Remember when you were 15? Can you recall some of
dreams you had then? How many have you accomplished? My reflection on that is what attracted me so strongly to story of John Goddard, of whom LA Times called, "The real life Indiana Jones," and one of his expeditions, "the most amazing adventure of this generation."
When he was 15, Goddard was inspired to create a list of 127 “life goals” (he called it “My Life List”). By his last count, young seventy-something has accomplished 111 of these PLUS 400 others he set along way!!
Here’s just a few of ones he’s reached:
He’s climbed many of world’s major peaks including Matterhorn, Ararat, Kilimanjaro, Fiji, Rainier and Grand Tetons.
He followed Marco Polo’s route through all of Middle East, Asia and China.
He’s run a mile in five minutes, broad jumped 15 feet, high jumped five feet and performed 200 sit-ups and 20 pull-ups.
He was first person to explore 4200-mile length of world's longest river, Nile. (It was number one goal of 15-year-old Goddard and one Times called “the most amazing adventure of this generation.”). He has also been down Amazon, Congo and others.
John has been to 122 countries, lived with 260 different tribal groups, explored underwater reefs of Florida, Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Red Sea, and more.
He has flown 40 different types of aircraft and still holds civilian air records; has read Bible cover to cover and learned to speak French, Spanish and Arabic.
The last two on his original list included marrying and having children (he has six) and living to see 21st Century, which he has done in style.
And I’m just getting started. But I think you get point.
More than just one of greatest adventurers world has ever known, Goddard is an incredibly wise person, as this quote of his demonstrates: "If you really know what you want out of life, it's amazing how opportunities will come to enable you to carry them out."
How did John Goddard manage to live such an incredible life of achievement? Two simple, easily duplicatable “secrets:” He chose BIG dreams and he WROTE THEM DOWN.
There’s no power at all in small dreams. When dream isn’t big enough, it’s too easy to give in to obstacles that appear in our life. It’s very difficult to maintain persistence that all great achievement requires when dream is small or ordinary.
