My Life List

12/31/2011

4 Comments

 
As I have absolutely let my blog fall through a black hole of late, I have set up a microblog at http://kendelc.posterous.com/ that will be the main repository of my day-to-day thoughts and activities. My blog here will be reserved for longer thoughts and events, as the one below most definitely is. As the new year is upon us, I have decided to share with you not merely my resolutions, but my life list. The definitive list of all the things I want to have done by the time my life is over. 

What are your reactions? What things should I add? Which things inspire you?  Which things surprised you?

Kendel Christensen’s Life List


Personal Mission Statement (Guiding Values):


I endeavor to be expansively serviceable to my fellow men. I seek information and experiences which will provide me and allow me to provide to others 1) An informed and diversified perspective, 2) Worthwhile skills, and 3) Examples of superior success in the face of justifiable reasons to expect averageness. My life mission further includes the devotion to ebullient learning, personal development, and teaching to the end of inspiring lasting change in other’s minds and hearts especially in regards to their worldview, personal relationships, and expectations of self. In short, I seek to be a “great benefit to my fellow beings” (Mosiah 8:18) and live my life such that it will be said of me that, “he left a path worthy of emulation.”


Reminder: “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important

as what you become by achieving your goals.” -Goethe


My life goals, in no particular order:

Accomplishments:

  1. Become an Eagle Scout

-Done (2002)

  1. Type 50 wpm with 100% accuracy

  2. Teach a college course

    1. Substituted for a college class 3 times...

  3. Become a published author

-Done 4 times. (Link to author page)

  1. Publish an article in a nationally-renowned magazine.

  2. Write at least 5 books

    1. Started 2 in Fall 2010

  3. Run a half-marathon for a good cause

  4. Do 100 pushups in a row

  5. Do 20 pullups in a row

  6. Have my own website

-Done (2007). www.Kendelc.com

  1. Have over 1 million hits on my website

-7883 hits to date

  1. Hike a mountain that is over 10,000 feet in elevation

-Done (Mount Timpanogos = 11749 feet), Sinai ~7500 ft.

  1. Assemble a comprehensive family tree

  2. Solve the Rubik’s Cube

-Done (January 28, 2005)

  1. Make a transcendent change in the world*

  2. Be interviewed for a TV program

  3. Be a guest writer/newscaster

  4. Invent something

  5. Create something that did not exist before, every year

  6. Be in a play

  7. Write a play

  8. Write an app

  9. Have over 1000 followers on my blog

  10. Do a stand-up comedy routine

  11. Have dinner with one of my heroes

-Done, (LGR, WD, ALW) more will follow.


Knowledge

  1. A) Learn 3 Languages, B) Be Conversational in 5. C) Know basic greetings/phrases in 10.

    1. 2/3 done. (English, Spanish)

    2. Know ASL alphabet,

  2. Be familiar with the great works of Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Dickens, Thoreau, Twain, Tolstoy, Wordsworth, Kierkegaard, Kant, Mill, Marcus Aurelius, Francis Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Pascal, Thomas Paine, Emerson, Jung, Nietzsche, Rand, William James, Locke, Popper, the Dalai Lama, Chopra, C.S. Lewis, Weber, Levinas, Baudrillard, Bourdieu, Durkheim, Foucault, Mead, Stephen R. Covey, Dale Carnegie, Cervantes, Aesop, Homer, Montesquieu, Pascal, Bronte, Austen, John Donne, Emily Dickinson, Dostoyevsky, Maupassant, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Hawthorne, Walt Whitman, Tennyson, Gerard Manly Hopkins, Borges, Orwell, Tolkien, Yeats,

  3. Read about the lives of: Einstein, Marco Polo, Helen Keller, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Augustus Caesar, Nicola Tesla, Winston Churchill, Raoul Wallenburg, Ghandi, William Wilberforce, Socrates, Albert Schweitzer, George Washington, Viktor Frankl, Alexis de Tocqueville, Mark Twain, Martin Luther King, Robert Baden-Powell

  4. Become a certified computer technician

-Done (June 2004)

  1. Gain a basic understanding into the following topics: economics, European history, United States history, geography, philosophy, sociology, psychology, business, human development, anatomy, political theory, world religions, ethics, statistics, Latin American history, teaching, pedagogy,

  2. Gain expert status in interpersonal communication and relationships*

  3. Organize, Review, Remember, and share what I learn*

  4. Become financially literate

  5. Become an intelligent, critical consumer of media

  6. Earn a Bachelor’s Degree

-Done, B.S. in Sociology, August 2010. All tuition paid via scholarship.

