Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity - Horace Mann

Defining one’s life goals is a difficult endeavor. Given the propensity of humans to be temporally myopic (shortsighted with respect to time), specifying a certain set of guidelines or principles to follow for decades can be irresponsible, reckless, or detrimental.

Nevertheless, life goals do provide a framework around which one can structure long-term plans as well as day-to-day routines, imparting meaning to an existence otherwise devoid of inherent purpose.

I first delineated these goals at the age of twenty, keeping them purposely vague, while still allowing them to form the raison d’être for my life. They have changed little in that time.

1: Acquire, Maintain, and Utilize an Eclectic Repository of Knowledge

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever Mahatma Gandhi

Human beings possess a degree of intelligence and consciousness found nowhere else in the natural world. Emerging research within neuroscience, psychology, and biology points to the enduring plasticity and neurogenesis of our brains. That is to say, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

In hopes of using my neurons for all they’re worth as well as forestalling the progression of dementia and similar degenerative disorders, I’ve taken the initiative to ensure I possess such an eclectic repository of knowledge within my memory stores. These measures include,

• teaching courses on scientific material (such as MCAT prep)
• creating analytical pieces of writing (such as blog posts)
• reviewing previously learned content through an active recall mechanism using a spaced repetition algorithm within Anki.

Other goals that comprise this broader aim include:

• Reading at least 25 books per year from a variety of disciplines
• Meditate on a daily basis

Tasks

• [ ] Read 1,000 books
• [ ] Read more than 135 books in one year (surpass milestone set in 2012)
• [ ] Write a novel
• [x] Write memoirs
• [ ] Write a piece of non-fiction
• [x] Publish an article in an academic journal
• [ ] Become fluent in Spanish
• [ ] Learn plant names
• [ ] Learn birdsong

2: Maintain a High Degree of Physical Fitness

The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow Arnold Schwarzenegger

Tasks

• [ ] Hold breath for longer than three minutes
• [ ] Finish an Iron Man
• [ ] Become a fifty-stater
• [ ] Complete 100 push-ups and 25 pull-ups
• [ ] Run an ultramarathon
• [x] Run a 5:30 mile
  • Achieved 3/4/17, shirtless in 20°F weather
• [ ] Run a 5:00 mile
• [ ] Hike a mountain
• [ ] Go surfing
• [ ] Learn a martial art
• [x] Complete a marathon

3: Alleviate the Suffering of Other Humans and the Environment

Only a life lived in service to others is a life worth living Albert Einstein

The extent of intelligence and consciousness inherent to our species has also led to considerable suffering the world over. In the short span of my life, I endeavor to place time towards activities that reduce that suffering, including

• Working as a physician
• Practicing veganism
• Reducing my carbon footprint, such as driving an EV, using a bicycle, and curbing my use of electricity

Tasks

• [ ] Live below your means and never spend more than you’re willing to part with

• [ ] Wear clothes for five years before donating or recycling

• [ ] Only purchase clothes produced sustainably and responsibly

• [ ] Maintain a garden in the summer, spring, fall

• [ ] Install renewable energy fixtures (solar, wind, geothermal)

• [ ] Use only rechargeable batteries

• [ ] Donate to Southfield Public Library

• [ ] Donate to Detroit Zoo

• [x] Become a Mentor

• [ ] Donate 20 gallons of blood in lifetime

4: Enjoy Life to Its Fullest

Pleasure is the beginning and the end of living happily Epicurus

Tasks

• [ ] Sky dive
• [ ] Bungee jump
• [ ] Attend a concert
• [ ] Maintain a garden
• [ ] Visit each continent
• [ ] Go birding
• [ ] See a full night sky
• [x] Camp outside
• [x] Kiss someone in the rain