In a mock job interview for a career class at school, I was asked, “what is your greatest achievement in life so far?” Out of the 8 questions that I was asked during the meeting, this was one of the 2 that I had not considered, written out, or even formulated an answer to. It caught me off guard and my mind immediately started racing. My greatest achievement? I had no idea! Graduating high school is boring and frankly hasn’t happened yet. Working a lot? Living to 17?! I truly had no idea.
In the few seconds between her question and my answer, that I bought with “hmm… that’s a hard one,” my mind raced. Surprisingly, before I had even considered this as an answer, I heard myself saying “having such a strong sense of self at such a young age.” What? Hello? Where this came from was as much as mystery to me as it was to my interviewer; she looked somewhat surprised and taken aback. I continued, “I know who and how I want to be. I’m a very happy person and have specific goals and standards for my future.” My heart and brain high-fived silently. It was so true and seeing the way that I subconsciously knew and was able to explain this was mind blowing. I had never been able to come out and say that I had a strong sense of self with such confidence before.
Although I’m not exactly sure of exactly what I want to do in life, or exactly when I want to do it, I have guidelines that will help me be happy no matter where I end up. These are what have helped me to attain, over an extended period of time, such a strong sense of self: who I am, what I want to be, what I stand for, etc.
Despite the personal aspect of it, I want to share with all of you my list of goals. Hodgepodge and disorganized just like me, these goals are the key to much of my happiness, and what I believe is the reason that my answer came so easily in the interview. I am, and will probably always be far from perfect at applying these to my life, (although I’m getting pretty good at ‘write often’) but working hard on them every day has helped me find myself. This list has been formulated over many months and I’m sure will not be complete for many more. I hope to achieve these things in both long term and short term situations and I try to emulate them in all that I do.
goals
-make people feel like gold
-love with my whole heart
-make people laugh
-don’t take life too seriously
-do my absolute best/try my absolute hardest in everything I do
-do something that I love every single day
-be smart with money
-consider my future in plans and decisions
-love and appreciate my family and make sure they know it
-work hard, play hard
-write often
-play the piano/sing
-enjoy music every chance that I get
-be in the mountains as often as possible
-find beauty in everything
-create/visit green space
-take charge
-make my parents proud and happy
Emma Dietze 