  1. Earn multiple advanced degrees

-Begun. Attending University of Pennsylvania 2011-2013 M.S. Ed. program

  1. Earn an honorary degree

  2. Learn formal debate

  3. Learn formal logic

-Begun. Studying for the LSAT since February, 2011

  1. Be able to appreciate great works of music and art

  2. Read 1000 worthwhile books and be able to recall the main ideas from each

-Over 100 and counting. Track my progress on Goodreads.com

  1. Read at least one self-help or relationship-building book per year. (On track)

  2. Stay up-to-date on new technologies

-Thusfar done. Current method: subscribed to the RSS newsfeed of www.cnet.com


Character

  1. Be someone worth remembering.*

  2. Be a lifelong advocate for at least 3 causes

    1. “One day, all children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.”

    2. Promote a healthy family culture

    3. ________________________________

  3. Start a nonprofit for a cause of my own

  4. Learn how to take criticism and not take offense*

-Ongoing. Current way that helps me the most: realize that I am imperfect and need to continually learn from others—why not now? After thoroughly examining the suggestion, I can always choose to conclude that they are wrong and ignore it, thus, criticism does not intimidate me.

  1. Learn how to take a compliment*

  2. Be and be known as someone who is honest, efficacious, informed, and genuine*

  3. Stand up for what I believe in

  4. Be approachable, able to put others naturally at ease*

  5. Be a man whose opinion is sought more than it is dreaded*

  6. Never choose power, glory, or money over principle.*

  7. Keep in touch with friends*


Spiritual:

  1. Read the major holy books of the world: Bible (Christianity), Qur’an (Islam), Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism), Dhamapada (Buddism), Tao Te Ching (Taoism), Confucius’ Analects.

  2. Know myself—including a healthy, objective perception of my weaknesses*

  3. Live deliberately/Develop mindfulness*

  4. Develop self-mastery, especially the abilities to delay gratification and subordinate the flesh*

  5. Be able to look at people and see them as God does

  6. Find balance between expecting the most out of people and just loving them*

  7. Serve a mission for my faith

-Done. (2004-2006 in Argentina)

  1. Know every person in my religion’s Holy Books (Known for more than just ‘begat’ing)

  2. Never be a blind follower, but rather someone who lives out of personal conviction*

  3. Be a person who does not need to be told all things, but rather sets my own standards based on principles.*

  4. Be perceptive to other’s feelings. Always look at things from the other’s perspective.*

  5. Be a self-corrector: continually evaluate performance and repent as necessary. Take responsibility and never live in self-deception.*

  6. Be forever teachable*

  7. Be continually grateful, and experience joy in life’s small pleasures*

  8. Seek and hold to Truth above all else.*

  9. Never lose hope in the goodness of humanity*

  10. Never be a worrier. Be accepting of the things I cannot change; Have the courage to change the things I can; And have the wisdom to know the difference*

  11. Learn to be content with little

  12. Learn to be forgiving and patient with myself*


Personal Development:

  1. Use exemplary grammar and understand the reasons behind the rules.

  2. Seek a mentor

  3. Be a mentor

-Ongoing. Current count (to my knowledge): 4 people.

