my favourite TV series is “Dr. House”. I love the way he analyses, scrutinises, looks for clues outside the box, and challenges everything and the status quo.  Yet as I entered adulthood my passion changed. I discovered computers and programming and I have been in love ever since.  I approach IT problems in the same way as Dr House and I enjoy playing the same character.

Programming and the world of internet and computers is my passion and I am still very much involved in this world.  I still develop and market my IT services.  From bespoke programming to consultancy time and even helping very close friends with small IT issues.  There are many things that are still on my bucket list and there are many things that I have achieved. Like Kurt I am nowhere as rich as I had once dreamt of but I am not bad off, or really I am pretty well off. It is only a point of view. The glass is half full or half empty.  Less than 7 years ago I wrote a list of the things I wanted to achieve and set myself some goals.  In January this year, I reviewed that list and I had achieved more than 80% of those goals.

If I had to review my glass, is it 80% full or 20% empty? How does your glass look like?

The easiest way to go about viewing and analysing how full your glass is, is simply by writing down all the things you have achieved.  They may be small but they are all steps in the right direction and they are all ahcievements in the process, in your journey. Try to aim for 50 to a 100. It is then easy to help visualise a percentage and the achievements become more significant in numbers. Once you have done this, write down your next set of goals and vision.  Finally using the goals and the vision as the next stop, break it down into chunks of achievable steps.  That’s all. Break it down into what are the next steps you can take towards this journey. Be specific and get started 🙂

I share with you in its most naked forms my vision: “Being Europe’s number one startup mentor”. Yes it is a big vision. Along this path I will carry on learning and enjoying my passion in the world of IT, and in order to achieve my vision I have set some goals.  Mentor 5 to 10 startups per month. Attend 4 pitching sessions per month. Get 100 reviews on Linkedin for my mentorship by the end of 2022 and start work with at least 1 new incubator per month. They are all simple and ahcievable goals. Can I do more? Yes. Can I push past these limits? Yes. I set some achievable limits so as not to create dissapointment and I personally push myself to beat those goals.

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