What’s your main goal in life?
Paul White's nationally distributed syndicated column, “What’s your main goal in life?” is published in 22 publications across seven states. This includes the following newspapers and digital publications: Midland Daily News (MI), SFGate (CA), Seattle PI (WA), Connecticut Post (CT), Laredo Morning Times (TX), Huron Daily Tribune (MI), The Telegraph (IL), and more. In this week's article, Paul explores the question, “What’s your main goal in life?”. The following offers guidance on shifting your focus from worrying about what may or may not happen to pursuing your personal acquisition of joyful memories!
While I don’t recall if I read or heard it, the sentence was so important that I wrote it down so I could think deeply about it later. And I have…a lot. The deep thought process I gave the sentence is what led me to write this article.
The sentence was simply: The main goal in life is the Acquisition of Memories.
That is definitely not the answer I would have given before reading or hearing it.
When asked what their main goal in life is, most people would be focused on financial success, health, or maybe travel. The acquisition of memories isn’t even on the radar screen. Or…maybe it’s lurking in our subconscious, and we just never bring it forward, think about it, and discuss it with anyone else.
We have a built-in desk in our kitchen right next to the table where we share all our meals. One of the best purchases I’ve ever made is the iMac computer that’s on that desk. On that computer, we have our photo library of nearly 30,000 pictures and 1,800 videos that are stored in our cloud. That library contains pictures and videos of literally every event that our family has experienced. Here’s the really cool part. When that computer isn’t being used, the screen saver scrolls through our photo library, showing pictures for about six seconds each in a random fashion, and literally paints a picture of our life.
Just watching the screen takes us on a journey of memories that, without the nudge of the screen saver, wouldn’t have come to mind very easily. We re-visit weddings, funerals, graduations, vacations, friends, extended family, the beauty of nature, fishing trips, road trips, birthdays, anniversaries, athletics, yard work, parks, art centers, gardens, flowers, achievements, scout memories, kayaking, biking, hiking, hospital visits (boo), non-profits we care deeply about, times we’ve volunteered, goofy moments, laughter, game night, and moments sharing food with each other. I’m going to take a pause from writing right now because my mind is flooded with wonderful memories.
I’m back. It’s strange when you go on social media and see (what feels like) everyone else off on adventures, having fun, and living life to the fullest. It’s easy to experience some FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). When those thoughts try to force their way into my mind, all I have to do is sit down and stare at our screen saver for a while. It’s then that I realize what a full life we’ve had the privilege of living. It’s easy to forget your own experiences when you’re staring at everyone else’s.
Memories are a funny thing. They come fresh to our minds when we experience a specific trigger. Seeing a young child in an arm cast might bring back a memory of something similar that impacted you. You may never have re-visited that memory had it not been triggered. Sometimes we all may have bad memories that get triggered. Memories we’ve attempted to suppress. When those bad memories are triggered, it seems our only path forward is to focus on what we learned from the bad memory and file it away deep in the back of our memory bank. It’s always good to make a list of your top ten memories (first kiss, getting married, the birth of a child, etc.) that you can pull forward at a moment’s notice and anchor the joy associated with it in your conscious mind. Kick the bad out on its tail and welcome the top ten to the front and center of your thoughts.
It seems as time goes by, people tend to discover that the consistent acquisition of memories is experienced most easily when you take some time to plan for experiences that will generate happy memories. Planning can be as simple as anticipating where the conversation may go as you meet a friend for coffee or as detailed as planning a wedding. Planning a meal, a night of relaxing around a campfire, a hike, a visit to a tourist trap (one of my favorites), or anything that might be enhanced by planning. Surprises tend to create fun memories. And yes, sometimes a lack of planning creates a favorite memory (remember that trip when you forgot to put your fully packed suitcase in the car and didn’t realize it until you got to the airport, and it was too late to go back and get it?).
So how about YOU? Are you ready to shift your focus from pursuing financial success and constantly worrying about what may or may not happen in the future (which, in reality, you have very little control over)? Can you at least pause for a short period of time and contemplate different ways that YOU can pursue your personal acquisition of memories? You CAN, and You SHOULD! Why? Because there’s a lot of joy stored in your memory bank called a brain.
You just have to trigger the memories that bring you that joy (ALL computers have a screen-saver photo option). Get busy right now creating that top ten list of memories and think about them every day for a week. I promise…you do that….your smile percentage will be off the charts.
Remember, I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!
In addition to being a nationally syndicated columnist, Paul White is an author, motivational and inspirational speaker, entrepreneur, podcaster, and life coach located in Midland, Michigan. His new book, “The Answer Discovery – How to Change the World by Helping Others…and Ourselves,” is available to purchase today. If you’re interested in getting in touch with Paul, please submit an inquiry via our Contact Page.