  1. Keep a clean, organized personal space and household

  2. Learn to handstand

  3. Learn Photography

  4. Be a toastmasters prizewinner

  5. Learn 10 magic tricks

  6. Learn a dance that will allow me to twirl, then catch, my wife.

  7. Learn a new sport

  8. Learn to photoshop

  9. Learn to play 5 hymns and one popular song on the piano

  10. Take voice lessons


Experiences:

  1. Ride in a hot air balloon

  2. Scubadive

  3. Go gliding

  4. Experience weightlessness

  5. Go on a safari (but don’t shoot anything)

  6. See a Broadway play

    1. Done. 2004 and 2010. Will do again.

  7. Attend an Olympic event

-Done. February 2002.

Travel:

  1. England (Stonehenge, Winsor Castle, see a play)

  2. France (Eiffel Tower, Versailles, the Louvre)

  3. Redwood Forest

  4. Egypt

-Done. May 14- 2010. Saw the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx, the Step Pyramids at Saqqara, the Colossus, Karnack, the Valley of the Kings, the Cairo Museum (including the King Tutankhamen exhibit), the Mosque of Mohammad Ali, and hiked Mount Sinai.

  1. The Holy Land (Israel/Palestine)

-Done. Saw every major site. Lived there April 28-August 12, 2010. Will return with my family.

  1. Italy (Coliseum, Vatican City)

  2. Petra

-Done. July 27, 2010. Saw the Treasury, the Monastery, the urn tombs, walked through Hadrien Gate, the theatre, and the slot canyons.

  1. Greece (Parthenon/Acropolis)

  2. Smithsonian Museum

-Done. Will go again.

  1. Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)

  2. Disneyland and Disneyworld

  3. Scandinavia

-Done, May 2011

  1. Washington, DC

-Done four times and counting.

  1. Visit 6 continents

-Current count: 5 (All except Australia)

  1. Visit over 50 countries.

-Current count: 11 (Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Paraguay, Sweden, United States)

Career:


  1. Get in to a top law school

  2. Give a major speech at a major university

  3. Leave a lasting, valuable contribution in my field*

  4. Run for public office

  5. Start my own business

  6. Do something for my career that

    1. Uses my God-given talents and related to my core characteristics

    2. Is intellectually stimulating: I will be continually learning things that are both fulfilling (help me see the world more clearly) and relevant (things that can be applied to better others' worlds).

    3. Has an impact on people's lives—their happiness, relationships, and way of being. Heavy emphasis on “minds & hearts” over physical/temporal things. I also desire the widest sphere of influence possible.

    4. Doesn’t have to yield a lot of money, but enough to support a family, and some extra for projects/causes.

    5. Has freedom: Rigid enough to give me a pattern/structure to work within, but flexible enough to let me mold things in a direction that I when I get ideas. Ideally, can allow me to be fully independent once I know what I want to do and have an idea of the steps to take to get there.

    6. Engenders future job mobility. I’m not learning something that is so specific that I’ll be locked into that type of job—or run the risk of becoming obsolete. I want something that is as generally applicable and transferrable as possible.

  7. Become financially independent by age 40

  8. Earn $10,000 through online sales

-$3,228 to date

  1. Earn passive/residual income

  2. Design a t-shirt

Family:

  1. Fall in love with someone who inspires me. Marry them, and be forever faithful.

  2. Have my wife know and really feel that she is the most important thing in my life*

  3. Have a large family (wife agreeing, 8 kids)

  4. “Be there” for each of my kids*

  5. Have a relationship with each of my children such that they trust me and come to me with their concerns*

  6. Have a loving, safe home environment where our family is completely open to share our feelings*

  7. Have an in-house library

  8. Create traditions that will survive into the 5th generation and beyond

Random/Keep Myself from Taking Life Too Seriously:

  1. Go to a public place in the middle of the day in my pajamas

  2. Be the first one to raise my hand when a dignitary asks if there are any questions

-Done. February 28, 2011 (SC)

Misc

  1. Learn a new word every day, for a year.

  2. Help found or be President of a club.

  3. Go without watching television for 200 days straight (save conference)


*To be judged candidly by my wife and immediate family after my death.

