How to Launch a Teen: PotentiaLists

I was going to have you jump in and start composing your Five Year Plan.  But I thought I would describe how life's developmental stages influence a person's goals.  The best way to do this is to do the last few PotentiaLists myself.  (Yes, PotentiaLists:  the lists we generate during How to Launch a Teen.) 

With total disregard for what anyone else hopes for me or wants me to do, create a description of what I would like my life to look like in 20 years.  Begin by defining the personal philosophy and core values that influence the person I hope to be and what I hope to achieve.

I am fortunate to be generally happy with who I am and confident that I can accomplish things I really want to do.  I am usually content with my life and experience frequent joy.  I hope to keep these aspects of myself as I enter late adulthood and old age.  Erik Erikson described developmental phases in life and what could be expected in terms of self growth.  I am coming to the end of what he described as middle adulthood, a time of meaningful work and transmitting values to the next generation and entering late adulthood (old age), a time to consolidate wisdom and look back over my life and the contributions I've made.  I have learned not to regret my choices very much, I think largely because I love my life and wouldn't want to change it.  But I will be tempted to focus on what I see as failures.  I also know this is a time when I can expect decreased health and energy, increased pain, and fewer work choices.  But it important to me that I remain active.

Brainstorm and come up with as many goals in each category I have identified as important.

Fitness:  I would like to be alive, active, and reasonably healthy, both physically and mentally. 
Personal Identity:  I want to be liked by people who know me and to continue being flexible in my outlook and comfortable with myself.
Family:  I would like to have houses for all of my children and their families right here on Trippy Roads Ranch, and all of you living here and working locally, or online, in careers you love.  I think it would be nice if you and I had a tradition of annual mother-daughter vacations, even if only for a few days.
Financial:  I would like to have the mortgage paid off on the property and all of our debts paid.  I'd like to be able to help my children build houses of their own.  I don't want to be a financial burden to my children, so I will need more savings.
Community:  I want to be known in the local community, for what I'm not sure.  I want to have a few good friends. 
Career:  If I'm working, I'd like to be writing.
Creativity, Hobbies, and Free Time:  The house and garden should be finished by now, so that all I have to do is putter about, planting in the springtime, weeding in the summer, and harvesting in the fall.  I will still be reading 75 books a year, writing reviews, and communicating with an online book club.

Clearly, many of these would not be the goals of a teenager.

Select three things I can accomplish in the next five years that will make a positive contribution to that picture of my future self.

1. Stop smoking.
2. Finish the general layout of beds and paths in the garden.
3. Provide Sarah with whatever assistance I can to help her reach her career goals.