Looking into:

Alhambra, 7 Wonders, Taj Mahal, Juggle, drawing, handwriting, becoming an early riser, learn Esperanto (international language), CPR, Switzerland, Spain-Capostela, Venice, Leaning Tower of Pisa, florence, Develop good posture to be my natural position


Inspiration:


"I urge you to examine your life. Determine where you are and what you need to do to be the kind of person you want to be. Create inspiring, noble, and righteous goals that fire your imagination and create excitement in your heart. And then keep your eye on them. Work consistently towards achieving them."

(Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Life's Lessons Learned," Ensign, May 2007, 45-47)


"As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death."

-Leonardo da Vinci


http://www.raptitude.com/2009/09/how-to-make-a-life-list-youll-actually-do-a-comprehensive-guide/


http://www.squidoo.com/100things#module140042361


http://superviva.com/inspiration.php

4 Comments
 

Life-long Learning

07/14/2009

2 Comments

 

     My favorite event of the year is coming up.  August 17–21, 2009.  Campus Education Week.  Basically, it is a time where experts in hundreds of different fields come to BYU to volunteer their time to offer thousands of different week-long classes in a myriad of topics for less than the cost of the cheapest class at your local center of higher education (in fact, they make it still cheaper if you register before August 14!).  In my opinion, it is the best deal in knowledge and training on Earth (a number of the presenters charge businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars or more to conduct seminars and trainings!).  I've attended for years now and each year at least one thing in some class has changed my life.
     I believe strongly in life-long learning and being exposed to as many worthwhile ideas as possible.  I would like to be able to admonish everyone with all the energy of my soul to try to attend Education Week at just about any cost, but alas, I am unable to do that in this setting (but please, ask me in person, I'd love to share my full feelings on the subject).  But allow me to to ask you to honestly evaluate yourself in something: Are you sincerely and constantly engaged in seeking out and applying new and worthwhile principles?  Each year, do you pursue opportunities that challenge and stretch you?  Compare yourself to this prophetic standard:  “...Too often we use many hours for fun and pleasure, clothed in the euphemism 'I’m recharging my batteries.' Those hours could be spent reading and studying to gain knowledge, skills, and culture. . . . Those who have planted the good word of God and have served faithfully invariably have awakened in them a great desire for self-improvement. And with that comes a desire to learn more and to gain greater skills” (Henry B. Eyring, “Education for Real Life,” Ensign, Oct 2002, 14).
    Am I saying that you have to attend Education Week to fulfill this?  No.  Education Week is not the end-all, do-all.  Obviously, if one has work or other obligations that truly make it impossible (for this year at least--you can always plan ahead for next year, inform or do favors for your coworkers/boss, etc.), then do what you can: join a book club or discussion group, read the encyclopedia, enroll in self-improvement class, learn a new skill--it can be a wide variety of things.  But please, be anxiously engaged in acquiring and applying knowledge.  It is my belief that if we are not actively moving forward, we are--even if we are unaware of it and our conscience is convinced that "we're doing 'better than average'"--we are, in reality, likely sliding backwards (See 2 Ne. 28: 30).  As one inspired leader has taught: “The path to eternal life is not on a plateau. Rather, it is an incline, ever onward and upward. Hence, ever-increasing spiritual understanding and energy are required to reach our destination.”
(Keith K. Hilbig, “Quench Not the Spirit Which Quickens the Inner Man,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 37–39)

      Again, I state boldly that Education Week is worth almost any sacrifice, even if you can only attend for a small portion of it--the teachers come from all walks of life with insightful perspectives: they have processed valuable information and are eager to give away what they have sacrificed to learn to you--just think of the power of being exposed to one well-distilled idea that you'd never thought of before.  From such inspiration, I'm convinced, is often the difference between a stagnant, frustrated life, and a fully fulfilling and vibrant one.   As the historian Carter G. Woodso has so eloquently stated: "Education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better."  Constantly invest in yours.

Links:
The main Education Week page
Cost and registration
Full Class schedule
In the attachment below are the classes I am interested in attending.  Please contact me if you'd like to go together (I have several classes listed for each time, but they are organized roughly in order of interest; more stars=more likelihood of attending)

kendels_possible_education_week_schedule_2009.doc
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